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Aiptasia/Mojano Burner


El Camaron

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Here is a close up of the electrode emitting the gas. (I am not sure if it is oxygen, hydrogen or chlorine)

 

 

Electrolysis of salt water yields hydrogen at one electrode and chlorine gas at the other....

Chlorine gas is more soluble in water of higher pH, so you may see it absorbed rather quickly.

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Love the sewing needle idea. Wonder if you could add a second tube next to the electrode tube and attach a hose to siphon off the gunky anemone right after or during the final second of zaping.

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Electrolysis of salt water yields hydrogen at one electrode and chlorine gas at the other....

Chlorine gas is more soluble in water of higher pH, so you may see it absorbed rather quickly.

 

Tom which gas is the most abundant in the picture I posted above? I am thinking it is chlorine being the anemone is disintegrating almost instantly.

 

If you do this in a pint of water it turns the water slightly, but noticable yellow. I did this as a test in a pint of water that I was hatching brine shrimp. It did not affect the shrimp and I even think more of them hatched than in plain clean salt water, wierd.

 

How are the probes holding up?

 

The probe that is emmiting the gas looks new, the other probe disintegrated.

I may have to start using carbon for that one. That one does not have to stick out the end of the device and could be positioned higher. I have some motor brushes that I will try.

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Check the content of the carbon brushes. I know they contain copper dust as well as phenol resins to bind the carbon and copper so it can be press formed.

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Tom which gas is the most abundant in the picture I posted above? I am thinking it is chlorine being the anemone is disintegrating almost instantly.

 

If you do this in a pint of water it turns the water slightly, but noticable yellow. I did this as a test in a pint of water that I was hatching brine shrimp. It did not affect the shrimp and I even think more of them hatched than in plain clean salt water, wierd.

 

 

 

The probe that is emmiting the gas looks new, the other probe disintegrated.

I may have to start using carbon for that one. That one does not have to stick out the end of the device and could be positioned higher. I have some motor brushes that I will try.

 

Hydrogen will form at the negative (cathode) end (which supplies electrons) and chlorine gas at the positive (anode) end (which takes electrons away).

 

I'm guessing it's the anode (positive end) that's breaking down. If so, you're most likely releasing iron and chromium into the water since you're using stainless steel needles for probes. (That's what would happen with copper probes - the anode would disintegrate while the cathode would accumulate.)

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Wonder if you could add a second tube next to the electrode tube and attach a hose to siphon off the gunky anemone right after or during the final second of zaping.

 

That is very easy to do.

 

Thanks Tom. I changed the disintegrating electrode with a motor brush from one of my old battery drills but I think it was stated correctly that there is copper mixed into the carbon. I will run the thing continousely in a small volume of water and test for copper. If I find any, I will use pure graphite from a pencil lead. I have tried that and it works but it is very soft.

Good thing I am retired. :cool:

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The electrode is emitting chlorine, big time. Thanks Tom, I found a cheap way to make Clorox.

I tried it for a minute in a small volume of water and smelled it, it almost burned my nose off. This is the substance that is oxidizing the mojanos.

I replaced one of the stainless stel electrides with carbon because the stainless steel on the side that does not produce the gas corrodes very fast. The carbon seems to last forever.

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That is very easy to do.

 

Thanks Tom. I changed the disintegrating electrode with a motor brush from one of my old battery drills but I think it was stated correctly that there is copper mixed into the carbon. I will run the thing continousely in a small volume of water and test for copper. If I find any, I will use pure graphite from a pencil lead. I have tried that and it works but it is very soft.

Good thing I am retired. :cool:

 

It's been a while since I've pulled apart a motor that had brushes, but as I recall, you often saw copper scored on the carbon block. I couldn't say, though, whether the copper came from the contacts on the armature, of if it was embedded in the carbon. Carbon electrodes are often used in electrolytic applications, so this would seem to be a reasonable selection. I'm not sure how you make a good electrical connection to it, though. I'd probably use some sort of clip, but that takes a good amount of space - more than you have in your tube, it would seem.

 

Another thing, apparently chlorine gas attacks stainless. That may be another reason why the anode end would dissolve quickly.

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If you need a larger and harder piece of graphite you could use the core of a AAA battery.

 

An old carbon-zinc battery, though. Not an alkaline battery because the cathode of an alkaline battery contains manganese along with the carbon, I think.

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An old carbon-zinc battery, though. Not an alkaline battery because the cathode of an alkaline battery contains manganese along with the carbon, I think.

 

Tom, you are correct again. I took apart a few batteries and I know I used to find a nice piece of carbon in them but the alkaline batteries just have slime in them. No good for what I need. I will have to go to the store and get some regular non alkaline batteries and take them apart.

It will be hard to connect wires to them but I will figure it out. I think I have some conductive epoxy if I could find it. It is for making electric connections to things you can't solder.

