Electric fan

[mrweelr]

Re: Electric fan

I picked up a 220uF 35V electrolytic capacitor to hook up to the "ignition on" wire. Maybe this will supress the noise making its way back into the ignition. For the fans cycling on/off around 170F issue, I spoke with Dave at Flex-A-Lite and there is no easy way to rig up a different sending unit, like the kind Summit sells. You need to use a two-wire probe to keep the variable speed functionality, at least that's what I was told. What he said is to put a resistor on the terminal 10 wire to the VSC. This will change the temperature "sweep" of the probe as follows:

1/4 watt resistor
1K >< 170 - 120F
2K >< 160 - 220F
3K >< 150 - 210F

I guess the guys with 160 or 180F thermostats were experiencing this problem since the motor temps are already near the lower end of the probes temp range. I picked up a 1/4 watt, 3.3K Ohm resistor and will try that out to see if it fixes the fan cycling issue. I already had the adjustment on the VSC turned as low as it would go and the coolest it would get the motor is 169F, then the fans would shut off. I want the fans to come on around 170F and shut off in the low 160s.

The controller is mounted where the windshield washer reservoir used to be (see pics above). Optima RedTop 800CCA battery is mounted in front of the right rear wheel, far from the alternator. I've have a 0 gauge cable running from the alternator to the battery already, as well as from the battery to the frame for ground. Trying to avoid running more wires to the back of the truck since long cables exhibit resistance and it's a major PITA to run cables that far.

I went ahead and ordered a new chrome PowerMaster 200A alternator last night to replace the 140 in there now. Not sure if it'll help, but I guess the 200 puts out 120A at idle vs. 80A for the 140 unit.

Basically, what you're saying is all the 12v sources need to come directly from the battery...got it. I will try a few more things, and if they don't solve the problem, I will redo all the $#@!$!&~$ wiring and go directly to the battery.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[93ty475]

Re: Electric fan

unbelievable....I am REALLY loving this volvo fan now.....more cfm's, 70 dollars out of pocket and no stalling issues :rock: ..... how much have you spent on this so far mrweelr?? I bet that alternator was big bucks!

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Electric fan

About $1000 now, with the alternator. At this point, my Sy eats about $2000 per month. It seems like it never ends...argh.

 

[Crimson93Ty]

Re: Electric fan

Something else if you haven't considered it is where the probe is mounted at.
I believe the hottest part of the radiator is, when standing in front of the truck, at the top right. That way your getting it before the fans had a chance to cool it. If you put the probe on the passenger side, the fans will be delayed and then as soon as they kick on, they'll shut down because you've cooled what's in the radiator. That's how I understood it talking to the tech anyway.
The best bet would be a two wire sender mounted in the neck at the intake manifold similar to the Jaguar setup. You think they would do that.

 

[93ty475]

Re: Electric fan

best thing to do would be to run them on high at all times.....Or, you could return some of that stuff, buy a romulator and get in there and control it with your ecm.....on that pic that tommyquest posted, the "orange" wire is the magic wire....it's the trigger wire for your old i/c pump....you can tell it to turn on at any temp, mph, rpm and even step up the IAC right before the fans kick on to avoid stalling the engine....

 

[Crimson93Ty]

Re: Electric fan

I just called them and they said you can mount the probe into coolant and it will not hurt it. Flex said that most people use a 5/16" compression fitting and mount it into a water passage (upper radiator hose). They said to start at the tip and go back up the probe about 1/3 of the way up and that is where the thermister is at in the probe. They said just don't smash the probe.

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Electric fan

Something else if you haven't considered it is where the probe is mounted at.
I believe the hottest part of the radiator is, when standing in front of the truck, at the top right. That way your getting it before the fans had a chance to cool it. If you put the probe on the passenger side, the fans will be delayed and then as soon as they kick on, they'll shut down because you've cooled what's in the radiator. That's how I understood it talking to the tech anyway.
The best bet would be a two wire sender mounted in the neck at the intake manifold similar to the Jaguar setup. You think they would do that.

Probe was mounted right next to the inlet, as outlined in the instructions. I tried the resistor thing that Flex-A-Lite suggested with no luck. Also, this POS VSC was causing all kinds of ignition noise, despite me running it directly off the battery. My injectors would pulse when the fans kicked on and all sorts of weirdness. After ****ing with it for 2 days straight, I yanked the MF out and just put in a Bosch relay with the fans hard wired on low. I'm going to send this $100 POS back to Summit.

I need to drive the truck to Concord this afternoon to get smogged and can't afford to have the fans not work. I will look for a different thermostatic controller that doesn't use variable speed control. I just want it to come on at 170F and shut off around 160F. A manual SPST switch will also be used, but right now I just have the relay in there as a temp solution. Heck, I may just leaved them wired on low full-time...

