Electric fans, whose running them?

flyfisher11

flyfisher11

Well-known member
May 25, 2005
8,676
2
61
Wolf Laurel NC
I'm thinking about switching to electric fans and am wondering who here is running them, what kind, one or two, switching ie manual, auto, or combo. There is some info searching but I'm really interested in some real time feedback.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Roving Beetle

Roving Beetle

Well-known member
Nov 11, 2007
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Mount Desert Island, Maine
www.desertboat.com
I run one on the diesel swap. I have a high flow (I think 3500 cfm or so) good quality single one hooked to an adjustable automatic switch with a manual override for water crossings etc.

I also have it hooked into the AC one on the front so they both run when the AC calls for it. Again the manual override switches it off.
 
bmn1965

bmn1965

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2005
414
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Hendersonville NC
A question I have of the people running them is how many cfm are you running and what kind of conditions do you use your truck in towing wheeling etc?
 
Jupiter Rover

Jupiter Rover

Well-known member
Dec 18, 2006
1,690
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South Florida
Is there anything bad/wrong with the viscous fan? I heard it is outdated and most cars these days use the electric fan...

I read over on UK forums that people drive without a viscous or electric fan and don't overheat.
 
RVRSRVC

RVRSRVC

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May 7, 2004
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Elizabethtown, PA
www.roverlab.com
I've used the flexalite 210 which is a twin blade unit in a frame that fits a D1/RRC radiator perfectly. Wired up to a temp sensor- battery fed so it'll run after the engine is shut down, and an override for water crossings.
Fitted to RRC LWB, D1, D90 with multiple failures- melting 30 amp circuit breakers, temp control issues with or without a/c and finally gave up on all three. And at least 2 of them had no previous temp issues- one had a broken fan blade and the other was part of a larger project.
 
bmn1965

bmn1965

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2005
414
0
Hendersonville NC
Jupiter Rover said:
Is there anything bad/wrong with the viscous fan? I heard it is outdated and most cars these days use the electric fan...

I read over on UK forums that people drive without a viscous or electric fan and don't overheat.
Click to expand...

Why don't you try it and get back to me after you do!!
 
Ed Cheung

Ed Cheung

Well-known member
Aug 23, 2006
1,584
2
Hong Kong
I got a fan control module that can monitor 2 temp sensor input (one for water temp and one for oil temp) but I used both sensor for the upper and lower radiator hose, and 2 dual speed fans. I set the module to trigger the fans when the water temp reach 75C (167F) at the lower hose. And the 2nd trigger the fans to spin at higher speed at 95C =203F. I notices the water temp is around 10C-15C differences between the upper and lower radiator hose.
At the highway, with the outside temp is around 25C=77F, without the a/c the water temp at the 86-90C =186-194F at the upper hose.
During hot summer, with a/c on and going uphill for 3-4 miles doing 60-70 miles at roughly 3500rpm, water will reach 102C=215F, and that is the highest temp it gets.

Edit: I don't know if the electric fan is going to help on the MPG.
 
Last edited:
squirt

squirt

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2008
824
13
Los Angeles
Jupiter Rover said:
Is there anything bad/wrong with the viscous fan? I heard it is outdated and most cars these days use the electric fan...

I read over on UK forums that people drive without a viscous or electric fan and don't overheat.
Click to expand...

IMHO, the major advantage to electric is that it's not linked to the engine. The biggest benefit is that it gives flexibility for mounting (fan centered on radiator doesn't need a mounting point on the engine, fan can be mounted in front of radiator for clearance, radiator can be mounted offset or at an angle [Audi 5000 is an example]), as well as reliability and separation from engine components if it does fail.
 
L

lrsafari

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2007
163
0
Sacramento, Orig Phoenix
I have a Lincoln MkVIII fan running on my '95 LWB. CRAZY strong air. Supposedly over 4K CFM. About 100amps startup from some of the research I did. You can feel the pull from in front of the grille from 18", it is that strong.

Right now I am running it hard switched, but as Ed has done, I want to use a multi staged electronic controller. Some of them are also variable speed, so they will pull fewer amps.

As for temps, here in Sac when we had the heat wave, it wouldn't get above the wavy water lines on the temp gauge in traffic with the AC running. Not an accurate gauge, but at least it ran cool.
 
Ed Cheung

Ed Cheung

Well-known member
Aug 23, 2006
1,584
2
Hong Kong
lrsafari said:
I have a Lincoln MkVIII fan running on my '95 LWB. CRAZY strong air. Supposedly over 4K CFM. About 100amps startup from some of the research I did. You can feel the pull from in front of the grille from 18", it is that strong.

Right now I am running it hard switched, but as Ed has done, I want to use a multi staged electronic controller. Some of them are also variable speed, so they will pull fewer amps.

As for temps, here in Sac when we had the heat wave, it wouldn't get above the wavy water lines on the temp gauge in traffic with the AC running. Not an accurate gauge, but at least it ran cool.
Click to expand...

But you still need dual speed fan to do so, those fan have 4 wires, a pair of + - for slow speed and another pair of +- for high speed. I believe those are the type of fan Peter suggested as well.
 
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