CM Preface
VICTOR Control Modules
My goal here is to achieve the maximum advantage from HHO Cells to improve the efficiency of the IC Engines. It is not to achieve maximum current load (I.E. 30+ Amps) through the HHO Cell. What savings do you have if you have to replace your car's battery or the alternator in half their life expectancy?
Initially in designing the VICTOR HHO Cell, I thought that this massive producer was going to be great. Lately, I have discovered that it is a better fit for a basic IC Engine and provides less than my anticipated results when applied to a late model automobiles with active emission control devices regulated by the car's computer. Don't get me wrong, there are advantages as it is built! I was just expecting a lot more.
In the advanced cars, the computers (Electronic Control Unit - ECU), changes fuel mixtures based upon various aspects of the engine's performance to its environment and condition. Upon reviewing the ECU affects - I'm discovering that we may need active control(s) to support an HHO Fuel Cell in these advanced ECU systems. The driving elements to support my background research that guided my control circuitry construction can be reviewed under the Engines and Technology page.
Two Control Modules (CM) were constructed, tested, modified etc., to best fit for the VICTOR HHO Cell. Functions of the CMs are independent of each other for different purposes. The Interactive-Pulse Width Modulation (I-PWM) helps to control the current load associated with the HHO Cell and the Electronic Fuel Injection Enhancer (EFIE) helps to control the offset needed to adjust for Oxygen Sensor's Fuel/Air mixture (Rich to Lean).
The Control Modules discussed below are in a manner of overall/basic review. It is assumed that you have reviewed the Engine and Technology page of this website. Because the details are limited only to the level to help explain the circuit for its purpose and operation. More in depth details and adjustments that I have experimented with are not part of this discussion but may be addressed through Email via the Contact page. Again, I must express that the CM components presented are in fact a work in progress and some details may change as needed with out notice/update to this website.
Control Modules
VICTOR HHO Cell Control
Pulse-Width Modulation
When applying a direct current to any HHO fuel cell, a high resistance will be present in the water (electrolyte mixture). High resistance generates heat causing the water to heat up. As the temperature rises, the resistance in the water goes down, allowing more current/amps to pass through the fuel cell. By the end of the day, the current can easily be three times the amount than what you started with at the beginning of the day, possibly over heating the fuel cell and causing damage.
So now, the issue becomes finding the correct electrolyte concentration for an entire day of driving. If you start out weak, then production is very slow and you lose the benefits until much later in the day. If you start out strong enough to see benefits right away, by the end of the day, you are blowing fuses or greatly stressing your alternator.
We can easily fix this problem with pulse modulation to reduce the current load demanded by an over heated fuel cell. For example: Cycling the HHO Cell - ON and OFF. Controlling the ratio of ON:OFF would greatly enhance the ability of limiting current demanded by the cell.
Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) is a method of relaying information on a series of 
pulses. The data that is being transmitted is timing duration related to the width of the pulses to control the power duration (ON) being sent to a load. In other words, PWM is a modulation technique of switching the power supplied to the fuel cell ON and OFF very rapidly. DC source voltage is converted to a square-wave signal, alternating between fully ON and fully OFF, giving the fuel cell a series of power "kicks", effectively maintaining potential while limiting current to prevent over heating. To the fuel cell, it appears smooth because it is so fast, just like our vision can barely detect the flickering of a fluorescent light bulb even though it is turned ON and OFF 120 times a second. The ratio of ON time to the switching period time is the duty cycle. The higher the duty cycle, the longer the power transistor switch applies an output power.
scillator) and a comparator. When the sawtooth voltage (green line) rises above the reference voltage (blue line), a power transistor is switched ON. And the HHO Cell receives full power.
As the sawtooth falls below the reference, the transistor is switched OFF. The HHO Cell does not receive any power. The affect is a square wave output (ON and OFF) to the fuel cell (red line).
An effective way to set the reference voltage is by using a potentiometer. If the reference voltage is set too high (raising the blue line), the sawtooth never reaches it, so output is zero (OFF). If it should be set too low, the comparator would always be ON, giving full power.
Here is a very simple and practical PWM circuit. This circuit uses the LM324N (14-pin DIL IC containing four individual op-amps) and running off a single-rail power supply. The sawtooth is generated with two of the op-amps (U1A and U1B), configured as a Schmitt Trigger and Miller Integrator, and a third (U1C) is used as a comparator to compare the sawtooth with the reference voltage for controlling the switching of the power transistor.
The fourth op-amp (U1D) is used as a voltage follower to buffer the reference voltage from the potential divider. The high input and low output impedance of this draws very little current from the potential divider, so high value thermistors (a type of resistor with resistance varying according to its temperature) can be used in thermal version of this controller.
