Teasing things apart

The last 5 days, or so, have been a very interesting ride to follow.  Last Tuesday evening we started a run aiming at running in the same current range as Celani and in a 75%H/25%Ar gas.  The excess power calculation started out indicating approximately -2 watts and the pressure was 4.5 Bar.

Over the next few days we saw a slow temperature rise on all the temperatures as the pressure continually dropped.  We have confirmed that the leak is from the pass through where the power wires enter the cell. 

We made a few adjustments to the operating conditions along the way.

On Wednesday we raised the power in to 48.2 W to more closely match calibration points so we could make a better comparison to the calibration data we had.  We continued at that power and watched as the P_xs rose to over 1.1 on the minute averages and peaking just over 2 momentarily.  

On Saturday, as we were working around the cell, we noticed the instrumentation top logging.  While troubleshooting it, we caused the power into the cell to drop to zero for a couple minutes.  This provided an opportunity for a test that we were hoping to run, anyway.

As the cell rewarmed, it came back up to a approximately the same level of P_xs as before.  I was actually hoping it would come back to -2 for a while and then climb back up again slower to +1 watt, indicating a base line comparable to where the cell started

After we got it restarted, the zero offset calibration for the voltage and current inputs was off slightly.  When we noticed this a day later, and fixed it, we also noticed that the P_xs had been remarkably flat for that period and then got much noisier afterwards and gradually declined to near zero+/- 0.5 watts.

On Sunday, acting on a tip from Celani that he has found a sweet spot of 1.85 amps, we upped the power in to get to that level of current.  What we saw was the P_xs rise for a couple hours and then a slow decrease back to almost zero.  Didn't seem too sweet at that spot, so we turned the current back down to exactly where it had been before that (1.75 amps) and we saw the P_xs rise again up to the 0.75 range.

Since we are at a low enough power level where it is still ambiguous whether we are seeing real excess heat, the next steps I will take with the experiment are aimed at figuring out if we are seeing a verifiable rise above a base line where little or no LENR is occurring.  There have been many, many good suggestions about things to try.  I really appreciate the intelligent insights being provided as we collectively work on this problem.  

Options we could do:

1.  Turn the power off, the cell cool, and see if it comes all the way back up to where it was immediately before.  If the cell does not warm up that far, then we have some indication it is (or has been) working above a real baseline.  If it comes right back, we know that it either is at baseline, or returns quickly if it is active.

2.  Switch to NiCr wire and adjust it to the same power level.  Presumably, the temperature of the Celani wire will be decreased to a significantly lower level and we will see the base line temperatures for the various sensors for that power level.  If the P_xs is the same, then can assume we have not been generating any significant power.  A small reduction or rise in P_xs will be ambiguous because we are sensing glass temperature at only one point and could be subject to variation based on location of the sensor relative to the hot wire.  Plus, the NiCr wire is slightly thicker and will run slightly cooler on its surface, which could allow less heat to escape as IR radiation through the quartz.  

3.  Turn on both wires, which would heat the cell and make the Celani wire run hotter.  We have heard that the LENR effect improves with temperature.  This might boost production up to a more measurable level.

4.  Reset the gas blend to a higher pressure, again, and compare the performance to the -2 watts P_xs originally measured when the pressure was at 4.5 bar.  We could load enough gas in it to achieve 7 bar, allow it to coast down to 4.5 and below, and test whether the higher pressure appears to increase or decrease the calculated P_xs.  This approach is my favorite, since it will test and compare against the baseline we just set over the last 5 days.

5.  We could charge the cell with pure Hydrogen and see if that makes a more measurable effect.

6.  We could attempt a second method of regeneration of the wire that Celani suggested:  heat to 400C in 3.5 Bar Hydrogen for an hour or two.

And I am sure there are other options.  I will attempt #1 immediately and see what I can learn.  I would like suggestions on what to try after that and in what order.  

I am behind but working on getting some IR video of the cell and surrounding area edited, and getting some gamma spectra published.  I wish there was more time in a day to be able to engage all the suggestions and comments better, and do more experimenting.  Thanks for all the help and keep it coming.