WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- If it works as its owners claim, the Hydro 4000 could change the world.
Imagine a device that could increase your gas mileage by up to 60 percent.
"People are saving fuel, that means America is using less fuel and it's better for our kids' kids' future," says Hydro 4000 company president David Havanich.
The Hydro 4000 is a simple looking device encased in PVC. It runs on distilled water and connects to your engine.
Havanich tells us the Hydro 4000 pulls hydrogen out of the water. He says that hydrogen is then sent into your engine, creating a cleaner burn, thus giving you better gas mileage.
"The Hydro 4000 basically breaks water down into its basic three molecules, one part oxygen, two parts hydrogen, which then gets fed into your air intake system to optimize your burn," says Havanich.
In May, Newschannel Five put the Hydro 4000 to the test.
We installed the device on a news truck and then put the vehicle on a dynomometer, a kind of treadmill which helps us measure miles to the gallon.
Without the unit on, our truck averaged a measly 9.4 miles to the gallon. With the Hydro 4000 running however, we were getting an incredible 23.2 miles to the gallon.
The results, quite frankly, seemed too good to be true. Was the Hydro 4000 truly responsible for that kind of increase or did other unknown environmental or mechanical factors taint our test? Our vehicle, a 2000 Dodge Durango, did have previous mechanical problems. Did that somehow interfere in the results of our test? There was no way to be certain, so another test was in order.
This time, we took the Hydro 4000 to the mechanical engineering department at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. We asked them to design a second test which would give us accurate miles to the gallon on an independent vehicle.
Keep in mind though, this was still not a laboratory test. Environmental and mechanical factors could still have an unknown impact on our results.
"We are confident we are going to be running a fairly accurate test, given those parameters," says Dr. Amir Abtahi.
For this test, we put the Hydro 4000 on an independent vehicle, a 2001 Chevy Tahoe, which owner Greg Webb says is in good driving condition.
"It's well maintained," Webb says.
F.A.U.'s team took Webb's vehicle to a dynomometer at Billet Design in Pompano Beach, a company the university has used for many of their other tests.
This time around, the F.A.U. engineers and mechanics at Billet drained all of the fuel out of our test vehicle, giving it an empty tank.
The team then filled the tank back up with one and a half gallons of gas.
The vehicle was put on the dynomometer, and the truck ran at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
For the first part of our test, the Tahoe ran 17.7 miles, which meant it averaged 11-point eight miles to the gallon.
"This is basically a baseline test, with a given load, that should not be used as any kind of a measure that this vehicle gets in the city or on the highway," says Abtahi.
We then installed the Hydro 4000 on Webb's vehicle.
He and his wife drove the truck for five weeks in normal traffic, with the Hydro 4000 running the entire time. He does say the device requires a certain amount of user attention and is not a device you just turn on and forget.
"We estimated about every sixty to eighty miles we had to add a cup of water, a cup of distilled water to it," says Webb.
Since our initial report aired, Newschannel Five also talked to several customers that told us they had problems blowing fuses on their vehicle. Webb says he did not have that problem on his vehicle during our test.
Webb also says he felt the device gave his vehicle more pep, and with his calculations the Hydro 4000 appeared to increase his gas mileage.
"We got about 17 to 18 miles to the gallon," Webb says.
"What were you averaging previously?" asks Holmes.
"About twelve or thirteen," he says.
Back to our test.
After five weeks on the road, F.A.U.'s team put Webb's truck back on the dyno.
They again drained all the fuel out, put in one and a half gallons of gas and ran the truck at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
This time, with the Hydro 4000 running, the vehicle ran 19.5 miles before stalling. That meant we were now getting 13 miles to the gallon, which was a ten percent increase in miles to the gallon over our initial test.
"If we could save 10% on the $700 million we're sending to OPEC and the other oil countries, that's $70 million we're saving we could use toward things in the United States," says Havanich.
F.A.U.'s scientists however remained uncertain.
Dr. Abtahi says there are still too many external variables to determine if it was the Hydro 4000 that was solely responsible for the increase.
"Some improvement within ten percent range may be possible. I myself would like to learn more. I don't want to say one way or the other or say that it doesn't work. It is too little data to make that judgment. This is a research project that could go on for months on a fleet," says Dr. Abtahi.
Hydrogen devices like this have been around for some time, and many top scientists around the world believe this kind of technology does not work.
The creators of the Hydro 4000 disagree, and say they will pay to have a professional test run by another university or by the federal government in the next few months. Havanich also says the Hydro 4000 is currently being tested by both the sheriff's office and by government officials in St. Lucie County. Those results are still not available.
Havanich also says their device has been field tested for two and a half years by his company, and gave us the names of several consumers who say they are continuing to enjoy increased gas mileage.
The company has sold more than 800 units since our report first aired. At $1200 a unit, that's no doubt a tidy profit for the company. Of those, four consumers called to tell us they were unhappy with the company's customer service. Havanich says they were experiencing growing pains and simply could not keep up with demand.
"Four people out of 800 isn't bad. Still to those people I apologize," Havanich says. "We thought this story was just going to be a local story, and we were not prepared for the demand."
The company has also changed its return policy from a 60-day money back guarantee to a 30-day money back guarantee. The Hydro 4000, according to Havanich, is supposed to take 30 days to get up and running at optimum performance.
"You will see the results though in the first two weeks on your vehicle," Havanich says.
Havanich continues to stand by his device and suggests any of his critics take his machine out for a test drive.
"Put it on and you'll see that it works," he says.
