DIY Hub Dyno Overview

I've had a lot of enquiries about how I built this dyno, so thought I'd put up a short clip showing the basics. I thought a few things were important in the design, such as the rubber couplings to absorb driveline harshness (I have heard some hub dynos can damage driveline components), the angle on the frames to allow them to go under the car (tubbed cars, clearance for door opening on 2 doors etc), and adjustability for cambered cars.
For genuine dyno controller enquiries only, send Daniel an email on [e-mail]

[@E-Tuning]

Damn looks really god ! Going for a similar setup in the future =)

[@ronhendrix6977]

Very impressed with your work! I have better than 30 years of dynamometer experience. Your work is better the most commercials available systems. Nice video as well.

[@VicDynoHire]

Cheers Ronald, I do love it. I've been tempted to build another larger one and use this one on the front so I can do AWD tuning. It will also give me a much higher HP capability. This one is limited to about 1000 Hp.

[@TorqueupAu]

@@VicDynoHire Mate if you haven't built your bigger unit yet. I'd be keen to team up to try and get a discounted price on retarders. I need a dyno to hold 1500+hp for my own cars. Sick of smoking tyres on the rollers.

[@RP-hn1qc]

​@@VicDynoHireHow much did it cost you?

[@Walterronny]

Hi! really good built! i'd like to know what bushings did you use for dyno cell?

[@playhardgopr0]

Hi! Great video! Can I ask what brand Eddy brakes you are using and where you purchased them from? Beat regards!

[@gteturbosupramk3]

This is pretty awesome, especially the muffling system. How can I contact you to find out more information about that?

[@blairo15]

Hey Simon. I've been meaning to ask you what kg's your S type load cell is rated at?

[@mraperish]

that is awesome!

[@mikemph1981]

Have you managed to get anymore videos of the dyno in action and how the control works

[@jacquespoirier9071]

this setup is top notch, ypur problem will be to keep the braking effect stable as the temperature rises. I have the experience of a dyno based on a Telma retarder, it always was difficult to stabilize the braking effect. Better to have a good ventilation because the heat generated is very important, to the point that the rotors becomes red hot.

[@qwertyword]

Are the hubs all custom? Like from the rotor shaft to the rubber coupler? Is the shaft splined or keyed? What about the very last adapter before the wheel hub adapters? Thank you!

[@MediumThreat]

Would you change anything on the hardware setup or construction if you were to build it again?

[@ke70df]

Are you still continue to develop this system ? I am interested in your system . After watching your videos do you have any video that show that how your steady state system works ?

[@16vastraturbo]

hi this looks like its built really well and using top components ? can you build anymore??

[@MrJanzu]

Hi, what is the max hp/nm that you have tuned/got readings out of this 1600nm retarder setup? Im going to build a similar setup to handle 1000hp/1000(?) Nm, have any recomendations on the retarder capacity?

[@rotaryperfection]

Wow one of these could be modded for engine dyno usage. I need to learn how to build one of these.

[@johncarter5203]

1:50 that airbag is happy as shit lol

[@tinygunner4703]

How much total are you into this build I’m very interested in this and would like to copy your design I’m from the USA so parts might be harder for me to get maybe not, I don’t know

[@Yaban-racing]

Hi where to find all information about contrôler and retarder for build one of them?

[@VicDynoHire]

G'day Blairo, The retarders are rated at about 1300 Ft Lb each. The cells are mounted exactly 1 foot from the retarder center line. I bought 1500 Lb load cells to have a little margin. I bought them from PT in NZ, they were about $300 each from memory. Try to look for cells that maintain their accuracy over a wide temp range. Some are temp compensated up to about 70c. You may be able to get graphs showing accuracy v temperature on different units, i'm not too sure on this though. If you know your retarders capacity, and load cell distance from the retarder centerline, you will easily be able to calculate the cell capacity req..

[@Kunokuno81]

+VicDynoHire Hi, I am building a similar dyno. The wheel adapter are the homemade or where they come from? rg Rainer

[@VicDynoHire]

+Kunokuno81 Hi, They were made at a local machine shop.

[@tinygunner4703]

Link to the retarders?

[@nickthelebo]

With thoes retarders what was the most power you could hold up

[@Walterronny]

Hi, looks really great!! how do i can contact with you please? thank you!

[@mareksumguy1887]

Where are you located.... how much to hire dyno??

[@GunniGST]

Hi , the rpm trigger / rubber coupler adapters are they off the shelve items or did you get them machined? Thanks

[@VicDynoHire]

Hi GunniGST, I had the machined

[@bryanrichard2937]

Hi, got a question for you, I am a shop teacher in Canada and have managed to track down a couple of telmas (took two months) and my auto shop class and I are hoping to start our dyno build project. I was just wondering what sort of system you were using to variably adjust the resistance on the Telma brakes? Is that what the guy does at the email you provided?

