Taurus Electric Fan installed pics. (lots of pics)

[Maniak]

He actually got the fan from the dealer. The pigtail we got from a local auto parts store. Not an autozone/checker type.

The controller was from ebay and the breaker was from surpluscenter.com

The wires and the relay came from an local shop and of course, we paid too much for the relay at the time.. ebay is $15 cheaper for the tyco/bosch 75 amp relay.. We got the switches, LEDs and the smaller relay from the same shop we got the big relay from.

All in all, he loves the mod.


As for the short he had a few weeks ago.. I finally got over there (delivered the smaller breaker) and see what happened..

On the output of teh 75 amp relay are 2 wires. One (10 gauge) feeds the fan. Another 14 gauge feeds an LED so we know the fan is getting power. As the small wire goes into the firewall it is normally in a wire loom. For some reason he moved the loom and it managed to get caught by the hood hinge. That means the 14 gauge wire was a direct short to ground. That 14 gauge wire runs back to the 75 amp relay which is protected by the 100 amp breaker. The 14 gauge wire melted before the 100 amp breaker popped..

That means that we are going to put an inline fuse on the hot wire from the relay to the LED since the wire is so much smaller than the breaker (even with the smaller breaker)..

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

Another update.

The Breaker is now a 50 Amp breaker, and so far so good (been more than a month).. It has yet to pop. Summer is coming (will be 106F this weekend). If he is going to have an issue with it popping because of the heat making it pop early he should have it this weekend.

BTW.. Out of all the mods/repairs we have done to his truck this is the one he is always gushing about. He can feel the difference in power on the freeway since the fan is never running there. You can also really feel the difference getting on the freeway. He still says the power he has with the a/c on now is how much power it felt like when he used to have the fan clutch without the a/c on. Keep in mind.. that was with a Hayden Sever duty clutch so it was robbing power all the time.


~Mark

 

[CDW6212R]

I understand that, my SOHC truck feels much more sluggish with the AC on. Unless you mash the gas, it's quicker to shut off the AC until up to speed. The V8 isn't that sensitive, but it all helps. More power is the answer LOL.

 

[explorerguy89]

haha mine sounds like a ups truck and is half as fast when my fan kicks on so i might hafta do this sometime

 

[Maniak]

Another update

Another update. The latest breaker is just undersized. With the a/c on sitting in line at a drive through (Fan is running) on a 110F day the breaker pops. Apparently the load plus the underhood temps is making it pop early.

We are going to try a slightly higher rated breaker now..

~Mark

 

[mshuler009]

Hmmm, what I did with mine was hooked the inductive pick up clamp of our VAT tester to the positive, while the other clamps were on their respective battery posts and tested amperage with all other loads on max. I then went up to the next biggest/logical amperage rating for a fuse/breaker. As for the temp. causing an issue; basics of Ohms law still apply. With more heat brings more resistance, with more resistance, comes more amperage draw. That's why again, I simply went one size bigger on my fuse. I believe at this moment I have a twenty amp; and being in Charlotte, NC it has been 100+ several weeks on and off; Even with a/c and everything on....fuse still hasn't popped.

 

[Maniak]

I can't explain it. You are the only person I've ever heard of getting away with a 20 amp fuse. Even the Flexalite controller and the SPAL controller companies tell you NOT to use their controller directly on a Taurus fan since the fan pulls too many amps and they are rated at 35 amps.

All I can say is that the 50 amp circuit breaker on there now popped a couple times. We are going to try moving it away from the heat path (where the hot air from the fan blows).


I'm still looking for a clamp meter that will read DC amps. Every one I've found (to buy in my price range or borrow) can only read AC amps.

~Mark

 

[mshuler009]

Now don't forget, I may have a 30 amp....I did this some time ago and being that I work on 4-10 cars a day it's hard to remember what I ate from breakfast let alone the amperage draw of my electric fan I installed forever ago. Now when I did all my wiring connections I performed a rosin core solder connection utilizing heatshrink on top of the splice/connections; therefore total resisitance in my fan circuit is limited to the load on (the fan). There's no corrosion or "decent" connections housing unwanted electrical resistance-> and effectively drawing more amperage. Heat does play a huge factor, and that is why I have routed all my wiring and installed my relay directly behind the core support in front of battery where it's isolated from engine heat, and directly in the path of fresh air.

