DIY: Miox water purifier

This is carried over from another thread:

Here

I put one together using type B thermocouple wire.

The anode is 94% Platinum 6% Rhodium

the Cathode is 70% Platinum, and 30% Rhodium.

according to the Miox Patent The cathode should be Titanium, but I dont have any of that.

I used about 2" of wire for each, and coiled them up to give me more surface area. The container an empty craft paint container.




It was a little tricky to wrap it all in there without the electrodes touching each other.





When a fresh 9V was added, it gave off lots of bubbles, and a fizzy sound.

I think I need more current (bigger batteries) to get the proper reaction.

The resulting solution after 30 sec of production will bleach ice tea quite a bit lighter.

Do you have pool test strips? If so, can we get a parts per million on the chlorine, to compair to the MIOX?

I have some, they go from .5 to 10 ppm

After running it for 5 seconds, then adding it to .5L Ice tea, then waiting 1/2 hour I read 0.5 ppm.


What range should I be getting?

Looks good to me, but I'm not an expert <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Once you get it worked out, maybe take it to your local university biology lab with some lake/stream water and see if any critters are still kicking...

Good Idea,

I'm concerned that even though I'm making adequate free chlorine, without the identical electrodes/catalysts, I may not be making enough of the other mixed oxidants to get the bug killing power of the real MIOX.

The gas that is put off is flammable? Might be good to know.

from another website:

>Katie Bolek [2:47 PM February 21, 2005]
>katie@miox.com
>http://www.miox.com
>Another clarification on the test strips -- they are measuring >4.0 to 5.0 ppm of free chlorine, + or - 0.5 ppm.

So were looking for 5 ppm of free chlorine.

I've refined my Free Chlorine Generator.

Tools Needed
dremel or hacksaw,
needle nose pliers
soldering iron and solder
glue gun and glue sticks


Parts
less than $20



Titanium Washer
from mcmaster.com
Part # 94051A220
$1.81





3" Platinum Wire .020" dia
type b thermocouple wire
94% platinum 6% Rhodium
around $4 per inch or $12
I happened to have some around, you may try contacting a local jewerly repair shop or precious metals recycler, it may be cheaper.





Polypropylene Vial
from mcmaster.com
Part # 4574T13
10 for $6.67 or $0.70 each





9 Volt battery terminal
from Radio Shack
About $1





Switch
from Radioshack
Part # 275-402
2 for $3 or $1.50 each



Fabrication



Using a dremel or hacksaw, sliver off a little section of the titanium washer, but dont cut all the way through.





Next, carefully bend back the little piece of washer.





Poke the washer through the plastic vial all the way at the bottom. you may want to use a straight pin to poke a hole first.





I tried to get solder to stick to the titanium washer several times, but without success. I found I could wrap a few strands of wire around the titanium nub, and then solder it. I used about 1" of the black lead for this.





Here are the wires wrapped around the titanium nub.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox11.jpg[/img]

Now the solder sticks just fine. Be careful not to melt the vial.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox12.jpg[/img]

Trim the black lead very short and solder to the washer. Make sure the black lead is long enough to position the 9 volt connector on the bottom of the vial. Again, be careful not to melt the vial.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox13.jpg[/img]

Trim the ears off of the switch, we don't need them.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox14.jpg[/img]

Bend back one of the tabs, we won't need it either.


[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox15.jpg[/img]

Solder the platinum wire to one of the terminals, I used the middle one.


[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox16.jpg[/img]

Using a straight pin, poke a hole in the vial about 1/8" above the hole for the washer. Feed the platinum wire in through the hole, and roll the wire into a coil until the switch is up against the side of the vial as shown.


[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox17.jpg[/img]

Trim the red lead and solder it to the other switch terminal.


[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox18.jpg[/img]

Using a glue gun, encase all the electronics, making sure you get the holes where the wires go through the vial. Glue the 9 volt connector to the bottom of the vial, and the switch to the side. Make sure you don’t get any glue into the side of the switch. If you do, it won't be able to slide and operate properly.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox19.jpg[/img]

Finished product, attached to a 9 volt battery. Make sure the wire is not touching the washer.



[img]http://sandraven.net/miox/miox20.jpg[/img]

Making Chlorine.

I don't know if I'm making the same mixed oxidants as a Miox, but it definitely producing free chlorine. Using pool test strips, you can easily get the required 4-5 ppm of chlorine in a liter of water with just a few seconds of run time.

Bill,

Dude, you the man!!!
<img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for all your work.

-Blast

Hot Diggity, that's spiffy. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My only concern about this is the plastic vial and glue to seal it up. Isn't the Miox using a glass chamber? But it looks like one could replicate the anode and cathode used pretty effectively. I don't think I would worry about the plastic & glue at first, but I expect they might break down over time.

That's pretty damn cool Bill.