Thermo Fans?

[davidl]

Hey Guys,

Just wondering if any of you have used thermo fans? and if so how many and what size?

[Sumo]

I was talking to my boss about the electric fans just yesterday, asking him how hard it was to set it up. He reckons it was a piece of piss and he even told me that I could have the brand new fan out the back that he never got round to fitting on his old mazda.

Just gotta make sure that when you set up the electrics, you make them trigger off your A/C switch and also from your adjustable thermometer.

Sumo

[cul202]

yeah i think i'm going to get one myself. the clutch fan packed it in so i took it off which means that all i've got left is the little thermo on the front which seems to be doing well so far. gotta drive with one eye on the temp until i fit a thermo tho

if you can fit a thermo to make good use of the factory shroud it should work efficiently with one fan.

[blind_elk]

Two things to look out for:

1. You have to set up a system that forces the air to go thru the radiator. Otherwise, the air simply passes out underneath the car and the engine overheats.

2. You need to re-wire the small fan out front of the A/C radiator. This is a thermo fan, and only comes on when the engine gets too hot. Without cooling air (normally provided by the standard clutch fan), the A/C gas over pressurises, and it sounds like a BOV going off.

IMHO, the power gains (couple of kW) are not worth the headaches.

[PRO_32]

agree with elk i prefer the clutch fan over thermo it may not look as pretty but i find it more reliable no chance of an electrical fault that would stop the fan and you not noticing...

[davidl]

Hey Guys, thanks for that, i have the RB in a silvia, so a clutch fan isn't an options as there isn't enough room between then engine and the radiator. going to get another Thermo and mount it on the radiator.

[dAVE]

I think the only dissadvantage with the thermo fan is that it could stop working without you knowing... but im pretty sure you could hook up a meter/sensor that lets u know what the fan rpm is so you would notice if it stopped.

[pinoi_boi_r33]

where do you get these thermo fans from. I looked on the davies craig site and a 16 inch is over 300 bux (for all the 16 inch kits). Thats a bit much don't u think, I want to upgrade to clear future piping but does anyone kno of any other good fans that are a little cheaper.

Also couldn't u hook up the wiring so that the fan will only work when the thermo opens. That would be good for those cold morining starts, coz the clutch fan always spins.

rom.

[Sumo]

I know a fair few of you are sceptical of thermo's, but all the big semi's run an electic clutched Horton fans, and if setup correctly from the start have no problems with them what so ever. I was thinking of getting a shroud off a car with a similair size radiator and modifying it to suit.

Sumo

P.S. Only problem I have is how do they stop the thermo's from overspinning at higher speeds?

[davidl]

Ok I have now installed a 14inch daviescraig fan, brought from Burson auto parts, cost me $120 but i get cost from there.

It works great, you can also get a themro switch which you place in the radiator housing and once it is up to the temp you want it to it will kick in, takes a while to adjust but it works nicely.

[Jay95R33]

My 16 inch Davies Craig hasn't missed a beat in over 12 months.

Temps are stable, engine responce up a little, and had no problems.

As said before, you need to re-wire the AC fan to come on as soon as you turn the AC on - I've got a thread on this so do a search.

I'm running the thermo switch as well and have found that in winter it pretty much never turns on with normal driving, and only comes on occasisionally when stopped still for 5+ minutes.

Summer it'll come on for 1-2 minutes then stays off for 3-4 minutes.

One thing I found with the Davies Craig kit is that the fuse holder you get with the kit is CRAP... Replace it straight away with a good quality one that can handle heaps of current. Mine melted after about 3 months !!

The 16 inch version draws 19 amps while just spinning, on startup it'll peak upto 30 amps.

The only reason why I ditched my old one clutch fan was cause I thought it was stuffed, and I got the DC 16 kit cheap. I later found out that it wasn't the clutch fan that was stuffed !!!

J

[Tomr33gtst]

@ sumo, hortons are truck fans that are mechanical, run off the engine in a truck they use air pressure but cos cars don't have this people hook up ac clutches on them :-)