Orig Fan Should I leave, installing electric
06-23-2014, 12:00 PM
#1
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Orig Fan Should I leave, installing electric
I am in the garage today installing my Dewitts radiator with electrict fan. One question should I leave the old fan. I am installing A/C this fall and will be Hiding most all components and painting compressor black. Will the oring fan serve any purpose even with electrict fan. I have already installed a Powermaster one wire alternator that looks like a gererator for amp control. Thanks as always for the help and suggestions.
06-23-2014, 12:14 PM
#2
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St. Jude Donor '07
if your electric fan is going to be thermostatically controlled, then i suggest you remove the engine driven fan; for a couple of ressons...
1. the 2 fans MIGHT fight each other
2. an engine driven fan uses HP
Bill
1. the 2 fans MIGHT fight each other
2. an engine driven fan uses HP
Bill
06-23-2014, 03:24 PM
#5
Racer
I run the mechanical fan in my 60, but I do have a hotrod 56 Belair and it is my experience that a puller fan mounted between the engine and the radiator, mounted with a shroud works better than a pusher fan mounted on the outside of the core between the radiator and the grill. I would not run a pusher electric fan and the mechanical fan. The electric pusher fan will only reduce air flow through the radiator core when not in use such as highway driving.
06-23-2014, 03:44 PM
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St. Jude Donor '07
depends what you are trying to accomplish. the 'pusher' fan i have is to cool the a/c condenser, not to cool the engine.
BUT, my experience is just the opposite of yours, with the pusher comes on to control a/c head pressure, my engine temp gauge drops. in my case, i don't think it impedes air flow.
at highway speeds it's not a factor.
Bill
BUT, my experience is just the opposite of yours, with the pusher comes on to control a/c head pressure, my engine temp gauge drops. in my case, i don't think it impedes air flow.
at highway speeds it's not a factor.
Bill
06-24-2014, 07:54 AM
#7
Racer
depends what you are trying to accomplish. the 'pusher' fan i have is to cool the a/c condenser, not to cool the engine.
BUT, my experience is just the opposite of yours, with the pusher comes on to control a/c head pressure, my engine temp gauge drops. in my case, i don't think it impedes air flow.
at highway speeds it's not a factor.
Bill
BUT, my experience is just the opposite of yours, with the pusher comes on to control a/c head pressure, my engine temp gauge drops. in my case, i don't think it impedes air flow.
at highway speeds it's not a factor.
Bill
Don
Last edited by wraplock; 06-24-2014 at 07:57 AM.
06-24-2014, 09:26 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
While your experience and research differs from mine your observation contradicts every document I have read to date. I agree no fan is a major factor at highway speeds if your radiator size meets the cooling needs of your engine, air passing through your radiator core at highway speeds is sufficient to cool your engine. In fact most electric fans won't even go on at highway speeds. Electric fans are in wide spread use in the Hotrod world, pusher fans are mostly avoided. They are not optimum by virtue of their placement in front of the core. Do a little more research on the subject and I think you will find that the preferred location for optimum cooling is the puller fan mounted between the engine and the radiator. I know a few guys who use the plastic mounting straps through the radiator core to mount their fans. Some have had them mounted this way for years. I won't use them as I have been told by a few manufacturers it's not a question of if they will wear a hole in a coolant tube but rather when. Many of the larger manufacturers have told me they will not warrantee their core IF an electric fan is mounted in this manner. But again your results may vary, When spending $5-700 on a radiator I insist on the optimum results for my money
Don
Don
i agree that the optimum fan is a puller; however, pullers do not provide optimum cooling for an a/c condenser, and that is the sole purpose of my 'pusher'. i am using a engine driven 7-blade fan for engine/radiator cooling purposes (i tried a Mark VII puller, but had controller and amperage problems...).
and we agree that 'straps through the core' to support the fan is a VERY bad idea...
where we 'disagree' is that pusher fans are bad because they restrict air flow through the radiator to the extent that it will not provide sufficient cooling when it is not running. if that is the case, then my pusher is blocking air flow... heck, a/c condensers alone will block more air flow than the fan components....
