I baught an autozone controller reffered to me by someone on this site. I was warned not to but did have it hooked up to both fans. Do you guys think this failed because i had both fans running, basically all the time. I would set it to 205 and it would randomly turn on after a few days at 185 than randomly at 210 than it didnt turn on at all and now it doesnt work. I think these controllers are garbage for one, so i got a higher up one, my question is should i just hook it to 1 fan? And i think ill make the 2nd manual. Thanks for the help

 

Ive always set up my fans with just one under the AZ controller. and the second one as manual on with a switch.

Also running full fan amperage through the controller will fry them in a heart beat. Be sure to use one relay per fan

 

If you want something that will work longer, try the Flex-a-Lite VSC.

This will run both fans, give you the control for the AC hook up, and has inouts for manual run.

I had the old style controller on my '01, and dad finally had a problem with it last summer ( ~ 6.5 years of use ).

The new one, they changed the lead design, not to use the male terminal pins sticking out of it.

I got 2 of these for Dad's 38' RV, so he has redundancy. They are both set at the same temp, as the FAL VSC runs both fans at 60%, then 100% after another 10* of temp rise.

 

Well i baught a higher up model from autozone yesterday and im going to try Patmans way but if it fails again, flex a lite hopefully solves it or i give up and back to clutch fan it is for me! I hope my fans arent burnt out, friggin ebay...

 

Don't know if Patman03SprCrw has a suggestion on the relay to use for the install.

Relays are rated at a max number of cycles, before failure ( mechanical ones, not solid sate ones ).

If you reach the rated cycles, the relay is what would fail. much cheaper to replace, when compared to a temp controller, but something that can go south on you at the wrong time.

 

I recommend 40a relays, most commonly you find 30a. Even though most fans pull around 20-25a you are better off having a little more amperage rating then just barely having enough.

and this is my recommended wiring


you can go one step further and wire in indicator lights, mount them in the cab, and run the leads to the fan leads and then you know the each fan is getting the power and ground and electrically everything is turned on

 

good drawing Patman. do you know what brand the controller is? i picked my Hayden-Imperial at Advanced Auto for $36. it has a 30A relay and runs 2 fans no problem

 

I dont remember the brand of the autozone one i get, but it doesnt come with any relays and its only 17.99