Kloft Retarder Deutschland GmbH / Kloft Railway Deutschland GmbH

A retarder is a third independent braking system for RVs, light delivery trucks, long-distance trains, heavy-duty trucks, and truck-mounted cranes.
A retarder is an electromagnetic, electrodynamic eddy current brake.
The term retarder comes from Latin and means "to hold back".

The retarder works wear-free, it can be used for about 90% of all braking processes. As a result, the normal foot brake stays cold and is available with full power in emergencies (no fading when the brake pads are overheated). Cost-saving - the normal brake pads last up to 8x longer, the downtimes in the workshop are reduced. Amortization in 1 to 2 years!
Higher average speeds can be driven downhill - safety is increased - comfort is improved.

The retarder consists of a stator and two rotors. The stator, which is necessary for building up the magnetic field, consists of a disc with 8 iron cores on each side, on which the excitation coils are attached. This stator is attached to the frame of the vehicle and interrupts the cardan shaft. The rotors are connected to the rotating drive shaft on either side of the stator. By actuating the 3-6-stage control lever, which is attached near the steering wheel, the retarder brake is supplied with power from the battery via the electronic control box and generates a magnetic field. The two rotors rotating with the cardan shaft pass through the magnetic field and are set in opposite rotation. This deceleration affects the drive wheels as braking via the rear axle. The vehicle is braked regardless of the speed driven and the gear selected. A high braking torque acts even at low speeds, even when the gear is disengaged. The resulting "kinetic" energy is converted into heat and released into the ambient air via the cooling fins.