Dyno is Home

Went this morning down to Gilroy to pick up the Dyno. Long friggin day and most of it driving. But I did spend a good portion of the day going over the workings of the Dyno. Lots to absorb and lots to learn. Lots of information to read on how the components work and how to calibrate. Mostly its already done but just in case I need to re-calibrate I have the information and the person I purchased it from is making them self available in case I need help. I like the internet and digital cameras because if I have trouble I can take a pic or video and send it so neither of us have to make that long round trip drive. The internet truly closes the distance gap. Also if any of you have any other things that may help make this Dyno more effective Im all ears.

History: I have a little bit. It was originally built I'd say back in the early 60's in the Formula V days when V racing was done mostly on stock engines that were tuned as best as possible and where you tuned by changing the cam durations and intake runners to get the most out of a stock engine. Problem is that in order to really do a bang up job you would need access to a Dyno. Well, this Dyno was built to satisfy the need. It is a Dyno to tune VW engines but converted long ago to Dyno Electric Motors. All the components for running VW engines are still connected so if I wanted I could dyno my VW engine my son built. We might just do that too. The torque load is two starter/generators that provide torque for the setup and a way to read so you can calculate HP. It has an RPM meter too and an adjustable pot on the console to provide throttle input and be able to sustain RPM under load. Anyway it is old but still quite functional.

I took one of my motors with me today to connect it up to give it a go and to show me how things worked. Looks pretty simple. We only used 36 volts and used old 12 volt car batteries. So with the bit we did do the motor I brought got to like 30 ft lb torque at 1000 rpm and 100 amps. It was very brief because it reached the RPM quickly.

So more will come as I set things up and do some testing. I am hoping to do a quick video real soon. I will do a test at 72 volts because it is the minimum my Synkromotive controller will do. So I can set up the controller to limit amperage to specific current and same with voltage for both the motor being tested and batteries.

Any motor I test will need to be able to be setup to the VW transaxle. So I am limited at the moment but if this goes good and folks want motors tested I can see about finding other VW adaptors for other motors. It is set up for a clutch setup. No clutchless setups.

I will need to setup battery voltages so I can watch voltage sag when running under loads too.

More later. Here are the first pictures while still on the trailer and better than other pics posted earlier.

More Dyno Pics

Got some more pictures of the Dyno today. Still planning on picking it up on Thursday. Tomorrow we go to the California State Fair. Not sure how good it will be this year but we will go anyway.

Dyno Coming Next Week

Going to have the dyno next week. Going to pick it up and get some lessons on how to operate this sucker. It is setup and ready to go. I will be taking a motor with me to run for my lessons. It will be a learning curve but I will have all the help I need from they person I am getting it from. I will be asking for help if needed from anyone who can pitch in and help.

More TESLA

Another video I have not seen yet but was released this past Feb. Dang. Missed it. So if any of you have not seen it here it is. Even though its late it is still has a good and powerful message.

Go TESLA.

Tesla, a window into how its made.

You gotta watch this one in HD and full screen. 

Spark

Oh man ya gotta see this one. Got me rolling for there uniqueness in their commercial.

Just watch it. Short but fun.

Leaf UpDate

Well my LEAF got another computer update. We shall see how well the update fixes the guess o meter. Or how much the car lets me drive on a charge. This update may open up more of the available energy to use and maybe the Guess-O-Meter will be a bit more accurate and not so off the wall in its reading. Like one day it would say I had 84 miles at the end of the drive and the very next it would say I had 58 and my driving was the same both days and the charge was the same both days. Go figure. Damn thing has wide swings of what distances I can get. That is the only major gripe I have with the car. Other than that it is just wonderful. Quiet and smooth. Got to drive a Nissan Sentra with less than 2000 miles and it was better than the Nissan Versa I drove last time. But its still a gas car. Sucks gas and the engine is has to wind up to get any speed. Damn I think I am forgetting how the gas engine actually performs. Nothing I miss thats for sure. Electric motors are the only way to go.

Just about done with my media blasting cabinet I am putting together. I picked it up from Harbor Freight and it only cost $200 bucks but it has soooooooo many bolts to put on and its not super precise. It is a well packaged kit and has every thing needed. I have only a few more parts to assemble and I can finish my pedal assemble for the 914. I am also ready to buy my AC-75 for the beast.

Going to pick up a motor Dyno for testing motors. Not while in the car but on the bench. Any VW adaptor plate will work and then mount the motor and run the dyno. Test for HP and Torque and RPM.

Should have it within a week. It also tests the controllers for the motors too. Allows you to know that they can provide the power needed.

Pete :)

EVTV

Seems to be that EVTV is missing from the main page at EVTV.me. However there is a posted weekly show on youtube. I found it by accident. I was looking all day to see if the show was on line but never saw it so just kept checking back every once and awhile. I still do not see the show on the main site and I sent Jack an email. So for those of you who must like me watch as soon as possible here is the latest show.

Pete :)

Google Bustin in to Electric

Gotta see this one.

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/google-poised-enter-electric-car-industry-174514445.html

Blast Time

Just got back from Harbor Freight this morning. I found I really need a blast cabinet for cleaning all the small parts I run across. So I decided to pick up a blast cabinet and damn if that sucker is not huge. Sure its not as big as some I have seen but it is large. I figured it will take care of all my little parts needs but you know, if I strip a motor to the shell I can actually blast the casing and end bells to clean up the motor for painting. I think I am going to try that to see how well it does. Plenty large enough for cleaning up motor casings and ends. I will assemble and clean up the pedal assemble for my 914 then paint it up and install it tomorrow.

$209 and some assembly required. I also purchased 50# of glass beads for nice cleaning of parts.