The carbon brush I tried turned green, which means it is loaded with copper so I can't use that.

Back to the drawing board :unsure:

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Well the thing seems to be perfected. I used graphite from a carpenters pencil for the terminal that corrodes quickly. The chlorine emmitting electrode is still stainless steel but it is thinner now. The entire thing is small and compact with a push buton momentary contact. There is a light in it to tell you it is working. Of course the light don't work so it is back to Radio Shack for a different light but that is very easy to replace. I just don't know how long it will work.

The transformer is 18 volts which is rectified to give out DC.

I used a stainless steel spring to connect the graphite to a wire, it coils tightly around the graphite to give a good connection. The spring and wire are encased in clear

"Goop" glue. I use Goop on another thing that I patented for the hobby that stays underwater so I know that will be no problem.

After I do a few more tests, and if they are successful, I will mail it to someone to test.

 

IMG_0370.jpg

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The mojanos I zapped last week did not return. I can not test the finished model yet because the glue is still drying but I tested it with a meter and it should work fine.

The chlorine gas emitted by the stainless steel electrode completely oxidizes the mojano so there is nothing left but bubbles.

I don't think I would use it for long on a nano due to the chlorine it generates but it seems to have no effect in my tank.

I noted that I tested it on a small volume of water that I was hatching brine shrimp in and more seemed to hatch. I think that is because you can use chlorine bleach to de capsulate brine shrimp eggs and I think that is what happened.

The thing is also safe as the transformer is plugged into the wall and has an output of 18 volts at 350 miliamps. You can barely light a flashlight with that amount of currrent and is no where near as dangerous as the 110 volt heaters and powerheads we all have in our tanks which can potentially be very dangerous.

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I just tested the thing and of course I had a case of reversed polarity but that only took a minute to resolve and it works perfect. I am running out of mojanos to test it on.

I wish there was someone living close to me that I could just tery it out on. But I am happy. I don't really care about mojanos one way or another, I just gwet satisfaction when something works like it is supposed to and nothing blows up. Thats always good.

And an added benefit, I can make a gallon of Clorox in a few minutes. :blush:

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I just tested the thing and of course I had a case of reversed polarity but that only took a minute to resolve and it works perfect.

 

Did reversing the polarity create new majanos instead of destroying them?

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I'll get in the long line to test one.

 

I think I will make a few of them to test. I have no plans to mass produce the thing, mojanos already put out a hit on me.

 

Did reversing the polarity create new majanos instead of destroying them?

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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Paul, what's the polarity on the stainless steel electrode?

 

The stainless steel pin is negative and is the electrode that emits chlorine.

There should be no problem with the graphite in the salt water but you would know more about that than I do.

If I could get some larger pieces of graphite like the old batteries I could make a much nicer looking model.

 

A 6 volt lantern battery even works.

Edited by paul b
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Paul, If you ever need any tester let me know, I'll be happy to test it in my tank I will be happy to try as I have both aiptasia and mojano all over my tank :(. only thing is that I live in N.Va..;(

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haha if you are willing to ship I'll cover the shiping charges... I am at the point where I am giving up on my tank and willing to try anything before I take the route of taking everything down. let me know

Sid

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The stainless steel pin is negative and is the electrode that emits chlorine.

There should be no problem with the graphite in the salt water but you would know more about that than I do.

If I could get some larger pieces of graphite like the old batteries I could make a much nicer looking model.

 

A 6 volt lantern battery even works.

 

The negative electrode releases hydrogen, not chlorine, since it donates electrons to the H+ (hydrogen) ions, allowing them to combine to form hydrogen gas (H2). That's why it's not dissolving, by the way. Chlorine gas would begin to eat away the stainless steel.

 

The carbon electrode should be fine.

 

I think your design looks great with the drafting pencil lead. An electrode out of an old carbon-zinc AA or AAA battery would be more durable, though, simply because it's been compressed under higher pressure.

 

I'm not sure it's the gas that's killing the anemone. It may be that the voltage potential is disrupting cell membranes, opening channels up and causing the cells to burst. Whatever is going on, it seems to be lethal to the buggers. You should find and try it on an Aiptasia.

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Tom I can't find any old batteries that would have carbon in them. All I have is alkaline and ni cad which I mutilated already.

So if the negative electrode releases hydrogen, then that is whats gassing. I don't see the graphite electrode releasing anything but the water definately has a very strong chlorine smell. I didn't think hydrogen would oxidize an amenone.

 

The anemone is definately oxidizing, or at least it looks like that. I don't think the electricity is a factor as it would not turn the thing white and disolve the tissue.

It sounds like a nice experiment. Maybe I can introduce a spark in there and make a flame thrower out of the hydrogen.

OK so maybe that will burn my house down.

I know, I will do it outside. :tongue:

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