I will settle all arguments once and for all! I BOUGHT A DYNO

[vroom ZOOM]

Ok, so when I saw a marine dyno for cheap I couldn't help but buy it. Yeah I know a thousand bucks is a lot for a tool for working on a boat, but a new one is 14 grand around here - so I had to buy it. Its a dynomite water brake actually meant for measuring power levels, so now I can actually start measuring power on all sorts of outboards and posting up dyno charts! I bet I will settle a few arguments about which engine makes more power etc - LOL. Has anyone who ran this dyno (LCD400) share any ideas for a setup? I think I will hook up a giant jet pump I have lying around to feed the dyno, and then go to the scrap yard and get a couple of large radiators with electric fans to keep the water cool. Any tips/suggestions, stick them right here!

Oh yes, and I have the large textbook to read through before I start making power...

 

[JimS123]

Fill the gas tank, charge the battery, put on the right prop for WOT specs. and go boating. If the other guy goes faster than you, so what? Why do you need a dyno?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Do a calculation on the size of the cooling tower needed

You will find that under full load, that's a lot of cooling.

For every 100hp, you will need about 4 SQ ft of 3" thick radiator and about 2500 CFM fans

However if you just do a quick pull, use a large tank to buffer the temp rise

 

[vroom ZOOM]

Do a calculation on the size of the cooling tower needed

You will find that under full load, that's a lot of cooling.

For every 100hp, you will need about 4 SQ ft of 3" thick radiator and about 2500 CFM fans

However if you just do a quick pull, use a large tank to buffer the temp rise

Easy. Lets take the rad from a car with a 200 hp motor. 200 hp is 15% of the chemical energy from the gas tank. 30% of the chemical energy from the gas tank gets converted to heat which the radiator dissipates = 400hp. If I put in two radiators, they will have a total dissipation capacity of 800hp. If I am testing a 200 hp engine, this should be more than plenty.

If its not, I have a friend who works at a wrecking yard and can get me more radiators!

 

[vroom ZOOM]

Fill the gas tank, charge the battery, put on the right prop for WOT specs. and go boating. If the other guy goes faster than you, so what? Why do you need a dyno?

For many reasons
1. I want dyno charts.
2. When I do troubleshooting on engines I don't have to take a 1 hr drive to the lake for testing. I think this dyno will pay for fuel costs of towing boats to the lake pretty fast. Also I can't take all my tools to the lake.
3. When I rebuild an engine, to break it in I would otherwise need to mount it on a boat. Now, I can just run it on the dyno without temporarily rigging it on a boat to just break it in.
4. I don't have to hang off the back of the boat at top speed to set the timing
I bet i will find more reasons.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Easy. Lets take the rad from a car with a 200 hp motor. 200 hp is 15% of the chemical energy from the gas tank. 30% of the chemical energy from the gas tank gets converted to heat which the radiator dissipates = 400hp. If I put in two radiators, they will have a total dissipation capacity of 800hp. If I am testing a 200 hp engine, this should be more than plenty.

If its not, I have a friend who works at a wrecking yard and can get me more radiators!

You may want to run the numbers. A radiator from a vehicle that has a 5%duty cycle is different than a radiator from a power unit that has a 100% duty cycle.

A vehicle only takes 15-20 HP max to move down the road at 80mph. Have that vehicle try to pull 10,000# at 80 up a hill and it will overheat

 

[vroom ZOOM]

You may want to run the numbers. A radiator from a vehicle that has a 5%duty cycle is different than a radiator from a power unit that has a 100% duty cycle.

A vehicle only takes 15-20 HP max to move down the road at 80mph. Have that vehicle try to pull 10,000# at 80 up a hill and it will overheat

True, never thought about that. Will get more radiators!