4WD Dyno Cell Construction Blog.
(Part 4... Electrickery!)
The Electrickery Nightmare...
There is very little more boring to me than wiring, but we had lots of it to do. My intention is to have this cell as autonomous as possible, with as much functionality wireless as can be obtained reliably, and that means a lot of computer interface sockets need to go in the cell walls and a lot of HD cameras need wiring in too, along with the obvious three phase for the dyno itself, the exhaust fans and the engine cooling fans. The network also needs to be linked to my other unit across the road, that's another headache to be overcome. I have this weird OCD about wiring, I cannot abide wiring trailing everywhere, so this is a very important part of the build for me, I want operation as wire free as possible.
The fan room needs its own 3 phase distribution board so we can spur out from there and leave nothing too visible in the cell and there is now a dedicated computer network and camera control area that is outside the cell itself, so the wiring begins and everything is terminating in that one area...
Not a lot to say, its all just wire.
The network alone has used over 400 meters.
This should carry the juice we need.
This will power the engine cooling fan.
Power socket for the exhaust extraction fan.
The obligatory "Oh Shit" button.
Exhaust fan wired and finally running...
Lots of computer integration options going in a custom socket we are having made in Germany. 2x serial 2x Cat 5, 4x USB3. This has been thought about carefully and will all interface in 2 parts in the fan control room, so if we ever have a problem in the cell we can change just that half and be back up and running, I have also wired 100% redundancy so should hopefully never have to take the wall apart to change a wire... just a quick plug swop from the main channel to the redundant channel and we are hooked in again on fresh wiring.
2x USB3 and 1x HDMI going near the drivers door for a TV panel and any USB stuff we may need to interface while mapping etc.
A 4 channel remote receiver for control of the main engine fan, exhaust fan, cell extraction fan and the dyno power supply. All now controllable from the drivers seat.
Its just wire, wire and more wire. I dealt with all networking, computer interfaces and TV wiring while Kenny dealt with the CCTV and all the mains wiring.
And its not just the cell itself, we have to wire up the entire building from scratch.
Eventually, it all came to end end. For me, the most boring part of the project. Thankfully, I can now turn my attentions to the most interesting part, and the part that most cells get so, so wrong. Airflow.
