Looking for an Efan....
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check out Mad's kit..IMO he has the best controller out on the market
http://www.madenterprise.com/fanstuff.htm
http://www.madenterprise.com/f150.htm
http://www.madenterprise.com/fanstuff.htm
http://www.madenterprise.com/f150.htm
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Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Medford, Or / Orange, Ca
Originally posted by Robert Francis
Theres a "controller" you might consider in using, if using the LFP's or JDM's setup (I think it's MadFerreris "controller") that can be set for temperature, instead of just on/off conditions, so that as you're cruising on a really hot day, and don't like the windows down, you can have your A/C on, but the e-fan will be off for a bit better fuel economy.
Theres a "controller" you might consider in using, if using the LFP's or JDM's setup (I think it's MadFerreris "controller") that can be set for temperature, instead of just on/off conditions, so that as you're cruising on a really hot day, and don't like the windows down, you can have your A/C on, but the e-fan will be off for a bit better fuel economy.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,067
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From: NC
Originally posted by wydopnthrtl
I've got the flex-a-lite 270 as well.
btw: Your 2002 water pump is the best. I don't recommend the "cobra" pump.
Rich
I've got the flex-a-lite 270 as well.
btw: Your 2002 water pump is the best. I don't recommend the "cobra" pump.
Rich
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From: SE Michigan
Thndr:
What I meant by better fuel economy is that any time the e-fan isn't running, you're not drawing any load from the alternator - not using any hp to drive the fan - so you'll be using a bit less fuel. One of the advantages of the e-fan is to be able supply cooling air to the engine compartment only when it's needed thereby consuming hp only when needed - whereas the mechanical fan is always being driven. So anytime you can run your vehicle without the fan - you're using less power and should get a bit more fuel economy. That "controller" allows you to do this better than just with a temp sensor.
What I meant by better fuel economy is that any time the e-fan isn't running, you're not drawing any load from the alternator - not using any hp to drive the fan - so you'll be using a bit less fuel. One of the advantages of the e-fan is to be able supply cooling air to the engine compartment only when it's needed thereby consuming hp only when needed - whereas the mechanical fan is always being driven. So anytime you can run your vehicle without the fan - you're using less power and should get a bit more fuel economy. That "controller" allows you to do this better than just with a temp sensor.
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Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Medford, Or / Orange, Ca
OK OK But I hope whatever instruments we're using to measure that kind of horsepower or mileage gain goes down at least three decimal places.edit:
Robert, I know they advantages of the efan. What I'm questioning is what I highlighted in my original post. Referring to the gains from running with the efan off. As I stated above any kind of gains as a result of having it not running vs. running are hard to substantiate. And is'nt the alternator is continuously driven and under load regardless of what accessories you have on?
Last edited by thnder; Apr 1, 2005 at 07:29 PM.
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From: los angeles
I know im new here but I learned the hardway and thought i would share.
One of the first mods I did were the electric water pump and the electric fan. I saw no advantage in having them except for the "cool factor". I've spent thousands on dyno time and saw no gains. Im actually worried about my Meziere not flowing enough water.
Joecey
02
One of the first mods I did were the electric water pump and the electric fan. I saw no advantage in having them except for the "cool factor". I've spent thousands on dyno time and saw no gains. Im actually worried about my Meziere not flowing enough water.
Joecey
02
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From: SE Michigan
THNDER:
The alternator is only slightly "loaded" as it's being turned(enough to overcome it's rotating resistance) until you attach a "load" to it. With the engine running, pull your headlight switch out and watch the engine slow down - thats the alternator being loaded by your headlights - and the engine adding power to build your rpm's back up - then turn on your heater and you'll observe the same thing - same thing happens as you turn on other electrical accessories - the more electrical energy you require, the more power it takes to turn the alternator. The e-fan really bogs the engine down when it kicks on. It's not much fun, but if you're into minimizing power usage - put different pulley on the alternator slow it down and never turn on the A/C. I'd guess the mechanical fan(it's pretty big loud fan) on an L consumes about 12- 15 hp to drive it - and even though it's a clutch type fan - it's always being driven. So - if you replace it with an e-fan and use the e-fan only when necessary, say below 35mph on a hot day - I'd guess that at cruising at 35+mph you stand to pick up about 10hp or so - and I'd think that would be worth a little less fuel consumed.
I've seen guys on here report a 2-3 mpg fuel increase using their e-fans - if you did a search you'd find them. I can understand your scepticism though, as I personally never saw that kind of increase in mpg. But the engine warms up quicker and is a lot quieter when the fan is off.
