Technical Any reason not to run electric fan 24/7?

My .03 (I have to charge more for my input after this weeks Vegas trip) is remember the temp switch is a ground, as is the override dash switch if you wire it correctly. Teflon tape (like you have all over those senders) restricts the ground. Don't use it. They sell conductive sealants if your worried about it leaking or galling the threads.

 

Years ago, I wired up an electric fan in my '37 Ford P.U. directly to the run side of the ignition without a relay. Worked great...until you shut the truck off. Seems that the fan motor.as it wound down, would act like a generator and send current back through the ignition causing the truck to "diesel" until the fan completely stopped spinning. Lesson learned

 

First confirm that the thermal switch is grounded, as mentioned earlier. If so, find and install a solid state relay. (SSR) I suspect the issue you are having is the thermal switch contacts are getting arc burn. A typical electro-mechanical relay acts like the ignition coil on your engine. Power up the coil, it creates a magnetic field to actuate the relay. When you take away the power (just like points in a distributor) the field collapses and the energy needs a path. That path travels to ground. Being the only path to ground on the relay is through the switch, you get micro arcing on the contacts. After a time, the arcing degrades the contacts. A solid state relay does not use a coil to actuate, so this doesn’t happen.

 

any pic of the fan/shroud set -up

 

incorrect statement followed by an incorrect explanation. I got it now

 

I have found that star washers can cause problems shortly after installing! All fire truck schools warn about using star washers for grounds. I myself experienced the failure of grounds with them! I had made four quick disconnects for winches on all four sides of our rescue truck, using star washers between the frame and terminals. Within a month, the truck was brought in for a non operating disconnect. I found corrosion at the star washer, it seems the star washer causes space between the frame and terminal and moisture collects there! As luck would have it, the very next school I went to warned us against using star washers for grounds! Just my experiences.







Bones

 

On the lawn mowers and hay beds, I used to sell, we had the same problem, kinda, we solved it with a diode , to eliminate feed back.








Bones

 

I only have one car that has an electric fan and it’s wired with a relay and a toggle switch. I like having control. My other cars all have mechanical fans


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Does anyone have a part number for a good oem type cooling fan switch?
I’ve used a few aftermarket universal ones but would prefer a factory type.


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I have Spal fans on 2 cars currently, both have Spal senders (or whatever vendor supplies them). One car has only a few hundred miles as of yet but the other has had those fans and sender for more than 10 years without a problem.

 

The Napa part number for the Chrysler minivan fan switch is FS120. It has 2 terminals, one goes to the relay the other to ground (or + depending on how you like to trigger your relay). Since it doesn't ground through the threads, you can use as much pipe tape or paste as you desire. I've been using these for years, and have never had an issue.

Dave

 

Forgive me,,but I’m not up to date on the shortcuts,,,,,what is GEHY,,,,or GHEY ?

Tommy

 

Installed this set up 20 years ago and hasn’t failed yet. I do check every once in a while to make sure the switch to turn on the fan works at the preset temp.

 

use dialectric grease on all electric connections.available at summit and jegs and marine shops.lubricates and seals in 1,stops corrosion where its used.https://www.jegs.com/i/Permatex/775/22058/10002/-1

 

ANY REASON NOT TO RUN ELECTRIC FAN 24/7?

just bolt the fan to the waterpump pulley

 

DEAD BATTERY !

 

Buy a GOOD fan relay set up and be done. Spal or a good name brand. I bought a Jegs brand and everything on it was junk. To be safe, you can carry a jumper wire to go from the sending unit to ground in case it goes bad. That was the last thing on the Jegs junk that went bad on me, I was lucky and was close to a walmart and run in and got the wire and alligator clips. After I broke down and bought good parts it was still working great after 10,000 miles.

 

AGREED . I WENT FOR A SPAL 16" FAN,painless everything else ,low miles so far,but no problems at all .16"SPAL fans move a lot of air if you are driving along and the fan is running for a prolonged time then some thing else is wrong IMO

 

I'm running a stock gm front wheel drive 89 sunbird fan, the temp sender is in the bottom rad tank, powered up through a relay, been cooling my 36 for twenty years.

 

Well, per the thread title, is there any reason to run it all the time?

I'm sure it's been said, but a cheap assed factory designed cooling set up in about any vehicle, doesn't need a fan running after about 30-35mph...why run it at 55-60mph?

 

@mitch 36 Guess you've never seen this car then?................ About as traditional as it gets.

 

@mitch 36 I just saw it earlier tonight. Surprised me as well

 

Mitch,,,,,I thought that was what it meant,,,,,I just wasn’t certain,,,thanks man !

Tommy

 

This is better

 

@Blue One sure like your car

 

Thanks

 

Do we have pics or a link ?

 

Mitch, I don't understand, that T should have plenty of air flow. My dad was born in 1920 outside of Richman Mo. As a kid on the farm he had a neighbor up the road that built speedsters, this would have been in the late 20's into the 30's. An electric fan on a road burning chicken scarer would have been a rare sight indeed.

No offence intended Mr. Inked Monkey. Still a cool looking car.
-Dave

 

Some think that is worth about 25 "I'm a cool guy" points. It also means that they most likely didn't do one tad bit of research into the reason the guy used the part that they claim is Gehy.
In my case the engine to radiator relationship means I can only run a small "racing" fan that doesn't cool the engine at a stop light worth squat. There is flat ass no room for a larger fan as it would hit the lower hose. running a fan also means that I have to modify the shaft on the water pump to run a shorter pulley. Luckily on all the road trips I took I never had need to replace the water pump while on the road. There are legit reasons for an electric fan if you actually want to drive the rig rather than have it end up as a poser trailer queen.

 

In the 80's I knew a guy who's girlfriend had the first name "Gay" (just about the time the meaning of this word was changing). You couldn't name a kid that today, but you can still name your son Sue.
-Dave