Between these different set-ups, which one offers the best, most efficient, or greatest cooling capability?? Which one would you pick? A, B, or C?

A--10 X 12.5 X 4 cooler with single 8" shrouded fan rated at 400 cfm.

B--13 X 7 X 2 cooler with dual 7" fans rated at 400 cfm each...800 cfm total.

C--13 X 7 X 2 cooler with single 12" fan rated at 1360 cfm.

Option A cooler has a greater surface area (and it's thicker) but less air flow (but I'm sure the shrouding makes some impact). B and C are the same cooler with less surface area, but much greater air flow capabilites.

I would question one thing with option C...I'll have about 2" of fan hanging over each side of the cooler. Will the fan want to draw more air around the edge in these areas and neglect the core of the cooler?? That whole path of least resistance thing, making it actually less efficient than the two 7" fans??

And on a side note...does anyone know anything about Spal fans from www.the-fan-man.com ??

 

What is the GVW ratings of the coolers?
There are two or more designs.
Tube and Fin, and stack plate.
The stack plate type is ususally considered the better design and low drop is a consideration.
Cooling fan is a good addition.
The trans can only pump just so much volume and the size of the lines are also a consideration for total cooling.
I use a 5 amp 8" fan on external thermostat set at 185 degrees on a cooler rated at 24,000 GVW.
That's double the truck's GCVW of 11,600 lbs.

 

Why do you need a fan, is airflow limited to your cooler? I generally use massive coolers without a fan. The fan is just something else to break and give you trouble. Whenever you are moving the air will be moving across the cooler anyway and in traffic the cooling fan of the engine will move air. For best cooling I suggest a long tru-cool 44,000gvw unit with 3/8 lines not routed into the radiator at all. This setup has proven to keep transmissions below 160 even in 100 degree heat with a high stall converter.
Alan

 

Bluegrass...Option A is rated at 26,500 with the fan. The cooler is B & C is rated at 25,000 without the fans installed...cooler only. With that said, Derale did tell me that the cooler in B & C is a better cooler than in A. The cooler in A is a plate & fin cooler, and the one in B & C is a stacked plate. I will be using -6 line tapped into the line returning to the transmission. In other words, this cooler will be installed in series with the factory cooler.

dirtyd0g...From experience, mine is warming up in traffic and slower speeds. I was also looking at mounting the fan somewhere other than in front of the radiator.

So which is it...A, B or C??

 

IMO installing in series with another cooler is not the best way for total pressure drop and flow.
If this is done you have 3 sections when you include the radiator.
Better to go with one big unit or plumb them in parralell.
No matter what you do you will see a temperature rise under loading from an unloaded condition.
In a perfect system that sheds heat as fast as it enters is the only one where there would not be a temp rise but that is not the reality we have with these systems.
You can see how good your system cools by using an infrared heat test gun and look at the input temps and the out put on a dull black painted surface to be uniform with the measuring surfaces..
But.... you can reach a point in that loop where you can't cool any lower or even get lower than the pan and still not affect the average total in the trans very much because you just can't do any more out side of it (the trans) due to volume flow limitations.
However you do it just keep in mind there is more science to this than just hooking in a cooler.
These threads are the only places you will find discussion on this important subject however much difference of opinion there may be.
Aways go with the science of it and never a guess approch.
Good luck.

 

So would you just install the bigger pan and try that for a while instead of getting into all this?

Bluegrass, I sent you a PM also...

 

Alan, we discussed this before about the use of a fan.
You choose to not use one and your reasons for it. That's fine.
But I choose to use one as additional cooling of my aux cooler in traffic with loads and at higher ambient temps when there is low airflow thru the whole area.
The case for more to go wrong is minor compared to what it does.
Even if it stops working, the cooler is back to the same as what you do with no fan except you yours a bigger cooler. Same difference but in different size packages and configurations.
First hand example today: Traffic tieup in the mountains with stop and go for miles. The temp out of the converter rose from crawling stop and go.
On long hill the temp rose over my fan set limit and came on to do the job as intended.
Surely you don't want to critisize that do you really, just because you don't use a fan. Besides I ran A/C full time to boot.
What's the big deal you make over this?
I've already has year of experience with this.