Topic: Electric Fan

[porkchop_88]

I was wondering if their was a benefit to running an electric fan versus a pulley driven fan. I recently had an issue with my water pump breaking and sending my fan into my radiator. I would like for that not to happen again, and thinking of going electric. Didnt know if it was a good thing to do or not

[Moit88RNR]

Just less drag on your motor I believe

[brainlessfool]

I was wondering if their was a benefit to running an electric fan versus a pulley driven fan. I recently had an issue with my water pump breaking and sending my fan into my radiator. I would like for that not to happen again, and thinking of going electric. Didnt know if it was a good thing to do or not

well it will keep that from happing again for sure.

[Nation]

Lc claims their fan kit gives u 5 hp. Id say it frees up hp... .....yup less drag, less to turn.

[lone walker]

Not too sure bout running electric fan. Less drag for sure but last you want is to have an electrical issue while trailing and not have any source of cooling. Thats both a pro and con. happens. ;P

my 0.02cents

[helipilot77]

another reason to use an electric fan is that if you plan on doing deep water crossings an electric fan can be switched off prior to diving in while a mechanical fan will keep spinning. If a mechanical fan impacts the water while spinning it can get pushed into the radiator. This is generally considered a bad outcome. Other than this mechanical fans are less maintenance and usually trouble free. I had two electric fans on my V8 powered 85' extra cab pickup. It worked well and always kept the motor cool, but I wanted to use two, so that I would still have one functioning if the other died.

[porkchop_88 [OP]]

Thanks, i ended up just going back with a mechanical fan and alunimum radiator.

[H8PVMNT]

I fragged my mechanical fan at a competition and a buddy gave me a new in the box electric fan.  I made a shroud so it bolts on all nice instead of using the zip ties.  I used it because it was cheaper at the time than sourcing a new stock fan.  I don't notice any seat of the pants HP difference or mileage but our property has the driveway flooded with about 3' of water and it sure is nice to be able to shut the fan of to keep from flinging muddy water and chunky floating foliage into the engine bay.

[Nation]

Nice. This post has inspired me to install my electric fan. Anybody know which relay i should use? Its not thread jacking if theyve resolved the issue right ? Haha.

[H8PVMNT]

I just wired mine to an adequate switch with an LED on a pod on the dash that I can see.  We turn it on or off as needed.  Most of the time it doesn't even need to be on except when crawling or around town. We are pretty aware of our vehicle when we drive so we're not worried about it. This might not work for some people though.

[BigMike]

another reason to use an electric fan is that if you plan on doing deep water crossings an electric fan can be switched off prior to diving in

Definitely a big plus.

I run an electric fan and am a big proponent of them. If you're worried about reliability, keep in mind most cars on the road run electric fans including the Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus, the two most popular automobiles in the world today. I've been running a junkyard fan in my Crawler since 2004 and it has yet to let me down. In my experience, if you are going to do this then the only way to go is with a variable fan speed controller and I would not be running an e-fan is this was not available.

Allow me to explain. Typical setups run an ON-OFF adjustable thermostat that turns the fan on or off based on the temperature of your radiator (or upper radiator hose). The problem with this is that high performance fans, like Flex-a-lite's 15" Black Magic, pull around 14 amps continuous and probably closer to 20 amps during start or spin-up. Twenty amps is a huge sudden load on your electrical system, and what you'll experience is the following:

• Thermostat reads high temps and turns the fan on at full power
• This causes an electrical "shock" causing your engine idle to surge as your alternator takes on a sizable load
• Fan speeds up to 2,000+ RPM generating a lot of noise
• Fan runs at maximum speed drawing a ton of air through your radiator which quickly drops the engine's temperature
• Temp drops and the thermostat switches the fan off
• Its quiet and your charging system has stabilized
• Then suddenly the fan kicks back on at full power, surging power through your charging system, putting a load on the engine, et cetera...
• Repeat forever during your time idling and Crawling very slow over some rocks

Our cooling system is under increased duress with Rock Crawling for many reasons. Examples:

• Crawling slowly results in minimal air flow through our radiator
• Extra load of hauling our camping gear around
• Extra load of large, heavier than stock tires
• Running these large tires at nearly flat tire pressures
• If you don't live on a plain then you're engine will be working extra hard at combating gravity up every steep hill climb

For these reasons you'll see this fan cycle repeating incessantly: Quiet, peaceful Crawling interrupted with the sound of a F5 tornado.

