Electric fan controller

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Franklin
I didn't really find the answer to the question I am looking for so I will just ask and see what people think or have used. I am wanting to buy another electric fan controller for my 91 as my adjustable unit has almost cost me my motor again, but the style and brand I am wanting only offers non-adjustable controllers. They are preset to have the fans come on at 195 and 210 degrees. I am mounting the thermostatic switch in the thermostat housing cover where the factory electric fan temp sender used to live. Now I know that on our vehicles the thermostat starts to open around 195 degrees and is fully open around the 210 mark, but does anyone have any thoughts on which fan controller would be better to run out of the two or should I just find an adjustable unit again?
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Jetjock - What is your problem? You come off as a complete arse every post you make. You obviously don't know as much as you think you do. You said not to replace the afm on my car and lo and behold it fixed my problem with the car not wanting to continuing boosting in higher rpms.

For everyone else who's opinions actually matter, what fan controllers have you run?
 

IndigoMKII

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May 9, 2011
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It's just a simple relay to turn the fan on and off. The signal is when the resistance is reached by the water temperature heating a probe.

You could always get one from summit. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/prm-18905 I just installed this kit on my brothers 91 camaro. Red wire is power, black is ground, for a single fan setup the brown/yellow wires go to the positive on the electric fan. If it's a dual fan setup, then brown goes to one fan and yellow to the other. There's a small adjustable rheostat on the box with the probe that can go from 180-210, turn it counter clockwise to reduce the temperature when it comes on then clockwise to increase. The probe just pushes inbetween the radiator fins 3-5 inches from the top. With his winaldl cable I was able to set it up so it comes on around 185.



On a side note, you know the stock clutch fan with the fan shroud and 10 blade fan moves more air than most electric setups can right?
 

nathaninwa

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Jul 1, 2012
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Ive been running a Spal pwm type fan controller for almost a year now with zero issues. Theres some present on temps or you can setup your own. Its nice that it comes on 50% speed at a lower temp and full on by your high temp. It comes on slow enough you have no idea it even came on, so theres no harsh, instant draw on the system.

I have my turn on switch wired to my standalone, so anything above like 30mph it cuts power so the fans do not operate. But you could have it come on above your cruise temps to acheive the same thing.
 

ca91mkIII

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IndigoMKII;1985952 said:
On a side note, you know the stock clutch fan with the fan shroud and 10 blade fan moves more air than most electric setups can right?

I have a setup similar to that right now and the base of it keeps blowing out. The controller is supposed to handle up to 30 amps and each one of my fans pulls at most 5 amps so I am wanting to go to a better setup. The reason I have the electric fans instead is because the clutch was on its way to locking up and I don't have a shroud. Previous owner threw it away at some point. Plus these fans with the shroud I built pulls a ton of air through the radiator.

Nathan - do you remember the part number of your controller by chance?
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Quality electric fans deliver 3200 to 4600 cfm depending on single or dual setups and diameter of fans. I am not questioning the capability of my fans from Ron Davis. They kept my ~550 hp, all cam N/A V8 Chevy motor cool in 100+ degree weather in So Cal. For those that don't play with domestic V8 motors with a stout cam, they produce a SHIT ton of heat. That was not the question I was asking here. I simply wanted to know, for those that have elected to run electric fans on their MK3s, what aftermarket fan controller have they run. I WAS running a cheap controller because that was all I could afford when I switched over to electric fans hence the reason I am looking for other options. I read through a couple of older threads about electric fans getting knocked on like its going out of style. I will be the first to tell you, electric fans suck when they are not pulling air through a shroud like a factory clutch fan as well as when they are a shitty no name brand. When quality electric fans are purchased coupled with a quality controller, they work flawlessly. Quality fans also do not have large amperage draws thus do not tax the electrical system because the massive cfm numbers come from blade design plus number of blades not large electric motors.
 

Poodles

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Jul 22, 2006
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Electric motors pull a TON of amps on startup. Yes, they're rated at 5 amps...but that's running.

It wouldn't be hard to build a setup that works: copy the factory setup for the auxiliary fans, put the sensor where it should be to function properly (look at a FWD Toyota with e-fans), and get the right sensors (also can be sourced from said FWD Toyota's).

There's not a single aftermarket e-fan I've EVER seen that will beat an OEM e-fan setup either for performance or reliability. A mechanical fan setup is even more reliable.

