Show me your manual electric cooling fan setup

[LtFuzz]

I agree completely. A manual only fan setup would be silliness. Having an Off/Auto/On switch would be the best setup.

I don't think it'd be silliness for my application.

I have a 180F thermostat, operating temperature is at/around 190F. It's a diesel so temp fluctuations are normal and frequent vis a vis ambient temp and/or hills.

Having the fan on 100% of the time after normal operating temp is reached isn't unreasonable. The more I think about it, I wouldn't be turning it on/off as often as I thought. It would mostly be on -- and at <22 amps that isn't a big problem. It certainly wouldn't suck more power than having a direct-drive fan (no clutch) spinning 100% of the time anyway, which is what I currently have (had.)

I think that might be the way to go. Remember I'm running a 6.2L NA diesel, not the Rover V8.

 

[lwg]

Interesting -- how did you do this? Did you fish it through the original coolant temp sensor port and stack the temp sensor in front/behind it?

Or did you cut a hole into the hose and reseal? Wouldn't there be issues with expansion/contraction of the hose?

We used this:

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...nar=0&Ne=1+2+3+13+1147708&searchTerm=105-2283

And this:

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...ar=0&Ne=1+2+3+13+1147708&searchTerm=259-16731

Also regarding the fans, I don't recall for certain but I seem to recall that Flex-a-Lite has some really compact dual fan setups. I think that's what I used several years ago for my setup back then. I want to say they were about 2500 CFM but again I'm going off of memory.

 

[LtFuzz]

Also regarding the fans, I don't recall for certain but I seem to recall that Flex-a-Lite has some really compact dual fan setups. I think that's what I used several years ago for my setup back then. I want to say they were about 2500 CFM but again I'm going off of memory.

Yep, same as in my original post -- the Flex-a-Lite Super Low Profile dual fans. They are indeed listed at 2500cfm.

Thanks for the JEGS links -- that's also where I ordered my fan setup from.

 

[Rocket Ship]

I don't think it'd be silliness for my application.

I have a 180F thermostat, operating temperature is at/around 190F. It's a diesel so temp fluctuations are normal and frequent vis a vis ambient temp and/or hills.

Having the fan on 100% of the time after normal operating temp is reached isn't unreasonable. The more I think about it, I wouldn't be turning it on/off as often as I thought. It would mostly be on -- and at <22 amps that isn't a big problem. It certainly wouldn't suck more power than having a direct-drive fan (no clutch) spinning 100% of the time anyway, which is what I currently have (had.)

I think that might be the way to go. Remember I'm running a 6.2L NA diesel, not the Rover V8.

Why would you want to draw 22A from the alternator when you don't need to? Seems like needless wear on the Alternator, and I don't think the Flexalite is intended for that either.

No to mention, my Flexalite fans are INCREDIBLY loud. My car is already really loud (yeah, about as loud as a diesel, with a bad exhaust leak) and when the fans kick on, women and children run for cover.

 

[LtFuzz]

Why would you want to draw 22A from the alternator when you don't need to? Seems like needless wear on the Alternator, and I don't think the Flexalite is intended for that either.

The point is a giant NA diesel like the 6.2 is going to need constant cooling, for the most part. If it's a cool/cold day, or I'm taking a long descent down a slope, I can turn it off, but the fan is going to spend most of its time on no matter what -- clutch fan, electric, whatever -- because the motor generates a lot of heat. 190-195F at idle is pretty normal -- and with 210F being the recommended upper limit you can see what I mean.

The wear on components is going to occur somewhere. The 6.2 draws about 3 amps or so when running with no other systems on, and I'll be upgrading to a 150 amp alternator as part of this build. 14-22 amps for the fan isn't exactly taxing the alternator. I think it would be more taxing for an alternator to constantly spin up and spin down when it's trying to correct a 3-5 degree F temperature difference. No point having a VSC switch on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off when I can just leave it on.

No to mention, my Flexalite fans are INCREDIBLY loud. My car is already really loud (yeah, about as loud as a diesel, with a bad exhaust leak) and when the fans kick on, women and children run for cover.

You should hear my motor. With the 3" pipe it's not quite as loud as a FedEx truck Cummins, but it's pretty close. I doubt the fans will make much of a difference -- either way I have no choice, this is the only electric fan platform that will fit my application.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not throwing out the other options, I particularly like the links LWG posted. But a simple on/off switch is definitely a potential approach.