As I posted once before, my fans have been in since 2005 and run like gold now. One did fail on me in the desert and Troyer honored the warranty, replaced the controllers and waterproofed the ****out of them. Since then I have no issues. I have blown up the blower twice though! I just had the nosecone or "snout" as it's called, rebuilt for the 2nd time. I drive rough. Mike saw my dirty engine compartment and almost slugged me! I now live in the desert and it stays nice and clean. His custom "Arizona Octane" tunes are working as well. I'm just sorry the USPS would not let me send him a bottle of Crown as thanks. I had to drink it myself!

 

JMC, what seems to be going on here is the relays are failing.

I know it's kind of oranges and tangerines, but since the relays are failing closed circuit, I wouldn't consider it a stranded failure. Sure you'd have to pull the fuse to keep the fans from draining the battery if you shut the truck off, but it is better to have the fans fail on instead of off. At least you could get back to civilization.

From what I get from this thread and others on this subject, the relays seem to be underrated for this application. From OG's posts, the sockets seem to be poor quality since he was told by Troyer not to remove the relays.

The controller electronics are probably ok as long as water intrusion hasn't been a factor in the failures. The relays are the high current handling component in these controllers, and they seem to be the issue.

The variable speed controllers use solid state devices (transistors) that are pretty much bulletproof when used within their ratings.
My thoughts are that unless adaquate (overrated) relays are used, a solid state high current switching circuit should be used.

Someone with a little electronics skills ought to dissect one of Troyers failed controllers and try a little redesign work. Power MOSFET switching devices comes to mind here.

Maybe someone could make a few bucks taking the failed controllers and modifying them......

Bottom line here is I am no longer considering e-fans for my truck.
Knowing the issues involved, and not wishing to risk failures, for now at least I will pass.
The performance gains are not worth the risk of a critical system failure to me.

 

The controllers appear to be Derale part no. 16759 that came with my fans.

 

Do you want to sell your Troyer controllers? Are they the newer ground switched ones?

I am thinking that having some extras in case I run into problems may not be a bad idea. Then I could easily change them out on the side of the road if it came to that.

 

So here is a lil update, as some of you know I went trail riding this weekend for 2 nights and 2 days, those who went with me can attest how much I really beat the crap outta my truck. But,......yes, but, I did experience troubles with the fan setup once again.

Well the story behind the story is that after I arrived at hungry valley which was a 2 hour drive pulling my trailer with the Rhino shown in the picture down below, I took to the trails that night from 8PM to 3Am, everything seem OK, no overheating.

Next day after running my truck for about 2 hour I did overheat, but I just assumed it was the "cheap controllers" so I flip the auxiliary switches and continued my ride. I rode a good 4 hours after that and came back for a late lunch, after lunch we hit the trials once again. Again, after 2 hours of riding I overheated, this happened 2 more times because I forgot to turn on the fans manually. I later noticed that only one fan was running and when it turned off so the other would turned on, it wouldn't, so that was the reason it overheated. All in all the auxiliary switches allowed me to continue my ride without any other problems.

This morning I took the truck to the shop and explained the situation to the tech. He then looking around and to our amazement, we found out that one of the 2 30 amp fuses that came with the Troyer's kit had melted. He then removed and also trashed the other one and installed better fuse holders and new fuses. The "cheap" controllers are still running like a champ.

 

Melting controllers and fuse holders indicates that system is getting hot. The source of that heat is resistance in your wiring. Where do they have the controllers grounded?

 

How are the wires joined together? Soldered connections would be better.

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Whats the purpose of the electric fans?

 

It suppose to be a better cooling system than the stock fan. As a skeptic I'm still not sure if that is truth or fiction.

Maybe other's would like to elaborate.


P.S.

$35 relay switches from Auto Zone? Still holding strong.

 

With mechanical fans, your engine is spinning a very heavy weight constantly. They have clutches on them to help reduce the amount if parasitic loss, but they are always consuming power by spinning.

Electric fans are on only when necessary. They do add a drag through the increase demand of the alternator, but when they are off, they are off.

The benefits are increase gas milage and a little extra power.

Evidence of this being true is that vehicles which historically have fallen under CAFE standards (rear wheel drive passenger cars) switched to electric fans about 20 years ago: Mustang, Crown Vic, Mark VIII, etc.

 

Its the removal of parasitic drag on the engine that is the benefit of electric fans.

Good to hear! Mine have been under my hood for close to 3 years now with zero problems

 

I have upgraded to a 275 Amp alternator. Does that make a difference or will there be a drag no matter how big the alternator is?

 

Your Alternator needs to generate about 30-40 amps of current to power both the fans. I cannot prove it but I personally believe that even while drawing that extra current from the alternator the power draw from the engine is still less than turning the manual fan.

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Weight advantage alone is a big factor.... Even if everything else equals out taking that 12-15lb fan setup off the front helps.

 

almost all of us could simply remove 12-15lbs. hell theres always at least 5-10lbs of mud stuck to my truck anyways, and i could always remove my grill guard, or completely empty my bed, or get on lighter wheels.

i've been researching alot about these E-fans lately...for the added 10hp or so. I have never had overheating problems and im not gonna risk a motor for 10hp.

For me, this mod is getting scratched off the list. my truck never overheats and has plenty of power on and off-road. Time to start looking at the SD tranny cooler mod in place of e-fans.