Building new Hydrogen Iron Man reactor. Model 2026: high pressure electrolyzer @ALEXLAB

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]What's up Iron Man fans? Here the video you haven't been waiting for so long, right? In this part, we will try to build a new hydrogen reactor for Iron Man suit. The one we designed so easily in the previous video. By the way, if you haven't watched the previous video, it's probably a good idea to check it out so you can better understand what we are doing today. And why? Because right now we are going to jump straight into the making a new model. Drop your likes and comments below the video. Links to my PDF instructions, guides, and blueprints are also below the video.

[00:00:31]Let's go.

[00:00:41]To start, we'll need some stainless steel for electrolyer and some aluminum and copper for the radiator. Check the prices for new metal in a store and realize that once again, maybe it's better to use some scraps.

[00:01:03]Paint is peeling off the wall. Bills are stacked up on the table. No one's answering when I call. I can sit here, waiting on a saving grace, but my hands are made for working. I'll rebuild this broken place. Do it yourself if you want it done right. Yeah. Hammer out the fear.

[00:01:32]>> If you need to fix anything up tonight.

[00:01:42]>> I think we should lead with that next time. In fact, at the nearest scrapyard, I found everything I need for a new electrolyer almost for free, except for sheet metal. There was some suitable sheets, but they're all bent and scratched, which would definitely affect the ceiling later on. But on the way back to garage, a brilliant idea came to me.

[00:02:15]So after digging around a bit at the scrapyard and decide to go with some technical cannibalization of the previous model, I managed to get almost all necessary materials.

[00:02:28]By the way, you can see here what happens to an electrolyer after dozens of hours of operation.

[00:02:39]That's right. Nothing happens to it as long as you design it properly.

[00:02:45]Usually I cut all that flat parts for electrolyer using a laser in a nitrogen atmosphere. So I can quickly get smooth parts without any oxygen scale on the edges. But since today we have a special case, one that doesn't even meet the minimum order requirement at the laser cutting center, we'll have to fall back on good old garage DIY. That means making it with our own hands.

[00:03:10]First, we'll make the most critical part, the body wall, which will have to withstand the greatest mechanical, thermal, and chemical stress.

[00:03:38]Back when I used to make similar parts, I would typically use an angle grinder to cut a polygon and then painfully turn it into a circle by grinding off the corners on the sander. Of course, that process was long, noisy, and dirty. And most importantly, the edges of the part would still end up uneven. Once I managed to get my own L, making these parts became possible on that machine.

[00:04:02]Of course, without a special backing plate, you can secure such a part in the chuck. So, before manufacturing the actual parts, you first need to manufacture a jig out of steel duralin or at least fluoroplastic, which also wasn't particularly robust or cheap.

[00:04:20]In fact, that's one of the main problems when creating the first prototypes. To make the part you need, which is often only required as a single piece, you first have to make the parts to make that part.

[00:04:47]This is exactly the problem that 3D scanners and 3D printers solve, helping save time and money on prototyping. What especially impressive are modern 3D printers that can print strong, heatresistant parts from ABS plastic.

[00:04:59]And what's even better, they do it quickly. For example, now you can model and print the necessary jig during just 1 hour lunch break. In this case, we print a backing plate from ABS plastic.

[00:05:14]Securely attach our plate to it. And then mount the backing plate in the last chalk.

[00:05:22]Turn the polygon. And after just 5 minutes of flat work, we get a perfectly round part. After it, we can manufacture the inner place of the electrolyer using the exact same method. First, we cut out polygons. Then, we turn them to obtain identical, perfectly smooth discs.

[00:05:59]And yes, answering the question in the comments in advance. In this model, the inner plates do not have electrical terminals like in my other electrolyers because only the outer plates will be electrically connected to the power supply uh using the screws in the walls.

[00:06:21]These electrical connections constantly raise question among those who are starting to build their own models. How many terminals per section should I make? How do I correctly calculate the minimum cross-section to avoid melting of the gaskets and so on? Just a reminder, these technical questions as well as all other aspects of designing and building your own electrolyers, I've described in detail in my new book that is now available with the links below.

[00:06:46]Thank you for reading it.

[00:06:48]If you notice, I start marking the parts and all necessary technical holes the oldfashioned way out of habit using a compass and protractor. But then I remembered again that I have a 3D printer. So I quickly modeled and printed some templates for marking.

[00:07:16]After making the metal parts of the electrolyer, we move on to the insulators.

