Dyno purchase comments & opinions.

[ctd]

I am looking to purchase a dyno from a hobbyist perspective.

Don't have a permanent location for it at this point so a smaller portable unit is best for now.

My research leads me to this unit.

http://www.dynocom.net/Downloads/DC1250_flyer3.pdf

Having little to no experience other than my limited time at a couple of dyno shops. I'm also located in very rural setting, 300 miles to the nearest dyno facility.

I would really appreciate any comments you may have regarding this purchase as well as support from this supplier.

Tx's
Dale


Also I've learned a lot from this board Thankyou! I have not felt worthy to comment as I'm still a tuning grasshopper in training. Search is my friend!

[tramotorsports]

Seems like an unreal deal to me for the price! (20k) Especially considering it is a load dyno so you can actually tune correctly on it. Or you could always step up to a dynojet for the same price by grabbing the one a&a corvette is selling.

http://www.hptuners.com/forum/showthread.php?p=198652

But it seems pretty nice to me. Although i don't have any direct experience using this dyno. Only downfall i see is not having an oversized single roller. but then that kind of rids the ease of movement and portability. I'd think that for what you're planning on doing with it, it would be more than acceptable.

[tramotorsports]

reading more on this thing. It says the Eddy brake is rated to 700HP. Does that mean that any steady state testing that would exceed this power level would blow straight through it?? Prolly not very common that it would actually happen but thought i'd just ask.

[ctd]

Good question I will have to ask.

Torque rating would be more useful, I'm a bit confused with the two HP numbers they mention.

[GregRexAdams]

reading more on this thing. It says the Eddy brake is rated to 700HP. Does that mean that any steady state testing that would exceed this power level would blow straight through it?? Prolly not very common that it would actually happen but thought i'd just ask.

Usually, the Eddy brakes aren't able to hold as much power for steady state as they are for inertia. It's not uncommon to see lower steady state numbers. Even if a car is making 1800 HP, you only expect on an inertia dyno for it to make it maybe 10 seconds tops. On steady state, it might be making 1500, if you expect it to do it for a few minutes that's many times the heat.

[STATESMAN]

It is same spec as a mainline or a DynoDynamics so you could use that as a rough capacity comparison .
Except the dyno dynamics equivalent is only rated to 600hp and would cost a lot more then 20k (australia base model starts at around $55k up)

[ctd]

At this point steady state to 700hp seems to be plenty.

I have a 500rwhp LS1 C5 & a Cumins Turbo Diesel, the torque of the Dodge with current modifications would be in the 800 ft lb area.

I'm sure for any steady state tuning I would be fine.

The inertia ability is much higher.

[tramotorsports]

Yeah i think it would be fine also.

[VYSSLS1]

It is same spec as a mainline or a DynoDynamics so you could use that as a rough capacity comparison .
Except the dyno dynamics equivalent is only rated to 600hp and would cost a lot more then 20k (australia base model starts at around $55k up)

600hp steady state, ive held 800hp pretty easily

ive graphed 1150rwhp on my single retarder..

[STATESMAN]

Yep for sure,
As dale mention steady state capacity often mistaken for maximum power limit which doesn't reflect the road sweep capacity
At the end of the day it comes down to how well/hard you strap it to maintain measurable traction on a 8.5" roller. Like dale and many people have easily graphed much high horsepower on a dyno sweep test with out a hitch it comes down to experience with a balance of good strapping and ramp rate. Most Aussie dynos use 8.5" rollers and similar rating and are used daily in big horsepower applications no problems

[ctd]

It was suggested by the Sales representative that I contact some of the dyno customers to verify there after sale support services.

Those telephone calls did not go well, they were all very willing to talk........not happy with the support services.

I'm trying to sort the grief factor against the price, is there a histo for that?