The alternator is only slightly "loaded" as it's being turned(enough to overcome it's rotating resistance) until you attach a "load" to it. With the engine running, pull your headlight switch out and watch the engine slow down - thats the alternator being loaded by your headlights - and the engine adding power to build your rpm's back up - then turn on your heater and you'll observe the same thing - same thing happens as you turn on other electrical accessories - the more electrical energy you require, the more power it takes to turn the alternator. The e-fan really bogs the engine down when it kicks on. It's not much fun, but if you're into minimizing power usage - put different pulley on the alternator slow it down and never turn on the A/C. I'd guess the mechanical fan(it's pretty big loud fan) on an L consumes about 12- 15 hp to drive it - and even though it's a clutch type fan - it's always being driven. So - if you replace it with an e-fan and use the e-fan only when necessary, say below 35mph on a hot day - I'd guess that at cruising at 35+mph you stand to pick up about 10hp or so - and I'd think that would be worth a little less fuel consumed.
I've seen guys on here report a 2-3 mpg fuel increase using their e-fans - if you did a search you'd find them. I can understand your scepticism though, as I personally never saw that kind of increase in mpg. But the engine warms up quicker and is a lot quieter when the fan is off.
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Miami, FL
Originally posted by Herb101
Are you actually using this fan or is this just a recent find?
That look almost too cheap - like typo cheap.
I'm in San Antonio, Texas, where it is frequently hot and humid and the traffic here sucks - I see you're in Miami, so if it works there it should work here.
Herb
Are you actually using this fan or is this just a recent find?
That look almost too cheap - like typo cheap.
I'm in San Antonio, Texas, where it is frequently hot and humid and the traffic here sucks - I see you're in Miami, so if it works there it should work here.
Herb
I hope to be in the near future.
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From: Medford, Or / Orange, Ca
Robert, Robert, my boy
Bear with me. I'm not trying to be rude or act like a smart #!*
But I still think you're missing the original point of my post. Please go back and read it. I was not here to argue the facts and operation of electrical systems with you. I understand them fairly well. I only questioned the statement you made about getting better mileage and more power with you’re efan not running.
But since you brought it up I think there's something here to be learned of our electrical systems.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on the headlights.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on my efan.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on 600 watts of stereo. And neither should yours Robert in all the above. In fact you can have all these things going on at the same time and not even run your engine! Right? And when you start your engine up. Guess what! It doesn't increase in speed to restore the drained battery. Hummm Now what do you think about that? Robert, your alternator is always under load. And it’s basically the same load. It’s job is to supply the vehicle system with electrical current and to recharge the battery. The voltage regulator (now days located within the alternator) regulates the flow of current from the alternator to the battery. It does this by turning current to the field (stator) terminal of the alternator on and off. By the way, this action generates an immeasurable amount of load on your engine. Immeasurable Robert. Now, when the battery voltage drops below 13 or so volts, the voltage regulator sends current to the field terminal that allows the alternator to start charging again. Then current goes to the battery to restore the charge. If the voltage goes above a set amount, usually 14 volts. The job of the regulator is to shut off the current to the field. So it don’t overcharge. And that's what the alternator does. Now, the only perceivable load on your engine via the pulley system is when the ECU does bring up the idle speed to compensate for the operation of the a/c compressor. And of course since the heater runs off the same system (now days) it takes care of that also. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my 45 years of dealing with these things. And not ashamed to say I'm somewhat overwhelmed and amazed when I lift the hood to ponder the newer modular engines and their inner workings. Not even to mention the electrical systems.
Regards
Bear with me. I'm not trying to be rude or act like a smart #!*
But I still think you're missing the original point of my post. Please go back and read it. I was not here to argue the facts and operation of electrical systems with you. I understand them fairly well. I only questioned the statement you made about getting better mileage and more power with you’re efan not running.
But since you brought it up I think there's something here to be learned of our electrical systems.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on the headlights.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on my efan.
No, my engine doesn't slow down when I turn on 600 watts of stereo. And neither should yours Robert in all the above. In fact you can have all these things going on at the same time and not even run your engine! Right? And when you start your engine up. Guess what! It doesn't increase in speed to restore the drained battery. Hummm Now what do you think about that? Robert, your alternator is always under load. And it’s basically the same load. It’s job is to supply the vehicle system with electrical current and to recharge the battery. The voltage regulator (now days located within the alternator) regulates the flow of current from the alternator to the battery. It does this by turning current to the field (stator) terminal of the alternator on and off. By the way, this action generates an immeasurable amount of load on your engine. Immeasurable Robert. Now, when the battery voltage drops below 13 or so volts, the voltage regulator sends current to the field terminal that allows the alternator to start charging again. Then current goes to the battery to restore the charge. If the voltage goes above a set amount, usually 14 volts. The job of the regulator is to shut off the current to the field. So it don’t overcharge. And that's what the alternator does. Now, the only perceivable load on your engine via the pulley system is when the ECU does bring up the idle speed to compensate for the operation of the a/c compressor. And of course since the heater runs off the same system (now days) it takes care of that also. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my 45 years of dealing with these things. And not ashamed to say I'm somewhat overwhelmed and amazed when I lift the hood to ponder the newer modular engines and their inner workings. Not even to mention the electrical systems.