[@VicDynoHire]

Hi Bryan, Yes, Daniel's package does all of the control side of things. It's fantastic value for what it does.

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi bryan, if you are still interested about this issue you can contact us. Industrias Zelu, S.L. is one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR). Available for any kind of industrial and commercial vehicles and also for dynamometer applications. please contact us and we will help in whatever you need. www.zelusl.com

[@ibrahimalisjahbana3621]

hi, currently I'm doing a project to make dynamometer eddy current, could you give me the video about the detail of the stator? or disassembly the stator?

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi Ibrahim, if you are still interested you can contact us. Industrias Zelu, S.L. manufacturer of the KLAM Electro Magnetic Retarder, one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR). Available for any kind of industrial and commercial vehicles and also for dynamometer applications. We will help you in whatever you need. please write an email to [e-mail] www.zelusl.com

[@tommartens1929]

Hello, I'm building an engine dyno based on a Telma retarder. What do you use to convert the AC from your grid to 192V DC? How do you control the voltage?

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi Tom, if you are still interested about this issue you can contact us. Industrias Zelu, S.L. is, one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR). Available for any kind of industrial and commercial vehicles and also for dynamometer applications. We can help you in whatever you need. Please send an email to [e-mail]

[@Adrian_The_Great]

Hi mate! We made ourselves a dyno similar to yours and we are having some trouble with torque readings. We got a lot of noise on the readings and there is no precision or whatsoever.... We first thought we broke the load cell, and we did so it was replaced with a new bigger more cappable unit. Problem persisted. We thought it may be due to some kind of vibrations induced to the chasis but I highly doubt so. It could be but I think there wouldnt be so much noise as we have. We even had torque-bellow-zero readings wich is kind of strange. Maybe you could give us some advice as to where to start looking. We are thinking right now that maybe the ignition wires are inducing some EMI noise to the load cell wire but who knows!

[@macguyver209]

All torque sensing circuits need low pass filters installed...

[@DWTSVIDS]

Ron Anderson and how would that work?

[@MoesKeckeEcke]

You need a really capable strain gauge electronic, shield wires with steel tubes/copper fully grounded. 6 wire strain gauge install

[@ueokatsuhiro]

Hey, great build ... 1 question ,, if the roller becomes too heavy until it stops and lost communication signal , could it be the retarder spoiled? Need some help

[@VicDynoHire]

Hi, I'm not sure I understand your question. If any of the power or communication is lost to the retarder/s, the load on one or both of the retarders will be lost. This would cause the engine to over speed unless the throttle application is quickly reduced/removed.

[@nordic5490]

How do you stop it flipping over ? eg, a Barra turbo, after tranmission losses, might have 1000NM before the diff in 5th gear, then eg, a ficticous 4:1 diff ratio, multiplies the torque to 4000NM @ the hubs, split between 2 hubs, ie, 2000NM on each side hub dyno trying to turn it over.

[@VicDynoHire]

200Nm is only about 200Kg at 1 meter. The bottom leg is about 1 meter from the axle center line going forward. The Falcons rear weight is about 700Kg's, and increasing as the torque is applied , as the weight shifts from the front. It can never flip the retarder frames over.

[@Didewro]

Great build! Vic u ever make some on request? Tuning drag cars....would love one rated to 2500-3000 hp. Is it possible?

[@VicDynoHire]

Sure its possible. You will have to use two large retarders on each side to hold up to 4000HP.

[@Didewro]

Im in the USA...If i pay for the all the parts and material.....what would you charge me to put it together? PM [e-mail]

[@VicDynoHire]

The cost would be about 70K including all materials for me to build a 4000Hp hub dyno.

[@alexb2298]

Any update on whether your friend would do any more control systems ?

[@VicDynoHire]

+Alex Beckingham . Yes, he is happy to build more. He has a few underway at the moment.

[@fabricobblegarage9545]

Rad!

[@Moronicsmurf]

So i have a question, cuz im thinking of building something similar surrounding a 2 telma retarders. but for an engine bench. You are accelerating the motor at about 300rpm/s right. And that spins the retarders and put load on the loadcell, so basicly you know how much torque you have under a given rpm. But how do you know how much "braking power" you need to put into the retarder? Whats the formula here..

[@VicDynoHire]

+Moronicsmurf . The ramp rate is fully adjustable from the hand controller. The speed is controlled via a control loop(PID) that has a speed sensor input. So the processor knows the dyno speed and also the target speed. The loop then adds or subtracts load to the retarders to match the dyno RPM(actual) to the Processor (target) RPM.