As far as reading dc amps....google search dc inductive amp meter- these simply plug into your high impedance dmm and with simply math you can convert the mv readings into amps. I've seen ok ones for around 80 bucks; I'm a tech as a profession so I went the extra mile and purchased one from the snap on truck.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, move the controller and relay forward or away from the most heat, and check the connections. Mine is also in front of the battery on the radiator support, I see others place it on the front of the RS to the outside of the radiator opening.

 

[mshuler009]

Low Amp Probe


Oh, and if you're interested in making some easy money on the side and consider yourself a pretty big car guy you may want to invest in a new or used graphing multimeter or oscilloscope. When you use the probe with one of those you can easily daignose starters, fuel pumps, injectors, alternators, and pcm transistor issues. If interested, or just wanna know more check out This link for fuel pump current waveform intro to diag

Here is the original site with much more info: http://www.flatrater.com/complete_index.htm

 

[Maniak]

Here is an answer to how many amps a Taurus 1 speed fan really pulls..

From watching the meter (on many starts) it appears it starts to settle down around 60 Amps which tells me the inrush of current is over 60 amps... As I understand it, since the meter is reading the voltage drop across the shunt, for a moment it is pegging the meter before it reads actual amperage.

Soo, here you go...



~Mark

 

[SoNic67]

The circuit breakers shall be "derated" for us in a higher temperature enviroment than marked. But also, they will not trip instantly in case of an overload.
That is, a 30A breker/fuse cand "hold" 50A for a while, as long as the ambinat temperature is not higher that "normal" one for that kind of fuse/breaker.
Intermittent use of the fan can lead to a 20A fuse being able to handle the 30A current of the fan - that is if the fan is not working all the time.
In AZ, in stop-and-go traffic (like "Route 60" in Phoenix area at rush hour, summer time) probably will be running constantly and eventually trip. In Vermont it might not
I would go with the 50A to allow for derrating (will act like a 30A in hot temperature) and appropriate size for wires (minimum #10 AWG). I guess the location of the relay in the engine bay will have a big importance.

 

[Trolling]

How does the e-fan tie up to the a/c system in regards to the wiring and stuff?

 

[Maniak]

On the f-150 we connected the a/c coil wire (the one that engages the clutch) to the a/c sensor wire on the controller. When the ac compressor is on (has 12v) the controller gets 12v on the a/c sensor wire which tells it to turn on the fan.

We do have a switch inline so we can turn off the fan when on the freeway. No need to run a puller fan when your cruising 70mph down the freeway.

~Mark

 

[Trolling]

so simply put in regards to the a/c only;

a/c on = fan on

a/c on (freeway) = fan on (but have optional switch to turn it off)

 

[Maniak]

Exactly...

And the way the controller works, it will still turn on the fan if the temp reaches its turn on temp. That way if you forget to turn the fan back on when your off the freeway the motor won't get hot.. Only you will since the a/c won't work well if your not moving and the fan isn't on.

~Mark

 

[Trolling]

gotcha..

Thanks Maniak!

I'm still looking for a fan that will fit a 97 v8 mountaineer. I have the thicker radiator and a taurus fan is too much of a tight fit even after modifications.

Would you or anybody here happen to know if the e-fan from a chevy HHR have enough CFM's for our v8's?

 

[Maniak]

I first heard about the HHR fans on the 460ford site. If its big enough to cool a 7.5l v8 it should be enough to cool a little 5.0 v8

~Mark

 

[mshuler009]

Well as for the youtube response there's no doubt that your fan pulls what it does. I am telling you that my fan pulls less; we've hit 100 plus degrees here in charlotte, nc several days this summer and my thirty amp still hasn't popped. I will add though, your fan sounds a lot louder than mine does..........maybe a difference of resistance in the motor?

And as for the A/C topic; that is exactly how mine is wired. I have my "sense" circuit from the clutch coil running directly to the control side of my relay.

 

[Fifty150]

I'm still looking for a fan that will fit a 97 v8 mountaineer.

Same car. Here is my install.