New to the board

[Maxflow]

Hello every one I just ran across this site yesterday.
I am in the process of a bench build. It is a Orfice type.
I got a kit from mercdog motor sports. (base kit.)
Before then I would not have known where to start.
So to say the least I am green to the workings of a
flow bench. I am a machine builder/machinest by trade,
(auto industry)so building stuff is not a problem.

Thanks Bruce for getting me signed up.

[bruce]

Welcome to the forum . . . you'll find enough info here to get that "mercdog base kit" into a usable and accurate flowbench.

[Thomas Vaught]

Agree with Bruce on the Mercdog bench deal.
The bench was a copy of the old MSD Bench plans and the bench
has some flaws that can be worked around with the help of the board.

Welcome.

Tom Vaught

[Maxflow]

Thanks for the support. It looks like I found this sight just on
time, I just got the front and sides assembled. Looks like a good time to make changes. What is the best way for me to
get the information I will need without days of reading all
the old post and trying to understand it all.


Thanks in advance.

[blownalcohol]

Welcome to the board Maxflow.

I was in your shoes a few months ago.....didn't even know people built their own flowbenches until Jan. 07. With the help of the guys here in the forum I now have a bench that I believe is as accurate and repeatable as any of the "factory" benches.

I am not going to be a lot of help with the MSD style bench, as I built a pitot style with a seperate motor box, but I assure you there are plenty of guys here who will be very helpful to you.

Unfortunately, there is no way to learn everything covered in the forum without taking the time to search the old threads. We've all been there and we've all had to just take time to study the various threads. I always looked at it from the standpoint of my time was all it cost me to learn about building the bench.....

One last thing.....please remember that this forum is available only because Bruce has taken the time and invested the money to create it. All the info you have access to is absolutely free. That being said, please contribute to Bruce's fund if you can....

Once again, welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy the build "process" as much as I did.

Jeff

[MMack]

I am doing exactly what you are doing. I did not buy the Mercdog plans, but I looked at their site and have the PHR article from the web. I have changed to a changable single orifice as recommended here, and added a larger top chamber. One glitch I ran into this weekend is that I made the top camber go all the way back to the top backpanel. now there isn't enough room for the 36" manometer to fit! I doug a hole and trimmed it back as far as I felt was prudent. Wish I had thought this through earlier.

The other stumbling block is anchoring the motor mount panel. Once the top chambers are assembled, you can't get to the top side of the bottom chamber horizontal to secure the motor mount board! and the motors and check valves get in the way from the bottom side. Oh well, if it was easy, everyone would do it. I think I have it figured out. Put a stip on the bottom of the bottom chamber, adjacent the motor mount board. Liquid nails on the left side of it. Put the motor mount board in, and then secure it from the left side against the check valve boxes.

Mike

[gofaster]

I also started my project (nearly 2 years ago) after looking at the Mercdog/MSD plans. I niavely thought I'd knock it out in a couple of weekends. These are some of the changes I made:
1. Used baltic birch plywood instead of mdf for strength.
2. increased the size of my cabinet to accomodate 12 good vacmotors
3. Added an upper plenum on top of the bench with openings on either side to force the air to change direction before reaching the orifice plate. That way the air is not blasting straight down the test cylinder at the orifice.
4. Made a stainless steel orifice plate with fixed orifices that will be closed as necessary with rubber stoppers. Made a provision on the plate to mount Bruce's sharp edge orifices. (I may end up covering all of my square edged orifices, and test only with Bruce's. I need to try both ways and see what I like)
5. Made my flow control valves out of aluminum, and used 1/2" acme rod to actuate them. I was looking at strength and longevity here, as opposed to cheap and easy. I mounted the valves in a way that takes advantage of the natural pressure differentials in the bench to aid in sealing, intake opens "out", exhaust opens "in".
6. Made hardwood gluing and screwing strips for all joints, and biscuit jointed where possible.
7. primed and painted inside the bench. I intend to use laminate on the exterior.
8. Used deckplates for all access openings and the intake and exhaust vents

Whether these changes are a recipe for success or failure has yet to be seen, as my bench is still not done yet. That's the basics. As you search and research your project, you'll find pictures and descriptions of my project and most of the other members projects generously provided in the tons of info that make up the forum. There's still an older version of the forum that is not postable anymore, but it can be searched too. (At least last time I looked). You'll see there's no "right" or "wrong" here, and there are many ingenious solutions that are shared.

I'm still working out an electro-pneumatic switching system to use an assortment of probes mounted insede the bench. If a probe seems to be in a turbulent area in a particular phase of testing, I want to be able to switch it out for one in more stable air. I may find out that some probes are in bad spots and I'll just block them out. My feeling at this time is that some spots may be more favorable for intake testing, some better for exhaust tests. If anyone thinks I'm barking up the wrong tree here, let me know.

Good luck on your new bench.