No jb, you haven't missed anything. I replaced the fuse holder and I'm back in business, but I wouldn't say "I've fixed the problem". My last statement was to correct somethind I said earlier...I stated I was running a 35 amp fuse when in fact I'm running a 30.

Question though...why would you bump up the fuse to a higher one?? Don't you idealy want to run the smallest fuse the system needs?? I ended up with a 30 because with 25's in there, it would blow the fuse on fan start up!

 

I'm back again with more tech and some common sense!
The 25 amp fuse blew because the motor starting current went above 25 amps.
It is normal for the starting current to often be 2 times the running current.
Even a 30 amp fuse, in some cases, might not last over a long term if it was just barely able to handle the starting load current with repeated starts every drive cycle.
A fuse run or spiked at or near it's rating will still give up at some point and still be considered a normal event simply because of miss application or circuit fault.. This means the fuse holder and the fuse have to go to the next higher size, however you may look at it, providing there is no circuit fault..
Back to early info.
You need to measure the starting current to absolutely know how to fuse the circuit, the wire and holder sizeing or detect a problem with the circuit or fan motor/s.
What if one motor draws more current than another, how would you know? You would go round and round forever wondering why things go wrong and never know.
God gave you the ability to think! Use it.
A shop that troubleshoots things has to do their work this way or be a failure , close the door and go do something they know how to do.

I have given all that is needed to solve the problem. If not willing to go beyond hem and hawing, then take it all out, put your mech. fan back on and call it a day.
Good luck with it.

 

I was thinking that you blew the recommended fuse per wire awg. It's critical how it's wired. I believe you have both fans blended. I may first separate the harnesses from each other completely if possible. I never wired one myself, keep that in mind. There may be some kind reason to blend the harnesses together, I don't know why they would instruct that per directions. You may know..?? Right now there's to much current coming from somewhere and that's a pretty big concern

It would be much easier if I had it the shop and could check the controllers - Go over everything myself. I guess my first avenue would be to go over the directions and make sure they were followed. If they were , you can bet I would be on the horn to the manufacturer demanding an explanation - Why in the hell are you trying to torch this persons truck!!!

So, there's a few variables here..

 

Galaxy was it your fuse holder that was the problem.

 

Thanks...kinda has that one figured out!

Ummmm, maybe because they're not tied together nor do they share a fuse! Just a hunch. Since they're separate, what would it matter??

Not sure what got you guys thinking the fans are blended together somehow?? The two fans are two entirely, completely separate entities. They are not tied together in any fashion. Each has its own controller, temp probes, fuse holder, wiring harness...everything.

Also jb, just for clarification on your statement here, I never blew a fuse. The holder melted down and the fuse never blew.

 

I guess I was confused by this statement -

About the harnesses blended, this is confusing as well, I thought you mention that here -

Just a misunderstanding I guess..

 

Have you thought about runing 2 fuses in parallel rated at 15 amps each? This would split the load and the heat.

 

For S&G I checked mine. The 25 amp fuse to the new Derale controller had melted. I pulled on it to remove it and the plastic came right off the metal. All that was left was the metal fuse stuck in the holder. The fuse had not popped.
I went out and purchased a high amp fuse holder with better terminals and will install it some time this weekend. I forgot to get shrink tubing. I should have known better as the other fuse holder did the same thing a few years ago and was replaced. I checked it for damage and it was fine. My ground contact at the battery was also starting to corrode so I fixed that too.

JMC

 

JMC -

My FAL was grounded at the battery and it constantly corroded.

I noticed my friend's L was grounded on the firewall and did not have the battery corrosion issue.

I moved my ground to the firewall, cleaned the battery terminal and did not have the corrosion issue again.

Just thought I would share...

 

Thanks If they corrode again I will try that. FWIW I have this kind of terminal; Top row middle terminal. I had just wrapped the wires around one of the hold down bolts. I now have it squished in with the battery wire under the clamp.

JMC

 

35 amps @ 13.8 volts is roughly 483 watts.

1 HP = 746 watts - in other words, the electric fans draw a little more than 1/2 HP.

A mechanical fan requires many times that to turn.

Simply put, the electric fan is much more efficient at moving air than the mechanical fan.

 

Hey jb, I see what you're talking about. Yes, I have the ground wires ran together and to the same ground point. I also have the two hot wires ran to the same point (but not physically attached together) on the battery. I didn't consider this being bleded together in the sense that you did. When you say blended together I took that to mean the fans (both of them) operate as a unit like the F-A-L, and that's not the case with these fans. Seems like Bluegrass thought the same thing. Oh well. Sorry also for any confusion.

And to make another correction for you...in that last quote of mine you had...I do have the ground wires sharing a terminal and then sharing a grounding point but I did not do this with the hot wires. Each hot wire (there's only two...one for each controller) has its own terminal, but then connect to the same post on the battery. But I don't think any of this is rellevant.

OK, so this latest bit of discussion has made me think of something else...since the grounding points are shared by both fans and the hot wires are shared by both fans/controllers, why then is the problem only on one fan?? To me, this kinda rules out a bad ground...no??? Possilbe?

 

Both fans run independently. The second fan is normally set to turn on at higher temps so it almost never turns on. The first fan is the one that sees more use so it will develop the symptoms sooner.

JMC

 

HI!... JMC :

If you need shrink tubing, stop by my house. I have miles of it in all different sizes.

 

OK, last report. Today I soldered the connections (electric rosin core) in the new fuse holder. The fuse contacts are mashed down pretty tight. I made it hard to even get the fuse in. Ground wires were also completely re-routed with 10ga wire. No merging of wires. The fans have their own grounds and the controllers have their own grounds. Ran the ground wires to a new location on the frame. It's SOLID. No doubts about it this time. Don't know if this cured any problems or not...guess time will tell. But that's all I'm doing to it for now, so stay tuned.

Thanks for everyones help, comments, and support. This turned out to be quite the little discussion, hu?? 3 pages!!