DIY Flow Bench Build from Flow Bench Kit

A flow bench is a machine that can measure the volume of air flow through a bounded path or conduit when an air pressure is applied to one end of the bounded path. A good example of a bounded path or conduit would be a drinking straw, and by placing the drinking straw to your mouth and blowing through it would be the application of air pressure to one end of the bounded path. By blowing air through the straw (or sucking air through it) an air flow is created through the straw. The harder you blow or suck, the larger the volume of air that will flow through the straw. A flow bench applies an air pressure to a bounded path and measures the volume of air that flows through the path. This is the basic principle of how a flow bench works.
Flow benches are very popular with automotive performance enthusiasts for increasing the power of internal combustion engines. By increasing the ability of air to flow through the internal combustion engine, torque and power are often increased. Intake manifolds and cylinder head ports are the most common engine parts that are tested on a flow bench. They are the bounded pathways, or conduits, that are flow tested.
The flow bench being assembled in this video is the Flow Performance FP2.0BS kit. It can be powered by a high power air source for real cfm (Cubic Feet per Minute) volume air flow, or by a low power air source like a shop vacuum for estimated cfm readings. Typically, internal combustion engine parts are tested at 28” of water column (28”wc), or approximately 1 PSI (Pound per Square Inch). This pressure is regulated to maintain the 28”wc pressure as a reference, since air flow volume is related to applied pressure. Or the test pressure can vary, and the flow data can be mathematically estimated to the standard test pressure of 28”wc, which is what the Flow Performance FP2.0BS kit can do when powered by a low power air source. Without the standard 28”wc pressure reference, air flow data would never be comparable from one test to another.
Testing air flow of automotive engine parts at 28”wc test pressure usually requires large, heavy air sources that require large amounts of power and create a lot of noise. But by using a low power air source, like a strong shop vacuum, effective flow data estimated to 28”wc test pressure can be collected in many cases. The Flow Performance FP2.0BS kit performs this flow data estimation in real time, as you test.
Your shop space is always a valuable commodity. The Flow Performance FP2.0BS is small and light weight. It is easy to assemble, and to disassemble, giving you your valuable shop space back to you when a flow bench is not required.
Flow Performance flow bench kits are assembled, tested and initially calibrated before shipping.