[00:07:24]In addition to the gaskets made of chemical and temperature resistant rubber, which I used in all previous models, I decided to add a special spacer that will keep the gaskets from being squeezed out under the increased pressure. In the hydrogen booster of the pit bike, which also operates at pretty high pressure, the role of such a spacer was played by structural epoxy power, which wasn't great idea even at the time of manufacturing to say nothing about testing. Not only does an electrolyer sealed that way end up heavy and non-serviceable, but when the pressure rises about 10 atmospheres, the epoxy cracks and inevitably starts leaking.

[00:08:02]But back then, I was limited by the technologies of my time. How do we make such parts? Now, let's say it's all together. We 3D printed.

[00:08:12]Just please don't start writing in the comments again that once a 3D printer appears in the garage, it's no longer a real DIY channel. It absolutely is. It's not that simple here either. You still need to know how to 3D print properly.

[00:08:25]In the very first list, you have to learn basic 3D modeling and also account for tolerance, feeds and shrinkage range of each filament to make sure that the parts fits together well. And you also need to understand the filament themselves. For example, for our spacer, we could use regular ABS plastic, but there is a chance that with possible contact with alkali electrolyte as well as under the increased pressure and temperature, ABS might not hold up. So for this, it's better not to use regular ABS, but a special polyropylene filament reinforced with fiberglass.

[00:09:01]In addition to high chemical and temperature resistance, it's also extremely abrasive, unfortunately, which means you can't print with a standard brass nozzle. You'll need to install a carbide nozzle with a larger diameter because the glass fibers will get stuck in a standard size nozzle. Why am I saying all this? To point out that 3D printing isn't that simple, too. So, I'll keep insisting that using 3D printers in DIY projects doesn't devalue the meaning of the manual labor. On the contrary, it complements it. This high manufacturing precision and quality feed of the parts that allows us to achieve the level of sealing necessary for the entire energy system to operate. Once the main parts of the electrolyer are made, we can do first assembly without silicon sealant for now to make sure all the parts are made correctly and fit together well.

[00:10:14]After the test assembly of the electrolyer, we move on to making the radiator, which in theory should quickly and effectively cool the reactor in case of overheating. I'll try not to overheat it like I did before, of course, but I know myself, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

[00:10:35]Come on.

[00:10:58]I roll out a dawn.

[00:11:02]with a my coffee and a map on the floor.

[00:11:13]Your name on my tongue like a dare I should keep.

[00:11:20]I burn through the red and I never look back.

[00:11:28]Li sparks on that black top crown. My hands on the wheel. I won't slow down.

[00:11:36]We take it all tonight.

[00:11:43]We take it all tonight.

[00:11:55]In case air cooling isn't enough, I also decided to add a liquid cooling circuit as well, which will kick in uh when the temperature sensor is triggered and pump antifreeze through the radiator.

[00:12:10]>> Your porch was dead, but the house shook. Some might say I'm being too serious with the cooling system, but I suppose that someone has never strapped a homemade hydrogen and oxygen generator with hot alkallay under pressure to their own body.

[00:12:28]Had a ring in the train.

[00:12:32]I left it down.

[00:12:35]Then I kicked it away.

[00:12:40]Tires hit sparks on that black top crown. My hands on the wheel. I won't slow down.

[00:12:48]We take it all tonight.

[00:12:55]We take it all tonight.

[00:13:06]>> There is still some free space next to the radiator, so I decided to add a bit of electronics here.

[00:13:14]a redundant current fuse, a temperature sensor, and a three-axis gyroscope so that the control system will shut off the electrolyte circulation line if the electrolyer is in particularly unnatural position. I'll try not to do any back flips in the suit, but it's a good idea to finally start solving the problem of the electrolyer only working properly in one vertical position.

[00:13:45]Hands in the air. Let the whole town know. I came from the dust, but I came to go. One breath, one flame, one shot to win. If I fall, >> right now I do first bench test of the new model, which I'll show you in the next episode because you asked me to make the videos shorter and release them more often. As you can see, that's what I try to do. Now, thank you very much to everyone who supports me right now on Patreon and YouTube membership. This video is possible only because of you.

[00:14:14]I've already spent on garage rent and supplies everything you sent last time, so feel free to send more. I'll try to release the next video as quickly as this one. All my books, 3D models, and PDF instructions are available with the links below. Good luck with your own DIY projects, and see you soon.