Russian hacker-hero Alex of Alex Lab is at it again, this time making a more compact version of his original Iron Man arc reactor to power his own working repulsor rig. While Alex’s reactor does work, and it bears a strong resemblance to Tony Stark’s triangular Mark X Arc Reactor, it doesn’t work the same way the one in the movies and comic books does. There is no unique sample of ‘badassium’ powering this one.

Instead, Alex’s reactor generates hydroxy gas (also called Brown’s Gas). It’s a combination of oxygen and hydrogen, a gas can then feed a charge cylinder built into mechanical arm sheathe Alex wears. The reaction when burned is nothing less than explosive in its energy potential – as well it should. When it burns, the reaction typically runs at a temperature of 2,000 degrees.

Unlike his last effort, this time Alex uses only a single set of electrodes for cracking the water into hydroxy gas. Sandwiched layers of rubber, plexiglass and lasercut steel form the reactor itself.  Carefully assembling his reactor chamber, Alex takes great care to keep the inside of the reactor as clean as possible. Any impurities could affect the efficiency of the reactor. The device doesn’t actually generate power directly. Instead, it uses electricity from an external source. Unfortunately, Alex’s previous arc reactor used a pretty hefty lead-acid battery. They provided plenty of power, but at the cost of bulk and weight. To hear Alex tell it, lithium batteries are actually cheaper in Russian than a bottle of water. He uses an array of eight lithium storage cells scavenged from a Tesla Model C. Alex cracks open the cell and individually solders the connections to produce the voltage he needs. The reactor (actually an electrolyzer) runs at a pressure of about two atospheres. The lights in the reactor actually serve a purpose. They help him gauge the intensity of the reaction, which is important if you’ve just strapped a real working molecule-splitting gas reactor to your chest. The new reactor is much more compact than the old one, and easily fits under Alex’s clothes. To commemorate the new power plant, Alex has also added a small rocket launcher to his power arm, which he demonstrates in the video. Alex just may be the one guy on the planet that’s closest to a real life Tony Stark. He understands the science of what he’s doing, and he’s building real working Iron Man armor, one piece at a time. If you want to build your own, or get access to his plans and schematics so you can build on what Alex has learned to create your own real working Iron Man armor, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel. There is a fee, but it’s a modest $5 a month. Want to have a look around first? Here’s the free part of his YouTube channel.

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