Bill
06-24-2014, 11:25 AM
#10
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Bill: I have the same set up as you. I have a Dewitts rad. with a stock clutch and fan. I use a pusher fan in front of the condenser to make the A/C run more efficiently. I can't run my black/black coupe A/C on full blast because it's too cold. I live in Tampa and have a Vintage system. Jerry
06-24-2014, 11:37 AM
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St. Jude Donor '07
Bill: I have the same set up as you. I have a Dewitts rad. with a stock clutch and fan. I use a pusher fan in front of the condenser to make the A/C run more efficiently. I can't run my black/black coupe A/C on full blast because it's too cold. I live in Tampa and have a Vintage system. Jerry
i used Hot Rod Air because i didn't want to cut the passenger side kneebrace. it puts out 34degree air, but with the heat transfer and the greenhouse effect, it still gets kinda warm... much much better than nothing...
Frank has put Vintage Air in his 63 coupe and finds it also to be VERY 'cool'.... he decided not to put a fan on the condenser, so it will be interesting to see how it behaves when it really gets hot...
Bill
06-24-2014, 12:22 PM
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I was having an overheating problem on my '59, even after installing a Dewitt's radiator. So I removed the engine fan & shroud and installed an electric fan with shroud. It controls my low speed & idling temps but gets up to 200 deg. & higher on the highway. Don't know why, it may just run hot.
06-24-2014, 01:34 PM
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St. Jude Donor '07
I was having an overheating problem on my '59, even after installing a Dewitt's radiator. So I removed the engine fan & shroud and installed an electric fan with shroud. It controls my low speed & idling temps but gets up to 200 deg. & higher on the highway. Don't know why, it may just run hot.
Bill
06-24-2014, 07:35 PM
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St. Jude Donor '07
in your case it might be a case of the shroud 'shrouding' too much going down the highway, thereby limiting the air flow in spite of the flappers. what makes me wonder is the fact it cools well at slow speeds and poorly on the road, and the fan should not be running at highway speeds.
a fan configuration something like this might work better as there is essentially no restriction at highway speed....
Bill
06-24-2014, 08:03 PM
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i'm gonna toss this out for consideration...
in your case it might be a case of the shroud 'shrouding' too much going down the highway, thereby limiting the air flow in spite of the flappers. what makes me wonder is the fact it cools well at slow speeds and poorly on the road, and the fan should not be running at highway speeds.
a fan configuration something like this might work better as there is essentially no restriction at highway speed....
Bill
in your case it might be a case of the shroud 'shrouding' too much going down the highway, thereby limiting the air flow in spite of the flappers. what makes me wonder is the fact it cools well at slow speeds and poorly on the road, and the fan should not be running at highway speeds.
a fan configuration something like this might work better as there is essentially no restriction at highway speed....
Bill
Last edited by magicv8; 06-24-2014 at 08:05 PM.
06-24-2014, 08:14 PM
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Really! I thought about removing the rubber flaps entirely and make the slots a little bigger. Also, per Bill's suggestion, think I'll cut the fan off at hwy speeds and see what that does.
06-24-2014, 08:50 PM
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St. Jude Donor '07
this is supposedly the most 'powerful' OEM installed electric fan made... i adapted it to fit my 62 and i noticed that it thermostatically turned itself on while on the road (had an indicator light that showed when the fan was running...); something that didn't make much sense other than the engine was running 'hotter' than at lower speeds.
in thinking about this thread, in hindsight i THINK that the shroud was actually reducing the flow and therefore the fan had to run to pull down the temp to the controller setting. at low speeds and around town it was GREAT...
Bill
in thinking about this thread, in hindsight i THINK that the shroud was actually reducing the flow and therefore the fan had to run to pull down the temp to the controller setting. at low speeds and around town it was GREAT...
Bill
06-24-2014, 10:56 PM
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this is supposedly the most 'powerful' OEM installed electric fan made... i adapted it to fit my 62 and i noticed that it thermostatically turned itself on while on the road (had an indicator light that showed when the fan was running...); something that didn't make much sense other than the engine was running 'hotter' than at lower speeds.
in thinking about this thread, in hindsight i THINK that the shroud was actually reducing the flow and therefore the fan had to run to pull down the temp to the controller setting. at low speeds and around town it was GREAT...
Bill
in thinking about this thread, in hindsight i THINK that the shroud was actually reducing the flow and therefore the fan had to run to pull down the temp to the controller setting. at low speeds and around town it was GREAT...
Bill