It is easier to diagnose electrolyzer electrical issues using voltage. Ohm-meters are unreliable when testing electrolyzers.If there is a direct short somewhere, (preventing normal application of power without blowing a fuse), then use my simple and inexpensive capacitive amperage limiting technique to control the amperage and prevent the short from being an issue; then test electrolyzer conditions with a voltmeter.
Ohm-meters are unreliable when testing electrolyzers for many reasons, some conflicting with each other, some exacerbating. Examples include:
1. Ohm-meters actually send a current through the ‘load’ to measure the load resistance. ANY current will activate the electrolyzer, making gas and affecting the actual resistance. High impedance ohm-meters minimize this issue because they use less current but will still show a varying resistance as conditions in the electrolyzer change.
2. Some conditions in the electrolyzer that affect resistance are: electrolyte type, electrolyte density, electrolyte temperature, electrode shape, electrode material, buildup of non-conductive or dielectric material on the electrodes (usually by electrodeposition on the negative or oxidation on the positive), impurities in the electrolyte, etc.
3. Electrolyzers can become ‘polarized’ and thus give a different resistance reading if you switch the ohm-meter probes one way or the other.
4. Electrolyzers often act like capacitors and/or ‘store’ a charge in a variety of ways (in the electrolyte and on the electrodes). This charge usually dissipates over time but ohm-meters are not configured to compensate for it. The charge will ‘skew’ the meter’s reading, creating more or less ‘resistance’ reading, depending on the polarity tested.
So my advice would be to NOT use an ohm-meter to diagnose any issues with an electrolyzer, except very general ones, and certainly don’t trust that the meter reading to accurately tell you much about what is going on inside the electrolyzer; there are too many variables.
If you do use an ohm-meter, at least be aware of the variables, and how each one affects the resistance reading, so that you can use the readings to generally diagnose some issue.
Since there are so many ways for the resistance to vary in an electrolyzer, and the resistance varies continually as conditions change, there is never a ‘fixed’ resistance or even a ‘stable’ resistance in an electrolyzer. The only way you can accurately determine a ‘resistance’ (at any given time) is to use the Ohms Law formula as expressed, R = E/IR = ResistanceI = AmperageE = Voltage
The varying resistance of electrolyzers is not that big of a deal, no magic or anything ‘over unity’ interesting. It’s just a side effect of electrolyzer conditions at any given time. This is normal, natural and easily understood.
Now the way electricity interacts with the electrolyte and the cell design parameters… That’s interesting! And exploring that has (so far) led me to electrolyzer efficiencies less than 1 watthour per STP liter of BG produced.