Conrad H-racer Benutzerhandbuch Seite 19

TIP: If the small bubbles of oxygen are being released through the middle of the water tank, see
troubleshooting section 4.
Hydrogen Station
When the is activated, hydrogen is being produced by the electrolyzer and
released into the refueling station's output tube. By completing this essential purging step - you are
removing atmospheric gases that have naturally penetrated the car's fuel storage system. The
H-racer
's power system only accepts hydrogen as its fuel. If other gases are present, the fuel cell
cannot operate and the car will not move. The syringe purging method described above is an
important step included to remove all unwanted gases ( such as nitrogen) from the car's hydrogen
storage tank, before refueling.
Before pulling air out of the balloon using the gas purging syringe (part F), the majority of this air was
nitrogen from our atmosphere. Nitrogen will block the hydrogen from reacting with oxygen inside the
car's fuel cell and the car will stop running even if the hydrogen storage tank's balloon appear to be
full.
Tip: You may want to repeat the air removal and refueling steps one or two times to optimize the run
H-racer
time of the . This method further dilutes the unwanted gases and enhances the purity of
your stored hydrogen fuel.
Warning: If you skip this step - the car's run time will be seriously reduced.
Step 7
While the refueling system is locked and operational, and the car's
on-board gas storage tank is starting to fill up with pure hydrogen,
make sure the switch beneath the car's chassis is at the "off"
position.
Look carefully at the balloon inside the car's on-board gas storage
tank as it starts to move and take shape. It will take at least 1 minute
for the balloon to fill with hydrogen using the "DC" power switch if
the batteries are new.
If you are using the solar panel, make sure it is placed in direct
sunlight. It will take about 10 minutes in strong sun light for the car's
tank to fill up with hydrogen using the standard solar panel included.
If the sun is not strong enough, it will either take much longer than
10 minutes, or refueling will not occur at all.
Keep the refueling station powered until the balloon inside the
hydrogen storage cylinder is full (the balloon inside the storage
tank will take the shape of the transparent cylinder).
TIP: Expanding the balloon fully within the cylinder may cause the
rubber seal to become dislodged. If this happens the system is no
longer gas tight and the seal needs to be resecured.
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Once the operation is complete and the balloon is full, make
sure you turn the refueling station to the "off" position.
TIP: After 20 minutes of continuous use, turn the
Station
off, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before
starting it again.
Warning:
Continuous operation of the Hydrogen Station will damage
it permanently.
Step 8
Disconnect the refueling valve from the car's input valve. In order to do so without losing any fuel stored
inside the car's hydrogen storage tank, you must turn the refueling valve anti-clockwise quickly and lightly
until it pops out from its locked connection. As you disconnect, do not press the refueling valve into the car
as this will deflate the balloon. Some practice may be required, but the balloon should not deflate and the
car's fuel should remain stored inside the storage cylinder.
Step 9
The hydrogen storage tank is now full and the H-racer is ready to race! To run the car, find a smooth, flat
surface free of obstacles. Turn the switch located beneath the car's chassis to the "on" position, place it on
the ground and watch the car go!
The on-board fuel cell system will consume hydrogen until the car's storage tank is almost empty, or until
other gases start accumulating in the fuel cell. It is estimated that on a full tank and after a number of
warm-up runs the H-racer will run for up to 3 minutes.
You may see that the car stops running after 20-30 seconds. If this is the case, you will need to lightly
push in the car's refueling input valve (part D) to release the atmospheric gases (mostly nitrogen) which
have accumulated in the fuel cell.
To re-start the car, just use your finger to slightly push in the car's input valve while keeping the car
switched on. The balloon will deflate a little, but the car's motor will run again. By pushing this valve, you
will have released the excess nitrogen and unblocked the access to hydrogen. This is a natural occurance
you can try to avoid by carefully following all the steps in this user manual.
TIP1: To make sure the car consumes its entire tank of gas on one single run, it is recommended to
use the syringe method (Step 5) to remove this newly supplied hydrogen from the car's tank and
repeat the fueling process once more. This step further dilutes the nitrogen inside the tank and
enhances the purity of your hydrogen fuel. Without proceeding with this step, the car's run system
time can be seriously reduced.
Once the car runs out of gas, switch the car off (using the switch underneath the chassis) and repeat
step 5 to remove all remaining gases out of the car's storage tank.
TIP2: If the fuel cell has not been in use for a while and is not working well. The fuel cell needs to be
warmed up by adding water and then being short circuited. Follow these steps to reactivate it.
a. Remove the blue valve connector from the rubber hose attached to the syringe provided.
b. Draw about 0.2ml of distilled water into the syringe and attach the open end
of the syringe rubber hose to one of the nozzles on the fuel cell, slowly
pushing the distilled water into the fuel cell. Allow this to sit for 10 minutes.
( see picture a )
c. Move the switch on the Hydrogen Station to the DC side and check the
lights are flashing and the oxygen bubbles are forming on the right side of the
water tank.
d. Take the Hydrogen Station's blue refueling valve connector off the rubber
hose and connect the rubber hose to the upper nozzle of the fuel cell.
e. Then using the red wire with the double-headed banana plugs, connect one
end to the red jack and the other end to the black jack on the fuel cell. Put the
fuel cell standing up vertically. (see picture b)
f. Keep the wire connected for 5 minutes, and then disconnect. The fuel cell
will now be ready for use.
Hydrogen
a
b
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