Old Jake brake thread. Brake saver retarder question

[BronsonA2150]

Found this thread from a long time ago someone was talking about a telma retarder. Sounds like it’s some kind of electric driveline retarder. Similar principle to Cat’s brakesaver. Were these or something else used very much on Mack’s since their jakes were less than stellar? 
 

 

[Geoff Weeks]

Telma's were more often found on buses.

1) they are silent, so not to alarm passengers,

2) they are heavy. Buses usually have less trouble keeping on the good side of weight law.

3) they are electric and can suffer from the gremlins common to high current electrical devices.

 

Cats "Brake saver" was hyd with engine oil being the medium used.  It was heavy when compared to a Jake or Macks retarder. The reason for it went away when Cat (and others) changed to common-rail injection. 

[Mark T]

Telmas were popular on packers (garbage trucks) too. Some Macks made to be packers had no provisions for an engine brake. Telmas would have been quiet in residential areas as well. Brakesaver ?  Whole different animal from back when Cats had overhead cams and an injection pump. Closest fluid type retarder would have been in an Allison automatic back then. Brakesaver was heavy, high maintenance and overall costly. Some 3406s still had them, but they were pretty much out of the picture by the mid to later '80s