Has anyone tried to see if just one of the fans will keep your coolant at the desired temperature?

I am getting close to putting an electric fan in my truck and definitely like the concept of having a second fan in case something goes wrong with the other one.

But the question that did pop in my mind was that if it takes both fans to keep the coolant at the proper temp, then one really isn't a back-up for the other. I'm not sure if that makes sense?????

 

It sounds like you are looking for the Perf Products kit.

This has dual 16" fans, with 2 seperate controllers.
the 2 controllers are set 10* apart from each other.
When the temp reaches the level ( 202* ) the first fan turns on, and then after the 2nd temp is reached ( 212* ).
If the first fan quits ( or I should say the first temp controller ), I don't know how well the second fan would take the temp off, startng at 212*. One fan seems to seems to work fine with the 202* setting.

I have the FAL 270 kit, had dual 15" fans and it uses a 60%-100% run cycle design.
The Fans turn on at the setting ( 202* ) at 60%, if the temp increases 10* ( 212* ), the fans step upto 100%.
As well as there is a switch place for turning them on, tuning them off ( water crossing ), and an input that turns the fans on, regardless of temp, when the AC is activated.
These work fine, upto 104* heat index, sitting in traffic. They cycle on and off.

As for smoking a fan, I have yet to see a post where the fan motor on either of these has taken a powder.

The FAL I have seen 2 cases of the VSC taking leave, but due to mounting the VSC on the fan ( as the 270 directions say to ). The better place is where the 250 kit has them mounted ( on the sheetmetal behind the headlight.

Rocks has the PPI kit, and is happy with it.

I did not care for the mounting so much, and I prefered the FAL bracket that mounted to the locations that the fan shroud mounted.

It is all in what you are looking for, and from your question I think you should call Mike at PPI.

 

SSCULLY is pretty much right on target with his input. I don't think I have seen anyone post about smoking a fan either.

I will mention something I noticed while setting my fan temps. After setting the first fan turn on temp. I had to disconnect it to get the temp to go up high enough to set the second one.
Once I got the second fan to cycle on, I noticed after it ran a few minutes it would bring the temp down enough to cycle it off. Now remember this was with the first fan disconnected. So a relationship I drew from this was that if one fan crapped out, the second fan would keep me from overheating. Now I would not recommend hot rodding around with one fan out, but it would give me a chance to get my truck to a place where i could work on it.

The PPI kit I have does move more air than the flexalites. It also has a fully enclosed cage on the back of it to keep your hands from getting in the blades.
One of the things I liked best about the PPI fans where the design of the blades. They are shaped somewhat like the prop. on a sub, which is very effecient at moving air with the least amount of energy and noise.
I am in the A/C business and all the new Highest effeciency Lennox outdoor units are now designed with this very type of blade. It is queiter and more effecient.

Rocks

 

I never figured out how PPI got to that. The spec on the PPI kit is like 4600 cfm, and FAL says 5500, but mike said that was not drawing through the rad. Did he say how they tested the FAL to find out it did less then the 5500 ?

Should I get a PPI kit, and put each one of them on my Tranne units ?

 

quote:
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Originally posted by Rocks
The PPI kit I have does move more air than the flexalites.


Rocks
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As the engineer for Flex-a-lite, I stand by my #'s for airflow.
I have tested the Derale fan PPI is using as well, and they do move about 2300 CFM at 0" of static pressure, which is the same way I report the Flex-a-lite CFM #'s.

 

I have the PPI kit on my 4x4. I was in the Dunes in July and the highest temp I recorded was 108°C. This was using the Digital readout from the HEC display. That is actual cylinder head temp. That is 226.4°F. It was achieved going up a dunel in 80° weather in 3rd gear 4Lo at 6400 rpm. This was the temp at the top of the hill. Coming back down the hill it returned to 92°C (197.6) Between 92 and 94° is where it was most of the time.

I am still playing with the adjustment of the controlers so I can not advise where to set them for extreme use. This kit has a blue wire coming out of each fan that can be used to hook up another fan (not recommended because of current draw) that I will use to hook up a pilot light to tell me when and which fan is running. I blew the rear end out that day so my testing was incomplete. I will be returning in Aug and I will certanly test one fan at a time.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

HI!... I've been running the twin DERALE 16" fan kit on my truck now for over 3 years. I've never had a problem with the fans. They've gone through cold CANADA winters and our very hot summers, plus I power wash my engine compartment about twice a month. They still look like brand new and operate flawlessly. I have mine set-up to only run one fan. If my engine coolant temp guage says I'm getting a bit hot or I get stuck in stop & go traffic, I simply FLICK my manual switch on the secondary fan till things cool down. 90% of the time my trucks temp runs around 180 - 190 degree's which is actually cooler than the stock stat. MIKE T and I had very long discussions about my fan set-up before he decided to go with it's design. Like I said before... I've been doing 3 years of R&D on this kit and it is one of the best I've seen.

 

For those of you who have made the change to electric. I understand a special tool is required to remove the mechanical fan and clutch. Is this absolutely correct or were you able to do it without the special tool?

 

You can wedge a long screwdriver between the water pump bolts and give the wrench on the clutch a few whacks with a rubber mallet. Be sure to turn it counterclockwise to remove it. It should get loose after a few blows.

 

One fan will keep your rad cool if you take it easy. Neal has been running the twin derales for 3 years now and he uses mostly one fan. His second fan is wired up to a toggle switch not a controller. The instructions in the PPI kit say to disconnect the first fan when setting the temp for the second one.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Tiger-I made this out of some scrap 3/4 inch pipe. This took me about 15 minutes to make. I flattened one end, notched and drilled two holes. I then removed two of the bolts that held the water pump on and then bolted this tool back on. It provided an excellent "handle" to hold the water pump in place while I unscrewed the fan clutch.

I had to go this route because I was following the directions in the Haynes manual. So instead of loosening the fan clutch, I was tightening it. Once I realized my mistake and bolted this on, getting the clutch off was a breeze.

 

Good thinking Ted!

 

Ted'98,

That really was a sweet idea.
I paid about 25.00 for my pulley holder, and to top it off I have scrap 3/4 and 1" pipe all the time

Guess if I had been as smart as you, I could have pocketed the 25.00..

Oh well live and learn.....

 

That's sweet Ted, It's serendipity when you can install your own mods AND fab your own custom tools!

 

Was that before or after the radiator hose blew off?

See ya' next weekend!

-Joe-