[Roger Ramjet]

Land and Sea has a brake model for $15000.

http://www.land-and-sea.com/chassis-...202WD%20Models

[STATESMAN]

Land and Sea has a brake model for $15000.

http://www.land-and-sea.com/chassis-...202WD%20Models

I have land and sea control software on my chassis dyno which cost me almost 15kAUD by the time it was in my hand and on dyno. The software capability appear to be excellent maybe to complicated some times. Tech support i still have mixed feelings about i need some assistance when i first installed it. I was a little disappointed with the Tech support after ring international i was often fobbed off had promises of return phone call that never happened and ring back tomorrow because there busy which is a pain in the ass when you work back until mid night to wait for opportunity to contact because of time zone difference. I would ring back and tech support had gone home or even better told to ring back tomorrow so i did in which my tech support man had failed to mention he was taking holidays and was told to ring back in a week,and the impression i got from another tech support man who answered the phone is i didnt make the sale so wait until your guy is back for help.As you could imagine that didnt go down well after waiting everynight to the same issue fixed but after i blew my top the tech guy sorted my problem for me. I have had it for 6mths now and i have worked out most of it. But i still need to under go my offical training. I am still considering purchasing one of there dynos but im still in too minds about if i purchase one of there dynos will it fix the issues im having be will the tech support improve not real sure of the answer i am still waiting for software update with my correct name and address to be fixed as it is coded in to software and was incorrect form day one. Maybe it will be fixed before my tech support is cutoff. In australia our dynos come with lifetime free updates and tech support.

[VYSSLS1]

with DD going under and the new buyer not back in the game yet (if there is actually a new buyer) im looking around for some other software for my 18month old DD...

ill probably go with mainline i think...

[ctd]

Holy Molly some interesting comments!

I do have some Land & Sea dyno experience thru the power sports industry. I agree the with complexity comments. I also found that every time you called them you needed some new whiz bang thing that cost money! They are always selling upgrades as apposed to making what you have work!

Back to the grief Histo!

[STATESMAN]

Dont get me wrong the land&sea gear is in my oppinion far more and advanced and better value then most software including mainline.With its ability for user to connect there own device via serial coms is great plus the huge amount of user configurable i/o is great.
But i kind felt a little alone with tech support due to getting palmed of every time instead of fixing issue. They have the ability to connect remotely and observe issue and repair or educate user rather then say read help and call tommorrow. You pay for priorty tech support but it appears very limited and almost seems like the problem dragged out to a long period so your tech support runs out then requires renewing. Things like inductive pickup is crap picks up either all emf or nothing which make dyno go haywire. But all in all every dyno will have pros/cons.
I have had experiance with mainline dynos even there software crashs and laggs even had a retarder bearing retainer come loose causing retarder to drift and hit bed on a almost new mainline, Which i almost crapped my self thinking i had blown the cars gearbox But i would still probably buy one. I guess at the end of the day if it is in your budget and it does what you want then i would purchase it

[nicstang]

Step UP to a Dynojet???? Are you kidding?

[ctd]

Thought this thread had died.

To update I purchased a Mustang, I never thought they would be in my price range. In my frustration in dealing with others I called Mustang & advised them of my budget & they put it together!

I traveled to there place in Cleveland for some in house training & facility tour. Both were awesome.

They will travel to my place for site training when I'm ready.

[brianko]

The Mustang dynos are fine (MD-250 here), but just beware that their tech support after the sale is somewhat lacking. My dyno was down for about 4 months due to spurious PAU feedback spikes that were trashing the dyno data. Swapped out over $5,000 worth of boards and controllers with Mustang, but they refused to send someone down to troubleshoot! No local field reps in Texas either, apparently. In the end, after many evening hours spent tearing down the dyno, I discovered the culprit: A cold solder joint in one of the data cables! (This is the first thing I checked for when the problem started, but cold solder joints look just like regular solder joints, and I didn't think about actually pulling on the connection to test it.)

In the end, Mustang did reimburse me for the swapped parts. But it was frustrating experience. I've been thinking about setting up a forum for dyno owners (especially Mustang owners) to exchange war stories, fixes, etc.

I will tell you that a couple of the controllers Mustang sells are commercial units that can be purchased at 50% of what Mustang asks for them.

--Brian

[VYSSLS1]

most dyno owners use the efi101 forum..

there are a lot of DD, mainline and dynojet owners on there..