HHO - Where Do We Go From Here?

Every Saturday, I load the car up with my HHO dry cell set-up and head to a local LA park where a group of HHO enthusiasts congregate. We pop our hoods and trunks, set-up tables and even tents to showcase our HHO gizmos and gadgets.

Some days will offer a tremendous turn-out of the curious public, engineers and mechanics who often ask, "how do I get involved?" Other days, it's just us HHO junkies out there, sharing stories and ideas and wondering, "where do we go from here?"

For as many answers as we have regarding HHO technology, we have even more questions regarding its future as a clean fuel resource. We've all learned how to make generators that create large amounts of HHO, but few have figured out a viable and consistent method of applying it to an engine.

While the world is full of skeptics, the few true-believers hold on to the notion that HHO's time will come. But, for now I'm afraid we've hit a stagnant point where HHO will go no further than a garage hobby for tinkerers. We're hearing too often from those who say HHO "does not work," either because of what they know about science or they have tried it with no success. We're accused of being a bunch of snake oil salesmen who are only in it for the money.

These comments are painfully frustrating for us HHO enthusiasts to hear. We know how much time, effort, research and experimentation has goes into this fledging technology. We know there are those who are successfully running their vehicles on HHO. We know, with maybe one or two exceptions, that no one involved has made a dime. Those who are trying to sell products have a lot more money invested than what they've made from sales.

Nearly every HHO enthusiast I've met has the same story; they believe that this technology can assist in cleaning up our environment and alleviate America's dependence on oil. While some may be hoping to one day make a decent living with HHO, no one is seeing this as "get rich quick" scheme. A common dilemma I hear from those who have installed HHO systems is that initially they're getting great results, only to have their mileage return to normal after a couple of weeks. Understandably this is a huge discouragement and either they give up, or become bitter and attack HHO technology as in-plausible.

In almost every case this has been caused by the OBD2 computer on their cars. The OBD2 computers will eventually adjust for the HHO wiping out any previous mileage gains. Until we figure out how to consistently make permanent adjustments to the OBD2 computer, newer cars will never be able to accept or run on HHO.

So, how do we get involved? Where do we go from here? A good place to start is getting these HHO generators in the hands of mechanics, tuners, chip makers, dealerships - anyone with testing equipment that can do proper installations and adjustments with details and documentation to back up the results. The days of setting up an EFIE and reporting mileage based on an onboard computer are over. In order for the public to accept and endorse this technology we must configure a permanent, easy to maintain (if not completely hands-off) solution.

I propose that anyone out there selling HHO systems lend one for testing purposes to interested mechanics or tuners in your area. Let them tinker with it, test it, install it and make yourself available to answer questions and be of assistance. Try to document their tests on video and get printouts from dyno runs, smog tests, etc.

Engines CAN be tuned to run with HHO, but it needs to be done right. Rob, D3, and Scarecrow have been doing a great job of figuring this stuff out, but we need to get a lot more people involved. If we can convice more serious tuners or chip makers to give it a shot, I'm confident they'll see the potential of HHO and enthusiastically spread the word.

For now, I'll be heading out to "HHO day" this Saturday and many more to come, hoping to meet that one enthusiast who makes the difference. Hope to see YOU there.