There's a really simple toy boat that uses a coil of copper tubing heated by a candle to propel itself, and you can make HHO gas by splitting the hydrogen and oxygen in water apart by running a direct current thru it. You can try both by putting a candle and copper wire coil on a toy boat and running a 9 volt battery thru a cup of salt water. So the idea is to burn that collected hydrogen and oxygen together to heat the copper coil instead of the candle.
-- silentman, Jun 17 2010

Hydrogen and Oxygen from Water http://www.youtube....watch?v=OTEX38bQ-2w
[silentman, Jun 17 2010]

Putt Putt or pop pop boat powered by candle http://www.youtube....?v=semJQYDk83M&NR=1
[silentman, Jun 17 2010]

You'd do far better to run an electric motor from the 9V battery directly, but + for the remembrance of Putt Putt Boats!
-- csea, Jun 17 2010


How long would you have to run the 9V battery electrolysis plant to produce enough HHO for a single pop?

Still, + for uneccassery and complex modification to a beautifully simple design.
-- Twizz, Jun 17 2010


I was given a putt putt boat six months ago and it's still sitting on my shelf. I suspect now is the time to fire up and introduce it to the kids.
-- wagster, Jun 17 2010


Make sure it hasn't seized up, or it will be a putt putt, bang boat
-- xenzag, Jun 17 2010


Think of the volume of fuel in a candle compared to a comparable volume of hydrogen. I think the hydrogen will not make things very hot.
-- bungston, Jun 18 2010


Because of this idea, when I was in an auto parts store in Los Angeles today to buy car wax I actually found myself looking around at small coils of copper tubing for thermostatic controls and thinking, "I could totally make a putt-putt outboard motorboat with this!"

Thanks for the brief return to childhood, [silentman].
-- jurist, Jun 18 2010



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