Mad Max
- DIY
How to Make a Fuel Cell-Powered Car
What looks like a refugee from Mad Max is really a modified RC car that runs on water rather than conventional batteries. This proof of concept project gives you some practical meaningful experience using a fuel cell to generate usable electricity. Why wait for the Honda FCX Hydrogen Car when you can build your own working model prototype today?6.8.2009 at 09:45pm - Comment by Mad MaxThis was a great experiment thank you Dave. For anyone trying this. A few things you should do to make this work better. a more powerful solar panel is needed 4.5 watt minimum radio shack sells a nice one with a science kit. Elenco™ Solar Educational Kit Model: TR-30 | Catalog #: 277-011 $19.99 this will fill the bell jar with hydrogen in about 10 minutes. Also draw all of the water out of the fuel cell so the membrane is damp excessive water in it will decrease the efficiency of the process. The 5V DC to DC step up (Spark Fun Electronics # PRT-08290; $9.95) I don’t know if we had gotten a bad chip or not we could not get that to work a little more detail on how to install it would have been helpful. Without the chip the fuel cell could not power all of the cars functions but it was powerful enough to power the motor it ran for about 10 minutes at a very respectable speed.
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December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
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