DervMafia Eddy Current Dyno Upgrade

[zx_volcane]

Didn't really properly take this photo in first time around so posting it again for you

This thing is HUGE

[toseland]

Off topic much??

Welcome to 306oc, you must be new.

  

Ah thanks for the welcome. 

Can I just ask, whats the best turbo and wheels for my dturbo?

'clones and 40mm drop, TD04 and welded wastegate, 11mm pump.

Standard radiator, Leaking heater matrix and still no overheating issues.

[Paul Baldwin]

Subbed. Rather looking forward to seeing the evolution of this Darren.

[daniel909]

Didn't really properly take this photo in first time around so posting it again for you

This thing is HUGE

Bet it fecking heavy too

[tigerstyle]

May I ask what you sold the old one for?

New one looks epic!

[Danny Wideboy]

May I ask what you sold the old one for?

I would guess money.

[darrenjlobb]

Well basically the sale of the old one has covered the cost of the new one....

So after laying the concrete pad, it was time to start building up the block walls around the outside of the pit.... We didn't bother with this last time as the old Clayton unit supported its own covers, and we didn't really think it was worth wasting money on block to build around as am likely to be moving workshops at some point in the near future. Anyhow, the new unit requires a wall to support the top frame, so at least it forced us into doing a better job this time around!

So got Rhys (on here) over to give a hand with the blockwork to take advantage of his building skills, so many thanks to him for helping us out there....Saved me a tonne of time, as although I do lay block on the farm / did all the pit etc myself, it would have taken me double the time so Cheers Rhys!!

Getting things squared up etc:




Sticking a few away:







One for Rhys hehe



And second course, had to cut every block on the second course to achieve the correct height:





Filled arounds the edges as we went to tidy it up, and also add strength by tie'ing it into the existing concrete floor:



So after finishing that, it was time to start stripping down the new unit, for two reasons, 1 - because I wanted to go right through it like I did with the last, and 2 - because unless its in individual parts there is no way we are going to be able to lift the unit in, as it is EXTREMELY heavy!!!

So removed the rollers / bearings and then the eddy brake from the frame, and the air lift, leaving a rather grubby / greasy bare frame! :







Pretty much all for now, but ready to start cleaning up / rebuilding the thing now it has a home to go into!

Thanks for reading

[Niall]

Dont know if its just the way the pics are but it looks like the top course of bricks are higher than finished floor level? You going to ramp it up or is it just the camera angle?

[darrenjlobb]

Dont know if its just the way the pics are but it looks like the top course of bricks are higher than finished floor level? You going to ramp it up or is it just the camera angle?

Indeed you are correct. We have done this on purpose this time around. We found with the old unit being fully floor flush meant that super low cars were a bit of a pain to get underneath and strap, as time the car sits in the rollers it leaves very little gap. So we have raised this dyno above ground by 4 inchs to aid clearance for such situations. Its actually a double win as this unit has much bigger, and also closer couples rollers, meaning cars dont "sit down" half as far, so we have gained alot of under car clearance which is good!

But yes, we will have to make up some short ramps to get on / off it. 

Well observed!

[Niall]

Being a farmer, I'm sure you would just make something up equally as good if not better but i suppose you could buy some ramps off eBay you use for loading things onto vans/trucks? Pretty sure they are not that expensive at all and could be useful in other areas seeing as they just sit in place

[darrenjlobb]

Being a farmer, I'm sure you would just make something up equally as good if not better but i suppose you could buy some ramps off eBay you use for loading things onto vans/trucks? Pretty sure they are not that expensive at all and could be useful in other areas seeing as they just sit in place

I think I will most likely just make up some quick ramps myself, from offcuts of side plates from the old dyno, its quite likely I will be moving workshops at some point in the near future, so dont want to put to much effort into the ramps as they would likely have to change anyway at that point! But will make something up to do the job!

[silverzx]

How low is low? My FMIC sits about 2" off the floor and my exhaust about 2.5"...

[toseland]

he only wants pugs on his dyno silver =D

i have issues with kerbs, as i found the other day when i literally pulled the front bumper off its mount on one corner on one

[MrBigMac]

Looking good Darren ?

[silverzx]

he only wants pugs on his dyno silver =D

i have issues with kerbs, as i found the other day when i literally pulled the front bumper off its mount on one corner on one

Shhhhhhhhh... Darren appreciates the finer cars in life.

[silverzx]

She gonna fit on?

[Toms306]

Many speed bumps round your way?

[Dum-Dum]

Many speed bumps round your way?

The car has many bumps from going into things as speed if that's what you mean?