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi, If you are still interested in knowing more about retarders you can ask us. Industrias Zelu, S.L. is one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR). Available for any kind of industrial and commercial vehicles and also for dynamometer applications. Please check out our web and we will help you as soon as posible. www.zelusl.com

[@1932cheytruck]

Is there any chance you could upload or email a video of when you actual build the "retarder" or eddy current brake and how you control the amount of load applied . ( ie: a big Harley would need more load then a small atv)

[@VicDynoHire]

+Robert “1932chevytruck” S . Sure, I'll make another video. it doesn't matter how much power the vehicle makes, the processor automatically changes the retarders load to maintain the set speed or ramp speed(rate) of the engine.

[@1932cheytruck]

+VicDynoHire Thanks, I'm looking forward to seeing how the connection is made between the retarder and the computer

[@ricardobenin7830]

Krikey !!

[@mrvector257]

Not sure if you'll see this or not, but I'll ask anyway. How's this setup holding up 7 years later? I'm very interested in building my own.

[@simonphillips1654]

Hi imaginathan, It gets used every day. The only thing that has failed is one of the rubber couplings. I never got around to doing a follow up video. Thanks for the reminder.

[@mrvector257]

@Simon Phillips Oh wow, that's good to know. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to the follow up video.

[@gptech2444]

Hi, I'm looking to build my own dyno, can you put me in touch with the person that did the electronics? Thanks, Grant.

[@VicDynoHire]

Send Daniel an email on [e-mail] he has built a few controllers now. Cheers, Simon

[@gptech2444]

Thanks Simon.

[@stevedarman]

VicDynoHire Hi what software are you using?

[@John-rw9bv]

Can someone explain it to me like i'm a retarder: do retarders MAKE AC power out, or is power USED to resist the car, like an electric brake? EDIT: Other than that pretty fundamental hole in my knowledge haha, this Dyno looks absolutely amazing, it's really not only well designed, but it looks good, and with the bearing blocks and box steel frame, it is really a good design. Maybe i'd find a more electronic way of reading the RPM/position than a toothed gear in 2022, but other than that the airbags and load sensor arrangement is really impressive!

[@marciovieira9872]

Hello! Can you send me the Project I Will do ine for me!

[@pamelasotov.2082]

Hello, where did you order the retarders from? Or where can I get similar ones ?

[@VicDynoHire]

Hi, I ordered them directly from Frenelsa in Spain. This way I could order them with the shaft length and diameter that I wanted. They had already been wired with the coils in series (192V), Rather than the second hand units that are usually wired to 24V. The 24V units can have the coils rewired to be 192v though.

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi Pamela, If you are still interested, you can ask us information about any kind of retarders. Industrias Zelu, S.L. is one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR).Hope we can help you. www.zelusl.com

[@johnnym1320]

were these retarders used? they would be great for a motorcycle dyno I would like to build.

[@VicDynoHire]

They were ordered new.

[@johnnym1320]

Wow I would have thought they would be way more than $300. Thanks

[@outkast187]

They arent $300. They are around $3000 used untested.

[@WhisperWisdomHub]

Hi can u sell any of yr dyno .

[@klamretarder1537]

Hello Ihab, if you are still interested, you can send an email to [e-mail] and our commercial team will give you all information you require.

[@mikemph1981]

Simon could you send me your email please. I would like to see more pics and videos of your dyno holding load while tuning etc

[@VicDynoHire]

+mikemph1981 . Hi Mike, I'll put up another video showing tuning, different ramp rates and modes.

[@mikemph1981]

would be great simon..... i am trying to work out a deal for a quote for the retarders from frenelsa.

[@jenries5525]

windows xp in 2015, only wants to show off the airbags and casters...... what is the flywheel? not near enough info for a 10 min video

[@VicDynoHire]

Some people can never be satisfied.

[@jenries5525]

actually am satisfied, i just watched your other videos and figured it out. sorry for the rude comment, but still windows xp?

[@devojet]

Zackery Morris the software works on any version of window. Simon just happens to have an older xp machine.

[@charlesbauer1747]

Did you wire the coils in a series to run the higher voltage? I have a 12v Telma and the controller is 96v or 192v, and I am having a little trouble wrapping my brain around this part.

[@klamretarder1537]

Hi Charles, if you are still interested about this issue yo can contact us. Industrias Zelu, S.L. is one of the worldwide leaders of the market in the design, production and distribution of Electro Magnetic Retarders (EMR). Depending what you need we can design a personal retarder. Please contact to our commercials and they will help you in whatever you need. www.zelusl.com