To solve all this I refer you to http://www.dccontrol.com/constant_temperature_controllers.htm This is a company called DC Control that LCOwner turned me onto back in 2004. What this controller does is slowly increase the amperage to the fan in relation to the temperature of the engine. So the temperature of the engine isn't rising/dropping/rising/dropping; Instead it holds the temperature nearly constant saving your thermostat from heart attacks as well. You'll have all the benefits of running an electric fan but without any of the negative side affects mentioned above. Also, since the fan is not being accelerated at max amperage, the fan's motor runs cooler and will last much longer (read very reliable). I am sure there are other controllers on the market but I have not needed to look as my DC Control unit has been working great for nearly 10 years straight. The controller is about the size of my iPhone, is waterproof, and is easy to install just about anywhere.

Another great feature is that the DC Control unit has an under-drive circuit where you can install a switch that will run the fan at 10% power (intended for race cars with under-drive waterpump pulleys). I use this circuit exclusively for Rock Crawling so that there is at least some airflow at all times under my hood when I am barely Crawling along. Moreover, when I park my truck to get out and help spot others, I'll leave the fan running at 10% power, which is about a 1 amp draw (1/4 the draw of just 1 headlight). This way components under the hood don't heat-soak when my truck is just sitting out in the sun not moving. Gives me peace of mind.

I also installed DC Control's variable LED light that slowly changes color from green-yellow-orange-red depending on the amount of current flowing to the fan. The feedback from this is great.

I am quite crazy over this subject and invite you to a few "enthusiastic" electric fan reviews I've posted in the past, mostly regarding the improvement you'll receive in gas mileage:
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=22108.msg234082#msg234082 and http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=22660.msg243208#msg243208

Regards,
BigMike

[HogCanyonHopper]

Nice info Mike!!  so what vehicles are good to look for pulling electric fans out of? I want to put a e-fan on my 3rz 

[Wainiha]

Interesting reading.

I heard of the Ford Tauras fans being used...

Don't know if they are good or not. 

[Toydanota]

When I did my 3rz swap I installed a Taurus fan. It fits the radiator damn near perfect. Also check out delta current controls. He makes nice fan control units that utilize the the fans 2 speed ability. I have never had any  issues at all with the set up and want to install one in my 4runner which has a 22re.

[Nation]

Thanks mike! 

[tyes]

Interesting reading.

I heard of the Ford Tauras fans being used...

Don't know if they are good or not. 

This is the best fan out there guys. I kidd you not. Dont waste your money on any other fan. I love mines and it fit like a charm on my 22re. its a 2500 cfm on speed 1 and speed 2 is 4500 cfm or so. way stronger than any aftermarket fan out there. if there is an aftermarket fan out there rated for 4500 cfm or so, its never correct or its $300+. This thing is awesome. If it would fit with my 1uz swap in my T4R then I would have kepted it. it cost me $15 for the fan and $10 for wiring and relay. Autozone or any auto parts store has a external temp adjust probe so it will turn on at any temp you want. If you go to the junk yard you can even grab a relay from any car and wired it up. This is the best MOD ever for the cost. I even wired it so I could have turn off the fan when I cross rivers.. Junk yard has so many of these fans laying around. I ran into 6 just last week here @ fresno pick a part....

[HogCanyonHopper]

good feedback  I got the e-fan on my list for my 3rz.

[TheChewMaster]

Wow, I'm pretty convinced.

Very good info Mike! Love it, now i got two more good threads to thumb through.

I'll probably pick an electric fan up and get around to it one day, love the constant temp controls

[emsvitil]

4500 cfm..........

Does that pull you forward if you're in neutral with no brakes?

 
 

[junya92toy]

Just less drag on your motor I believe

I heard both sides to that, some say the drag is about the same, as the Alt goes under more load to power the fan

[scoutrunner]

I am with mike on this. I have a junkyard Taurus fan installed  on my 89 runner with the DC control variable speed and it has worked great, keeps the temp steady.  I noticed a little more power going up the four lane with the efan. 

[porkchop_88 [OP]]

So would it be better to use a Ford Taurus fan or run a Black Magic fan. I am replacing everything due to a water pump breakage and a fan in the radiator, so now would be the best time to do it all.

[Snowtoy]

Boils down to cost versus ease of install.  The Black Magic fan is an all but plug and play install, has two trigger inputs, adjustable thermostat, etc., but costs about $250.  The junkyard Taurus fan is cheaper to buy, has two speeds, but you have to buy everything you need for it to work correctly, as well as mounting it.

[tyes]

So would it be better to use a Ford Taurus fan or run a Black Magic fan. I am replacing everything due to a water pump breakage and a fan in the radiator, so now would be the best time to do it all.

if you so worry, you can buy mines Taurus Fan that is already mounted to the radiator and has a relay set up. all you need is a switch and couple of wires. $120.00 because this is a new radiator. Other wise go the junk and get a fan for cheap...

[porkchop_88 [OP]]

You have any pics of the set up you can send.