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Operation Manual Engine Test Stand

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Table of Contents

1. Safety Measures/precautions before starting a test Page 3-5

2. Turning ON the lightspeed Page 6-11
3. How to perform a test Page 12-14
4. How to use Report Tool Page 15-17
5. Common Hardware and Software Troubleshooting Page 18-26
6. Routine maintenance of Test Bench Page 27
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Safety Measures/precautions before starting a test

 Make sure all the water hoses and fuel hoses are properly installed/connected. Water
hoses connected with Cooling Column (fig.a) should be properly installed. The Hot water
hose coming from Engine goes to the Water in at cooling column and Cold water to the
Engine, connects with Water Out of cooling column.
 The valve with yellow handle is to fill the engine and cooling column itself along with a
small steel opening valve which is to release air from the cooling column and the engine.
Both of the valves should be opened before starting the engine, and make sure the
transparent tube at the side of cooling column is filled. Once the cooling column is filled
and engine has been bled to release air, close both the valves for cooling column to
function automatically. The thermostatic valve is set to be opened on 160°F

Fig a. (Cooling Column)

 Make sure the water level in underground sump is sufficient to perform a test. The Water
underground sump is located beside the cooling tower / water recirculation system (fig.b)

Fig b. (Water Recirculation system)

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 Please make sure that all the fasteners of the Dynamometer, drive shaft, flywheel adaptor are
tighten up
 Please make sure that all the moving parts i.e. flywheel adaptor, driveshaft coupling of
dynamometer are covered during the test

 Loosening up this screw would enable users to get the drive shaft cover slide in and out to cover
both the driveshaft coupling and flywheel adaptor on the engine.
Note:- All the moving parts should be covered during the performance test of the engine to
ensure the safety of the operator
 DO NOT put the load on if water recirculation system is not running, and fresh cold water is not
coming into the brake. Eddy Current Brake is Water Cooled, during under load condition brake
needs continuous fresh cold water, failing which may cause eddy current brake to fail.
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 The Water Control Valve is set to open automatically once the lightspeed software starts. Blue
light indicator shows that the Water Control Valve is ON

Note:
a. Do not run the load test if for some reason the Blue LED on the Water Control Valve is not
ON
b. Once the software lightspeed starts, the water control valve is set to open automatically
c. If for some reason water control valve does not open even if the software lightspeed is
started, please adjust the valve through following :-

By putting the value 0 will fully close the valve and with 10 it will be fully opened. The
recommended settings for the water control valve is 2.35.
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Turning ON the lightspeed

 Before turning ON the lightspeed please ensure the safety measures listed above. Look for the
lightspeed icon (fig.d) either on desktop or in taskbar on the main screen of system. Through
double clicking lightspeed will be turned ON

Fig. d

 Once the lightspeed is turned ON the screen will look like (fig.f)

(Fig.f)
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 Go to the “Dyno” tab on the tab menu

 Navigate cursor to the “start dyno” and click
 Once the “start dyno” is clicked the dyno panel will be turned on as per following image
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 Go through the following illustrations to understand the controls and display parameters of
Engine Test Bench
 All the gauges in green color show the pressure sensors
 All the gauges in yellow color show the temperature sensors
 Breakdown of the main screen is given as per following

(These are all Pressure Sensors, sensor range is 0-500 PSI, all sensors hoses are labeled as per
names shown in the above image, please make sure that sensors are connected at the proper
places on the engine e.g. the pressure hose labeled as Oil Press must not be connected at the
place of Fuel Pressure on the engine)
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(These are all temperature sensor gauges, all the wires (yellow color wires) are labeled
accordingly, and needs to be connected on the engine on appropriate locations)

(These two big gauges show the Engine RPM and Engine Horse Power)
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(All the numeric indicator in blue color are the channels available through the ECU/CAN Bus while the
EFI engine is being tested and the CAN/OBD-II Connector is connected with the ECU of the vehicle),
image of OBD-II connector is shown as per following:-
Note: (All these numeric indicators/ Channels would stay zero during Non-EFI engine test)
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 COOLING_SYSTEM button enables the cooling tower/water recirculation system along with
motor pumps (with this enabled all the motor pumps should run simultaneously)
 SYSTEM_ENABLE button turns ON led light present under the boom box, for a warning for the
people standing nearby to stay away from the engine, while the engine is being tested.
 ENG THRT UP (Engine Throttle Up) buttons enables to Actuator to move forward/backward
causing stress on the throttle valve of the engine to speed up or speed down
 ENG THRT DOWN (Engine Throttle Down) button enables the Actuator to move
forward/backward releasing stress on the throttle valve of the engine to speed down
 BLOWBY (CFM) is a numeric indicator showing the feedback of the Blowby Sensor, CFM (Cubic
Feet per Minute) is the unit of measurement
 TORQUE (FT-LBS) is a numeric indicator showing the torque being produced by the engine, unit
of measurement is foot-pound.

