Hydroflux welder proportion of lye

Jewelry Discussion
1

does anyone with a hydroflux welder know the proportion of lye
(sodium hydroxide) to add to a liter of distilled water to refill the
electrolyte?

2

You would expect the cell to use KOH not NaOH (More efficient but
both work) and this one apparently really does use KOH too. I
remember using 20% by weight in different cells but hydroflux seems
to use 12 -15 %. no magic. I do not have a hydroflux welder! Most
everything I ever ran was very much bigger --other than some even
smaller instruments.

jesse

3

Dear Jesse:

You would expect the cell to use KOH not NaOH

You would be correct. In fact, with a number of units, it would be
harmful to operational life expectancy. The greater efficiency of KOH
is often required since there is a lower yield of gas for all single
cell generators like the Hydroflux and minimum gas pressures have to
be maintained.

It is important for me to say, we have a different (superior)
technology, and are a direct competitor in the jewelry industry and
this is not a negative comment on single cell generators.

You just have to use the specified (not just recommended) chemicals
for both their units and ours. The strength of the mix is also
dependent upon the design of the cell system, a balance, so it is
usually beneficial (of value) to use the exact chemicals the
manufacturer provides in this case.

To prevent damage and generate profit, manufacturers would usually
prefer to sell their own chemicals which they know to be correct and
without any possibility of error which could cause permanent damage.

Best Regards,
Gary

Gary W. Miller
Sr. Technical Advisor
800 499 9933 or 203 378 5216
www.spirig.org

4

Just to clarify and inform all respondents, though no one has
offered the exact directions that are on the package of anyone’s
product for hydroflux welder electrolyte that I requested:

First if one looks on Rio’s published MSDS the main ingredient in
their “engineered” electrolytle mix is SODIUM HYDROXIDE more
commonly known as LYE. Lye is available readily, cheaper and requires
a trip to a grocer or hardware to get it, saving the gallons and
gallons of petrol that would be required to order the same chemical
packaged with a company’s proprietary label, and transporting it from
New Mexico to Louisiana…lye is lye is lye…I tend to go for the
simplest solution to anything. Second, potassium hydroxide is also
equally readily available, but not the main ingredient listed on
Okai’s, Rio’s, Frei’s or any other distributor of a dry electrolyte
mix - all which have Sodium Hydroxide as the main ingredient, some
with some inert fillers to buffer water and unnecessarily add weight
to the product…Before posting my query I made certain of what I was
asking for as the label on my package giving the proportion required
to mix with distilled water had faded beyond legibility.

That’s all I need: another person with a Hydroflux welder to copy
the directions for mixing and send it. Since Okai corp. has never
responded to any emails in 3 years, nor returned any phone calls I
decided to ask other owners of Hydroflux welders for the information
from the cannister’s label perhaps sitting in their chemical storage
area. If anyone has some sitting around please send me the directions
off the package.

thanks.

5 
Just to clarify and inform all respondents, though no one has
offered the exact directions that are on the package of anyone's
product for hydroflux welder electrolyte that I requested

Two of us told you KOH not NaOH. and I told you the concentration!!
seek and you may find:

http://www.okai.com/hydroflux/msdskoh.htm

jesse

6 
another person with a Hydroflux welder to copy the directions for
mixing and send it. Since Okai corp. has never responded to *any*
emails in 3 years, nor returned any phone calls I decided to ask
other owners of Hydroflux welders for the from the
cannister's label perhaps sitting in their chemical storage area.

I apologize for any problems you have experienced in contacting Okai
Corporation. Please feel free to email me directly with any
questions you may have regarding the HydroFlux Welder.

The HydroFlux Welder uses only potassium hydroxide and water in its’
electrolyte.

The correct mix for the HydroFlux electrolyte is 463 grams of dry
potassium hydroxide mixed into 1 quart of distilled water.

Best Regards,
Michael McCoy
Okai Corporation

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