[mr_fish]

Not sure if Darren's provisioned for RWD....yet.

[Niall]

Should of kept the old one and lashed together a 4WD dyno lol

[darrenjlobb]

She gonna fit on?

Who cares about front clearance, the thing is rear drive, the front end doesn't need to go near the dyno  However it does need to get down my lane! Minor issues hehe  ...To be fair be a good "first rear drive" car!

Not sure if Darren's provisioned for RWD....yet.

RWD is provisioned for, doorway widened / straight access now, 505 has already been backed over the rollers to ensure alignment was correct!

[silverzx]

She gonna fit on?

Who cares about front clearance, the thing is rear drive, the front end doesn't need to go near the dyno  However it does need to get down my lane! Minor issues hehe  ...To be fair be a good "first rear drive" car!

Might be able to tie a weekend trip in with a visit!

[darrenjlobb]

So next step was to start investigating the Eddy Brake situation.

It was clear from the hardware left lying around with the dyno that the eddy brake hasn't been used in some time, and the previous owner had been running it as an inertia only unit, so fairly useless for tuning purposes etc. So was fairly sure the brake would be riddled with issues, but wouldn't be any fun if it was all working right?!


So first step was to get it into the shop, and as with everything on this dyno, this thing is ****ing heavy!!!




So before even bothering to do much testing I decided to just strip the unit right down and go through it, as clearly there hasnt been any love for quite some time etc...So started by removing the shafts / bearings, and then rotors from the main shaft:






So initial inspection revealed a few obvious problems, both electrically and mechanically.
Firstly the center core had a lip seal wrecked / sticking out one side, so that pretty much sealed the deal for replacing bearings / seals / oil etc in the center, and secondly before even putting the meter on the unit I could see coils that had been changed / fitted incorrectly which had left them loose / allowed to vibrate which has caused wires to break off, so started by fixing the obvious faults, and going through disconnecting each coil so we could test the lot.

Re crimping ends on the faulty coils, we had to crimp as the coils are alloy windings, so unable to solder anything here, but quality crimps and some heat shrink makes for a tidy job:



The coils missing:



Re fitting the repaired coils with new bolts / gasket material to hold them firmly in place this time:




Stripped down the center core...was totally dry, bearings very noisy, one seized, and seals ruined, so good job I tore it right apart!!



Ever growing pile of parts from the eddy brake:



Also dropped top frame in to test measurements, which are correct which is good news, and sits level, so fairly happy with that!



Thanks for reading, harvest nearly over now so bit more time hopefully soon if i can catch up the trimming / ploughing!

[Piggy]

Woohoo!
Good effort bud!
Nice feeling seeing that bubble in the level sit right when you plonked that frame in I bet!

[zx_volcane]

This can't be far off then, ready for some autumn / winter runs - size of that retarder, just huge.

[Piggy]

Size of that retarder, just huge.

Referring to Darren or a part of thr dyno!? 

[londondan86]

Woah! Fair play buddy! Onwards and upwards

So assuming this will have a proper digital output on this one?

[darrenjlobb]

Woah! Fair play buddy! Onwards and upwards

So assuming this will have a proper digital output on this one?

Well depends what you mean by digital output, as the old Clayton was computer logged etc, but this one is 100% fully computer controlled / logged etc, so a much more capable unit overall.

Anyway another update....

Took the bare chassis outside and gave it a good clean off with pressure washer to get rid of all the old grime / grease!




Then i took some time to wire wheel all the covers to tidy them up before paint:




Then started to paint up the covers:



And the air lift:




Then moved onto getting some of this stuff into position, so dropped the new chassis down into the hole, bit of a important moment to make sure the initial measurements were correct!



Then it was time to lift the rollers in and bolt them down / align them with one another. This was fairly tricky as the workshop I am currently using on the farm has a very low roof, so its not possible to get the pallet forks over the hole, so was a case of dropping them in the doorway, and lifting in by hand! Luckily Rhys came over to offer a hand, as would never have moved them 2 of us!



Moment of truth putting top covers on, A - are they  level.... B - are they at the right height with the dyno! Luckily yes on both fronts!



So after spending some time aligning the chassis etc, and thunderbolting it to the floor all around the frame, it was time to put the covers on, and all of a sudden its starting to look like a dyno!



Also widened the front door to provide straight back access to the pit / dyno, main advantage allowing RWD use also as well as FWD which we couldnt do before due to door alignment!

[silverzx]

Thanks Darren, just for me?

[Stef205]

Nice work Darren! So when is the 306oc dyno day?