The way it's wired now, the fans do not affect idle at all when they come on...much better :tup: I also installed the PowerMaster 200A alternator last night. That was a PITA...definitely not a "bolt-in" affair!

 

[TYTILIDIE]

Re: Electric fan

Good grief. I put elec fans on my Vette once and had them run constantly. I had 0 problems with htis. I was thinking about dong the TY the same way. Is it a different ball game or will I have all these problems you ugys are having? Personally I liked it running constantly. Will it take out my ALT or anythign like that?

 

[93ty475]

Re: Electric fan

I had 0 problems with htis. I was thinking about dong the TY the same way. Is it a different ball game or will I have all these problems you ugys are having?

We're not all having problems....

Personally I liked it running constantly.

Bingo!!



for affordable success, check the following thread....

http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32155&highlight=volvo

 

[mrweelr]

Re: Electric fan

Temps are staying between 160 and 170F with the Ramchargers fans hardwired on "low" as verified by Datamaster. That's cool enough for me I'm going to leave it as is for now, but may rewire them on "high" during the summer if anything changes. e-fans kick ass :tup:

 

[blackbeauty]

Re: Electric fan

As far as THE FAN to buy flex a lite black magic!! FANTASTIC!! The best part is it is a direct replacement for a S10 blazer! Summit & Jegs carry them. I had them in my last two blazers! and I had one in my 69 Camaro Z28(that was set up for the track) just a LITTLE horsepower! and YES it is EASY to install!!

 

[StangBuster]

Re: Electric fan

good call BB..

 

[Tommyquest]

Re: Electric fan

As far as THE FAN to buy flex a lite black magic!! FANTASTIC!! The best part is it is a direct replacement for a S10 blazer! Summit & Jegs carry them. I had them in my last two blazers! and I had one in my 69 Camaro Z28(that was set up for the track) just a LITTLE horsepower! and YES it is EASY to install!!

Maybe for a stock truck(or a blazer). The black majic is what came off my truck because it wasn't cooling enough.

 

[George Blake]

Re: Electric fan

I've got the "ramcharger fan" setup found here:
Ramcharger fans

You have to trim the 1/8" lip off of each side and it fits the radiator core perfectly. I put some pics up of the install. Yellow wire is high speed and the 2 blacks are grounds.
I wired this to a VSC unit. No voltage spikes. Only problem is my first thermister was DOA. I can't even tell when the fans come on. Even if you use the unit and wire it to run them constantly with the VSC, it will delay turning the fans on for 5 seconds(so it's easier to start). When they do come on, they start at 60% and ramp up, it is very gradual. It will also continue working 30 seconds after shutdown.
My only gripe is the radiator mounting location for the thermister makes the fan kick off to quick. I'll be mounting it in the upper radiator hose really close to where it is at now.

 

[James Thomas]

Re: Electric fan

Where did you get the VSC? What Mfg. & Model? Please let me know, I need one bad!
Thanks,
_________________
James Thomas

 

[mmp142965]

Re: Electric fan

Where did you get the VSC? What Mfg. & Model? Please let me know, I need one bad!
Thanks,

these 2 seem to be pretty popular...

http://www.dccontrol.com/index.htm

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=/egnsearch.asp&N=400226 :tup:

 

[George Blake]

Re: Electric fan

http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/vsc.html

I got mine from:
Lane Automotive
8300 Lane Drive
Watervliet, Michigan
49098
269-463-4113
FLE 31165 part #
$89
Before you install the temp probe, put a meter on it and make sure it's not bad.
In the instructions it tell you to turn the adjust counterclockwise to decrease turn on temp. If it doesn't come on right away, try turning it the other way. Mine was reversed from the instructions.

 

[qbnkiller]

Re: Electric fan

if you need anything from Lane, let me know...they are one of my distributors...

 

[blackbeauty]

Re: Electric fan

WITH OUT a doubt get a Flex a lite Black magic fan!!!! They sell a direct replacement kit for S10 blazer(which DOES fit on a Ty!) Installation went real smooth! One of the BEST upgrades I've installed! I think Jegs and summit carry them!

 

[Lynn D. Brown]

Re: Electric fan

I'm damned sorry to hear that Ramchargers went under. I bought the dual fan kit in the last year for my GN and it was a great upgrade - what a bargain compared to everything I looked @ in Summit !! It plugs right into the GN wiring harness and comes on @ 170-180 F. It cooled my car down 15-20 F !

I'm not sure how U would hook it up on the SyTys because we don't have a wiring circuit. I don't know if their wiring adder hooks it up all the way, but I would suspect that it just has a connector which goes to the GN harness.

I went w the giant Griffin radiator and couldn't even fit in the stock clutch fan, so I went w a flex fan. And I am almost too cool, so it would be good if U had an electric that doesn't come on until some preset T. If U went w the RC dual fan, I guess U would have to remove the stock shroud.