Regards
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 2,456
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From: SE Mich
I thought 03',04 was the best? I thought they made the pump change in 03?
Rich
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Posts: 446
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From: SE Michigan
THNDER;
No offense taken Mr Thnder - like you, I'm a still a bit amazed looking under the hood of my truck at all the gadgets and controlling devices and hopefully learn a little more about them.
However, my engine does momentarily drop in rpms when I first pull out the headlight switch and does likewise when I manually turn on my e-fan, etc. And I can tell when my e-fan kicks on by the mometary rpm drop. I've got a Ranger and when I activate electrical devices, rpm's drop mometarily also.
In refering to your first post, as far as any potential for an e-fan to increase fuel economy, it would just seem that any device you install that would consume less power than the original device (fan in this case) could give opportunity for somewhat better fuel economy. Perhaps not as significant as often "claimed" in the ads for them(they often claim a savings of 12-17 hp) - and as you suggest, may require some sensitive measuring equipment to find it. However - others have reported gains in milage and some have reported seeing power increases on a dyno.
No offense taken Mr Thnder - like you, I'm a still a bit amazed looking under the hood of my truck at all the gadgets and controlling devices and hopefully learn a little more about them.
However, my engine does momentarily drop in rpms when I first pull out the headlight switch and does likewise when I manually turn on my e-fan, etc. And I can tell when my e-fan kicks on by the mometary rpm drop. I've got a Ranger and when I activate electrical devices, rpm's drop mometarily also.
In refering to your first post, as far as any potential for an e-fan to increase fuel economy, it would just seem that any device you install that would consume less power than the original device (fan in this case) could give opportunity for somewhat better fuel economy. Perhaps not as significant as often "claimed" in the ads for them(they often claim a savings of 12-17 hp) - and as you suggest, may require some sensitive measuring equipment to find it. However - others have reported gains in milage and some have reported seeing power increases on a dyno.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,558
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From: Eastern TN
thndr -
Not trying to flame you, but the way the alternator works is not exactly how you describe it.
It does not always have the same load on it and it does require different amounts of torque to spin it, based on the amperage being drawn on the electrical system. It is not an on-off switch, it is a variable load design.
The voltage regulator senses the voltage both at the battery and the stator and then alters the rotor field current to either increase or decrease the output from the alternator.
1 horsepower = 746 watts. Period. If you draw 746 watts of electrical power on your truck, it will require a little over 1hp from the engine to turn the alternator. With the truck running, the electrical system "idles" around 13.8 VDC. At this voltage that equals 54 amps of current draw.
With all of that being said, I agree that running e-fans does not make a measureable difference in MPG, as opposed to not running the e-fans.
I will say that if you were to connect an accurate tachometer to your truck and turn on various electrical loads, you indeed would see the RPM's fluctuate as the alternator adjusted it's output.
As with everyhting else in the mechanical / physical world, nothing is free. If you want more output from the alternator, the engine has to work a little harder to turn it...
Not trying to flame you, but the way the alternator works is not exactly how you describe it.
It does not always have the same load on it and it does require different amounts of torque to spin it, based on the amperage being drawn on the electrical system. It is not an on-off switch, it is a variable load design.
The voltage regulator senses the voltage both at the battery and the stator and then alters the rotor field current to either increase or decrease the output from the alternator.
1 horsepower = 746 watts. Period. If you draw 746 watts of electrical power on your truck, it will require a little over 1hp from the engine to turn the alternator. With the truck running, the electrical system "idles" around 13.8 VDC. At this voltage that equals 54 amps of current draw.
With all of that being said, I agree that running e-fans does not make a measureable difference in MPG, as opposed to not running the e-fans.
I will say that if you were to connect an accurate tachometer to your truck and turn on various electrical loads, you indeed would see the RPM's fluctuate as the alternator adjusted it's output.
As with everyhting else in the mechanical / physical world, nothing is free. If you want more output from the alternator, the engine has to work a little harder to turn it...