To log data Shows the table

(Button to enable on a specific point of all channels coming
Logging) To auto calibrate the during test in through data acquisition
Load Cell/Auto zeroing

This slider controls

Water control valve To exit from the
(it is set for automatic opening) software

Slider to increase or
Decrease load on engine

How to perform a test

 Disconnect the Throttle Actuator from the Engine

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 Turn ON the computer system

 Make sure all the cables and hoses are connected at appropriate places at boom box,
Engine and cooling column
 Turn ON the lightspeed
 Click the following button to put necessary information about the test being performed

 Enter the engine information that would appear on test report

Clicking OK, the button

Will turn green

 Click Enable COOLING SYSTEM BUTTON

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 Make sure both of the water pumps are running. Open bypass valve about 25% and make sure
water is coming out from bypass valve

 Bleed the air from engine to avoid air locking during test
 Make sure the safety guards for Drive Shafts are closed and covering the moving parts (flanges &
output adopters)
 Start the Engine
 Make sure to adopt all the safety standards before starting engine. Once engine is started try to
stay away from moving parts.
 Use the ENG THRT UP or ENG THRT DOWN button to adjust the RPM of Engine, note that
actuator is motorized and with any of the button stayed ON will take the engine either to full
throttle or decrease it to the idle. So for a slight increase or decrease in the RPM of the engine
click ON and OFF quickly.
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 Increase Engine RPM using above mentioned buttons slowly to required RPM

 Increase load by using Load Setpoint Slider, 0 (zero) on the slider shows no load, and 1000 shows
full load of the brake. (Normally the slider is set on percentage i.e. 0-100 %, however for smaller
engines to be tested where very minor increase in load signifies the performance, the slider is
further divided into smaller points for better accuracy of load)

 Record data by clicking following button for final report, in every increase of different load as
per SOP set. Record data will only work if the logging button is enabled. Please take at least 6-10
points with every increase in load until the final load for the sake of better performance graph of
the engine

 Once testing operation is done slowly decrease load and RPM simultaneously up till load is fully
OFF and engine is running at idle speed.
 Click the following button to see the test results

 Print the report for certification.

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How to use the report

 Once test is completed, by clicking the following button will bring up the test report in form of
MS Excel Sheet fetching all the data from the data logs created by the software.

 There are two different sheets in the test report, first sheet name
“report” contains the performance graph of the test, shown in the image below
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 Second sheet in the report named “Report 2” shows the data against all different sensors logged
at the time when logging interval button was pressed during the test. The image of “Report 2” is
shown below.
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 In order to retrieve a previous report of an engine tested in any given date, use the following
buttons present in the first sheet “Report” where the performance graph is.

a. By clicking the “Clear Current Data” all the data fetched from log file will be cleared. By Clicking
the Load New Data will open up the log file directory of the software, image is shown below
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 Select any specific report you may like and click open to see the results in Excel Repot.
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Common Hardware and Software Troubleshooting

Although the dyno is designed for a long life use, but mechanical/hardware and software failures may
happen after a considerable run time of the dyno. Since number of small engines will be tested on the
test stand which tends to vibrate more than the bigger engines, it is necessary to maintain a reasonable
idle speed i.e. 750-900 RPM. Low idle speed may cause engine as well as test stand to vibrate
abnormally. It is, therefore, mandatory that all the fasteners on the test stand be checked periodically.

Hardware Related Issues

The Eddy Current Dyno is belt driven through a belt specifically designed for long life, the excess of use,
or the excessive vibration may cause the belt to lose, incase if belt is loose, belt slip noise will be evident
during operation.

(Image shows the belt and RPM Sensor under the top sprocket)

Following image shows the screws that holds the driveshaft coupling /belt
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The screws are located under the drive shaft and backside of the pillow block. The screw has a locking
screw on top of it, which needs to be loosen up before tightening up the long screw that is holding
driveshaft-coupling assembly.

Water Recirculation System

Water recirculation system is located outside, on top of the water sump. Water Recirculation system
contains 02x water pumps, 1x Cooling Tower, 1x Blower Fan on top of the Cooling Tower and Electric
Panel.
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Electric Panel is designed to take 24v DC switchable command from computer and turn ON all the water
pumps and blower fan simultaneously through magnetic contactors.