Imagine a device that could increase your gas mileage by up to 60 percent.
"People are saving fuel, that means America is using less fuel and it's better for our kids' kids' future," says Hydro 4000 company president David Havanich.
The Hydro 4000 is a simple looking device encased in PVC. It runs on distilled water and connects to your engine.
Havanich tells us the Hydro 4000 pulls hydrogen out of the water. He says that hydrogen is then sent into your engine, creating a cleaner burn, thus giving you better gas mileage."The Hydro 4000 basically breaks water down into its basic three molecules, one part oxygen, two parts hydrogen, which then gets fed into your air intake system to optimize your burn," says Havanich.
In May, Newschannel Five put the Hydro 4000 to the test.
We installed the device on a news truck and then put the vehicle on a dynomometer, a kind of treadmill which helps us measure miles to the gallon.
Without the unit on, our truck averaged a measly 9.4 miles to the gallon. With the Hydro 4000 running however, we were getting an incredible 23.2 miles to the gallon.
The results, quite frankly, seemed too good to be true. Was the Hydro 4000 truly responsible for that kind of increase or did other unknown environmental or mechanical factors taint our test? Our vehicle, a 2000 Dodge Durango, did have previous mechanical problems. Did that somehow interfere in the results of our test? There was no way to be certain, so another test was in order.
This time, we took the Hydro 4000 to the mechanical engineering department at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. We asked them to design a second test which would give us accurate miles to the gallon on an independent vehicle.
Keep in mind though, this was still not a laboratory test. Environmental and mechanical factors could still have an unknown impact on our results.
"We are confident we are going to be running a fairly accurate test, given those parameters," says Dr. Amir Abtahi.
For this test, we put the Hydro 4000 on an independent vehicle, a 2001 Chevy Tahoe, which owner Greg Webb says is in good driving condition.
"It's well maintained," Webb says.
F.A.U.'s team took Webb's vehicle to a dynomometer at Billet Design in Pompano Beach, a company the university has used for many of their other tests.
This time around, the F.A.U. engineers and mechanics at Billet drained all of the fuel out of our test vehicle, giving it an empty tank.
The team then filled the tank back up with one and a half gallons of gas.
The vehicle was put on the dynomometer, and the truck ran at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
For the first part of our test, the Tahoe ran 17.7 miles, which meant it averaged 11-point eight miles to the gallon.
"This is basically a baseline test, with a given load, that should not be used as any kind of a measure that this vehicle gets in the city or on the highway," says Abtahi.
We then installed the Hydro 4000 on Webb's vehicle.
He and his wife drove the truck for five weeks in normal traffic, with the Hydro 4000 running the entire time. He does say the device requires a certain amount of user attention and is not a device you just turn on and forget.
"We estimated about every sixty to eighty miles we had to add a cup of water, a cup of distilled water to it," says Webb.
Since our initial report aired, Newschannel Five also talked to several customers that told us they had problems blowing fuses on their vehicle. Webb says he did not have that problem on his vehicle during our test.
Webb also says he felt the device gave his vehicle more pep, and with his calculations the Hydro 4000 appeared to increase his gas mileage.
"We got about 17 to 18 miles to the gallon," Webb says.
"What were you averaging previously?" asks Holmes.
"About twelve or thirteen," he says.
Back to our test.
After five weeks on the road, F.A.U.'s team put Webb's truck back on the dyno.
They again drained all the fuel out, put in one and a half gallons of gas and ran the truck at 65 miles an hour until it stalled.
This time, with the Hydro 4000 running, the vehicle ran 19.5 miles before stalling. That meant we were now getting 13 miles to the gallon, which was a ten percent increase in miles to the gallon over our initial test.
"If we could save 10% on the $700 million we're sending to OPEC and the other oil countries, that's $70 million we're saving we could use toward things in the United States," says Havanich.
F.A.U.'s scientists however remained uncertain.
Dr. Abtahi says there are still too many external variables to determine if it was the Hydro 4000 that was solely responsible for the increase.
"Some improvement within ten percent range may be possible. I myself would like to learn more. I don't want to say one way or the other or say that it doesn't work. It is too little data to make that judgment. This is a research project that could go on for months on a fleet," says Dr. Abtahi.
Hydrogen devices like this have been around for some time, and many top scientists around the world believe this kind of technology does not work.
The creators of the Hydro 4000 disagree, and say they will pay to have a professional test run by another university or by the federal government in the next few months. Havanich also says the Hydro 4000 is currently being tested by both the sheriff's office and by government officials in St. Lucie County. Those results are still not available.
Havanich also says their device has been field tested for two and a half years by his company, and gave us the names of several consumers who say they are continuing to enjoy increased gas mileage.
The company has sold more than 800 units since our report first aired. At $1200 a unit, that's no doubt a tidy profit for the company. Of those, four consumers called to tell us they were unhappy with the company's customer service. Havanich says they were experiencing growing pains and simply could not keep up with demand.
"Four people out of 800 isn't bad. Still to those people I apologize," Havanich says. "We thought this story was just going to be a local story, and we were not prepared for the demand."
The company has also changed its return policy from a 60-day money back guarantee to a 30-day money back guarantee. The Hydro 4000, according to Havanich, is supposed to take 30 days to get up and running at optimum performance.
"You will see the results though in the first two weeks on your vehicle," Havanich says.
Havanich continues to stand by his device and suggests any of his critics take his machine out for a test drive.
"Put it on and you'll see that it works," he says.
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