But of course, it's your car, do what you like (and insulting jetjock is laughable as he's the most knowledgeable person on these forums when it comes to electrical or the TCCS)
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Answer me this question then. An AFM giving a Hz signal of 16000 Hz at warm idle. Would you recommend replacing it? You also have not done much research on electric fans if you haven't seen ones that can outflow a mechanical but what do I know.
 

IndigoMKII

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ca91mkIII;1986339 said:
Answer me this question then. An AFM giving a Hz signal of 16000 Hz at warm idle. Would you recommend replacing it? You also have not done much research on electric fans if you haven't seen ones that can outflow a mechanical but what do I know.

mind sharing your electric fans that can be as reliable as a clutch fan and move as much or more as you say.
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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IndigoMKII;1986341 said:
mind sharing your electric fans that can be as reliable as a clutch fan and move as much or more as you say.

Look at RonDavisRacing.com. They have options that pull between 3260 and 4400 cfm. Indigo, I respect you and I don't want to argue with you on this subject. My mechanical setup has failed me once before. Since I went to an electric water pump from Mezeire and radiator and fans from Ron Davis I didn't have any problems until I moved the fans to my Supra and put a cheap controller on them because that was all I could afford at the time. I havent had a single problem with my electric setup minus the cheap controller so I am electing to keep them.
 

nathaninwa

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Jul 1, 2012
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If you ever have plans to go MS3, it has generic pwm tables that you can use with a solid state relay to control the fans speed based on rpm_load/tps,coolant, ect.
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Franklin
I honestly haven't looked that far into MS3 but I appreciate the answer. I'll have to research that option further as I want to go full standalone at some point in the near future.
 

hvyman

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Apr 17, 2007
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Seems as tho Ron Davis uses spal fans. Which are quality fans. Why not get the controller from spal?
 

IndigoMKII

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ca91mkIII;1986350 said:
Indigo, I respect you and I don't want to argue with you on this subject.

Wasn't trying to argue, I just don't know of many fans that can be just as reliable and move just as much air.

I might have to look into these fans.

I've seen fans like flex-a-lite setups or permacool setups that just don't even come close to what a good condition clutch fan will move.


Edit:

I looked around a little bit and those Ron Davis fan setups that pull over 4000 cfm are using dual 16" fans. You'll never get a dual 16" fan setup on a 26" long radiator. There is a setup that might work if you want to use an e-fan.
http://www.supramania.com/forums/content.php?133-Tarus-Fan-Install-(With-Pics)
 
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jetjock

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Jul 11, 2005
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Redacted per Title 18 USC Section 798
ca91mkIII;1986339 said:
Answer me this question then. An AFM giving a Hz signal of 16000 Hz at warm idle. Would you recommend replacing it? ....

Crack me up. That's one reason I suggested not replacing it. If that thread is re-read it should be clear why I went in that direction after suggesting that's where you *should* be looking. It'll also become clear you know squat about EFI and, from this one thread, squat about cooling. That's OK by me though. I'll leave you to your problems in the future...
 

nathaninwa

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Jul 1, 2012
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Im running a Derale 17 inch fan thats rated at 2400cfm. Been running this daily for 3 years without incident. But Im also running a BeCool radiator too. Is the mk3 setup that on the edge it needs close to double? Can the stock radiator be upgraded easy enough?
 

ca91mkIII

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May 23, 2012
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Franklin
jetjock;1986394 said:
Crack me up. That's one reason I suggested not replacing it. If that thread is re-read it should be clear why I went in that direction after suggesting that's where you *should* be looking. It'll also become clear know squat about EFI and, from this one thread, squat about cooling. That's OK by me though. I'll leave you to your problems in the future...

These are the specs I found all over the internet as well as directly what 3p posted in a thread previously. "For the lexus afm you should see 17 to 20 Hz at 650rpm hot idle. 900 rpm light load should see 30 Hz. Flat freeway at 65mph 2500rpm light throttle cruise 130-200 Hz. These numbers are approximate, but should help determine if you are close." And this is word for word what you typed in the same thread as 3p posted about the specs on the AFM. "Based on your posts replacing the AFM is a bad move. As for the 12 volt thing, if you had it you'd know what it is. Try running the engine with +B and FP jumped. If the stumble goes away the pump relay is suspect." But you are the master of Supra electronics and the TCCS and still would not replace an AFM that is clearly out of spec by a long ways. Whatever you say... Say what you want to maintain your false facade to those that think you know what you are talking about. I am done wasting time on this stupid pride match.