Once Cooling System is turned ON from the lightspeed, the 24V DC Relay present in above shown
Electric Panel Turns ON which switches the Neutral of 220V AC to the magnetic contactors, resulting in
turning ON all the contactors simultaneously.

All the magnetic contactors take 220v AC input to turn ON, the 24v DC relay is just switching the Neutral
of 220v AC input to the contactors.

The 24v DC signal is coming in to the electric box through instrumentation boom/software.

Common Failures

 Main Switch is OFF

 LED on the relay is not turning ON even if the cooling system is enabled from software
 The switch present on the front sheet of panel is not working
 Either of three phase is not coming in
 Water Pumps are running but water is not coming in to the dynamometer

Fixes

 Make sure that the Main Switch inside the Electric Panel is turned ON
 Either the switch present on front sheet is damaged or the 24vDC relay itself is damaged/broken
(if the LED on the relay would not turn ON).
 Please make sure if the 24v DC is coming in (after enabling the cooling system button from
software), the switch present on the front sheet of panel is switching +ve 24V DC, use the multi
meter for DC current to see if 24vDC is coming in to the relay
 Make sure all the three Phases of AC are coming in
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 Water Pumps are not self-priming pumps, spring-loaded foot valves are used for the input of
both of the water pumps. If the foot valve is chocked, and the water line is empty, the pumps
will not pump the water to the system
 Please make sure that the water sump has enough water before starting a test

Software Related Issues

Starting the Computer

There is an emergency button present on the instrumentation boom box, if the button is pressed, it
means the electricity going to the system is disconnected. By turning it clock wise or towards the
direction where the arrows present on the emergency button points, the emergency button will be
released and 220V AC is now available for the system.

The computer system starts itself automatically once the emergency button is released. If PC does not
start, look for the AC connections going to the instrumentation boom box through control room and
rectify the connectivity.

(In case of any other hardware/PC failure, please consult the local representative)
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Other Software Related errors

 When the lightspeed starts, the CAN Bus interface starts with it automatically, and keeps
running in the back ground of the software. Following image shows how it runs in the back

ground

 By pointing cursor on the lightspeed icon in taskbar will pop up three small windows, the very
first one is CANBUS interface, and can be accessed by just click on this small window

 Whenever the lightspeed is started, the CANBUS interface will automatically try establishing a
CANBUS connection with the ECU, and if the OBD-II connector is not connected with the ECU, or
if it is connected and ECU system is not switched ON then it will show an error message every
time when lightspeed is started.
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 By Simply clicking OK will suffice

 Incase if OBD-II connector was connected with the ECU after starting the lightspeed, then please
access the CANBUS interface by the method stated earlier, and click on RUN AUTO button on
the CANBUS interface to reestablish CANBUS connection
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 If the following error message pops up after starting the lightspeed software

Please go through the following checks, if the above shown error pops up after starting the lightspeed
software.

1. Check to see if the NI cDAQ Chassis is turned ON, and the Power status LED (green) is turned
ON, by opening up the instrumentation box
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 If the Power Status LED is ON, and lightspeed still shows the error message then check to see if
the USB cable connected with the cDAQ Chassis is not lose.

 If the Power Status LED on the Chassis is OFF. Please open middle panel (white sheet panel) in
instrumentation boom, and look for the 24v DC Power Supply attached at the backside of the
white Panel.
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 Make sure if the power status LED on 24v DC Supply is turned ON

 If both the 24v DC Power Supply and Chassis are ON and Power Status LEDs on both devise are
ON, then there is a possibility that the database of the software has been corrupted. Which can
happen due to sudden power failure while the software is running. In that case, the database of
the software needs to be restored from the software backup provided with the system.
 Instructions how to restore software are present in the Backup USB.
 If the following error message pops up after starting Lightspeed, it means that the lightspeed
exe was not run with the administrator privileges. To fix this issue, right click on the lightspeed
exe and run it as administrator.
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Routine maintenance of Test Bench

 Replace Thermocouples after 2 or 3 months of use with appropriate K-Type

thermocouple probes
 Grease the Drive Shaft after 06 months of use with (Mobilux EP5 lithium based grease)
 Grease the dynamometer bearings every three months with above mentioned grease by
adding one pump of grease pump or 3cc of fresh grease
 During operation of dynamometer one or two drops of water pouring from the
dynamometer seals is normal every one second
 The Bearings and seals inside the dynamometer may get hot during operation which is
normal, and it is important that a little flow of fresh cold water always stays during
operation i.e. under-load
 The bearings and seals inside of the dynamometer needs to cool down for an hour after
every 4 hours of under-load condition.