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.