Current Limiting PWM (I-PWM)
By making a few alterations to the basic PWM, we can limit the duty cycle based on the current load drawn by the fuel cell. If peak current tries to exceed a pre-fixed value, the RMS average will automatically roll back the current. We can call this a Current(I) Limiting PWM or an Interactive PWM (I-PWM).
For example, you start the day with the output duty cycle about 100%, but half way through the day as the cell is getting warm, it will want to draw twice as much current. Therefore, the I-PWM senses this and rolls back the duty cycle to 50%. At the end of day when the cell wants to draw three times as much current the I-PWM is operating at 33% duty cycle. This allows the fuel cell to maintain an average operating load though out the entire day while preventing overheating and eliminates
changing your electrolyte on a daily base for local or distance driving.
With the current limiting modification to the basic PWM, any time the source of Q1 draws current, the op-amp U1D monitors the voltage drop across the shunt resister R12 and compares its reading with the Current Limiting control circuit established with VR3. The resulting output controls the Duty Cycle VR1 Circuitry, in turn affecting the comparison level at U1C(9) to change the ON / OFF cycling of power transistor Q1. If the voltage drop across R12 exceeds the preset value of VR3, the comparator drops the PWM duty cycle until the average is just less than the preset value. C4 ensures that the current limiting is an average and not peaks.
Adding Frequency Control VR2, enables us to vary the frequency of the sawtooth wave form to establish a better performance of the system if needed. Typically, this would be set near the upper frequencies limits of the circuit where maximum production can be achieved with 100% Duty Cycle setting. If the maximum should occur at the limits of VR2 - then a 5-10% reduction of VR2 should be performed. The frequency range is 1KHz-10KHz. You can elevate the max current limit if you need to by shortening the shunt wire inside that makes R12.
The adjustment to Current Limiter-VR3 and to Duty Cycle-VR1 depends a lot on the fuel cell characteristics and the needed HHO production output without overdriving the fuel cell and causing blown fuses or blown seals. The Electrolyte mixture is one of the elements of the fuel cell characteristics as well as the plates and their capacity / surface interaction with the electrolyte. Ideally, the current load available to the fuel cell should be between 5-15 Amps. The electrolyte may be adjusted to help establish best HHO production. A personal goal for the VICTOR HHO Cell series is between 8-10 amperes maximum.
A complete parts list for the I-PWM is available on request by completing the "Contact Us" form and typing I-PWM Parts List in the comment section.
IC Engine O2 Control
Electronic Fuel Injection Enhancer (EFIE)
When adding a fuel cell to an older vehicle that is carbureted, you will see immediate improvements in MPG. However, this is not the case for fuel injected vehicles equipped with an ECU. This is because the fuel burned inside the cylinders has significantly improved, but the O2 sensor is expecting the same amount of un-burnt oxygen to come out the engine onto the exhaust where it is monitoring the oxygen to fuel vapor. This causes a signal to be fed back to the ECU, increasing the air:fuel mixture (Richer), which counter acts the MPG gains you might have otherwise received/anticipated.
The handling for this situation is simple. The signal coming from the O2 sensor needs to be adjusted to compensate for the increased fuel efficiency being achieved. The added oxygen from the HHO Cell now in the exhaust fools the ECU into thinking the mixture is too lean, therefore incorrectly causing the ECU to richen the mix. An Electronic Fuel Injection Enhancer (EFIE) designed for the purpose to adjust the voltage from the O2 sensor to the ECU, will shift the signal received and re-balance the O2 sensor when HHO is flowing. This will make the ECU think that there is less oxygen in the exhaust than there actually is, where by reducing the fuel mix (Leaner) for improved MPG.
NOTE: An EFIE, by itself, is not a fuel efficiency device. 
It is possible that an EFIE could be used to control the vehicle's ECU, and make the engine burn a little leaner, and this could possibly give a small increase in gas mileage. However, this is not what it was designed to do. It was designed to complement (support), and in some cases make possible, an increase in gas mileage using other fuel efficiency devices.
The EFIE circuit is constructed to provide an ON / OFF (HI/LOW) signal to the primary of a transformer by means of a simple IC Clock (LM555). The inductance of the transformer responding to the ON / OFF of the clock will smooth out into more of sign wave form.
The transformer's secondary output is fed to a full-wave bridge for the purpose of creating a floating bias level for the output. In a dual system operation the transformer will have a matching output secondary winding and a completely separate bridge network independent of the first.
Output filtering capacitor along with potentiometer enables the bias voltage to be adjusted for the effective range of the O2 Sensor circuit.
Initial setting of the EFIE is simple. With an applied 12VDC source to the circuit, oscillation should begin instantly without any adjustments to the frequency. The frequency has been previously established in the balanced range of O2 sensors. The EFIE output is adjusted by variable potentiometer (two for dual exhaust systems).
Using a digital voltmeter, adjust the EFIE output for 0.45Volts. This level will best match most systems before adjusting the EFIE in the circuit (connected to the ECU).
It is very important that the IC Engine achieves its normal operating temperature before attempting any adjustments to the EFIE. All adjustments should be conducted while the EFIE is in the system performance mode (Closed Loop), and should be allowed to settle down before a final reading. (While making adjustments - it should be noted the turn counts of the potentiometer in order to re-establish or return back to a previous setting if needed.)
It may take up to 5 minutes for the O2 Sensor and the ECU to react to corrections made for a too rich/lean setting. A corrected adjustment may be too much or too little at the initial setting. After the ECU makes corrections to the gasoline fuel mixture and the exhaust temperature settles down, then a second or a third adjustment may be needed.
WARNING - 1) Never set the EFIE for full maximum or full minimum levels. A good rule of range is +/- .3V of the Mid level .45V when used in conjunction with other alternate high mileage systems. 2) All adjustments should be made in the closed-loop mode of the IC-engine (after the engine has had chance to fully warm up). 3) All adjusts must be re-read after 3-5 minutes of running time to allow the ECU computer to make adjustments and the opportunity for the heat in the exhaust system to stabilize somewhere in the range of 600-700F degrees.
NOTE: Be aware that the level of intensity for O2 sensor is very small, less than one volt. And that the primary range of the signal level is about +/- 1 millivolt (+/-0.1Volt) upon the established threshold. To ensure that the O2 sensor is read properly, conduct a simple continuity test between the O2 sensor ground (the exhaust system) and the ground for the ECU and EFIE (automobile chassis). Multiple points should be checked to establish a true reading. This would ensure that you are making a good contact between the two points and not that of rust on the exhaust or from the paint on the chassis. Any resistance (normally the lowest reading found - if any), not zero will create an offset voltage that can have an affect to the overall performance of the EFIE and O2 sensor signal to the ECU computer. A digital voltage meter can also detect for the false offset by measuring a voltage between the two grounds while the engine is running and under heavy load (head lights on, air condition running. etc.). The offset can falsely affect the true performance of any high mileage enhance system. Normally the ECU will detect this problem and give a 'Check Engine' light.
If an offset is detected by either means above then corrective action should be taken by cleaning and/or tightening elements of the exhaust system or the grounding cable to the engine. Even ensuring that the mounting area for the EFIE is grounded. An alternate corrective means could be used to establish a new grounding connection to the engine or exhaust system.
Circuit Board Construction
Control Module Boards
Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
A printed circuit board (PCB) is an electrical component used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways / traces. Electronic circuits can be physically constructed using a number of 
methods. Breadboards, perfboards, or stripboards are common for testing new designs. However, mass-produced circuits are typically built using a PCB because they have a higher density, higher reliability, and you have very precise control of all the components in your circuit.
The first part of making a PCB is to define your circuit. Create a schematic by downloading Express SCH from www.expresspcb.com and specify what components are on the board and how they are connected.
After the circuit is defined, use Express PCB (also
downloaded from www.expresspcb.com) to layout the traces on the board. The traces are the pathways etched from copper foil laminated on one or both sides of a non-conductive substrate (Copper Clad) that connect the components.
Once the traces are laid out its time to transfer the image to copper clad. To do this, use the toner transfer method explained at www.fullnet.com.
With the image transferred to the copper clad, the only thing left is to drill the holes and start the etching process. Refer to the instructions at www.instructables.com
WARNING - Handle all components with caution, as the Integrated Circuits (ICs) are very sensitive to static electricity. Static electricity is often generated when sliding in your seat, your foot across the floor, etc. - if you should be holding the leads of an IC you can very easily destroy the internal circuits with that sudden static discharge. For best practice, use a grounding wristband. Wristbands can be purchased from generally any electronic shop. Another precaution to take is to use IC sockets wherever practical to avoid soldering directly to an IC component. After all components have been mounted, then the IC chips can be placed into their sockets.
When your PCB is ready for assembly - take note of 
weak and critical areas where a trace may be very thin or lie too close to another trace. A low wattage soldering iron (approximately 15-20Watts) should be used for the smallest or critical points. A fine clean soldering point is a must!
If the joint cools and hardens to a gloss finish then you can expect that the electrical bond is good at this time. If the joint should appear to frost over, then that is considered being a Cold Solder Joint, and assumed to be a bad bond. Re-heat the cold solder joint (maybe with fresh rosin), to achieve a good bond.
Time to get to work
Your Invited
Its time to put it all together - I wish to invite you to continue to the assembly of the VICTOR HHO Cell.
