electric fans off ebay

[lincolnsix]

I have bought a Aeroline fan with thermostat from a supplier on ebay for my mk3 GT6 (standard rad and engine).  The spec. stated it could be fitted either side of the rad and was suitable for the GT6

 

There is not enough clearance between the fan housing and the crankshaft nut, I particularly wanted it behind the rad not in front.

 

I sent the supplier an email explaining the problem but his reply said 'That's correct it will fit either side'.   It certainly will not!

 

        Has anybody had a similar problem?            Thanks  John

[david lewis]

changing the subject slightly -- i bought a cheap accuspark fan kit off ebay for my 13/60 and it also would not fit behind the radiator and the temp controller lasted 15 months  and about 800 miles before it packed up so i will be buying a better quality kenlowe kit  or similar in the hope it fits better and lasts longer.

good luck.

[68vitesse]

Had a similar problem with space fitting a fan on the back of the radiator in my Vitesse I just removed part of the fan housing. Although I suspect this would have void any warranty.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[Pete Lewis]

The club shop ones fit where they say they do and dont fit where they wont

 

give garth a call

 

pete

[lincolnsix]

Thanks everybody for the replies, supplier has sent a second email: quote 'They actually work better in front of the rad'. He certainly won't be getting 5* feedback,  admittingly I only paid £40.00 total with a fast delivery, but I shall not be using him again.

 

I actually had a Kenlowe in front of the rad when I bought the car, but flushing the rad with a hose it overflowed all over the control unit resulting in the fan switching on nonstop and the end of the unit ---water & electrics don't mix!   Luckily I do have a manual overide.

 

The Kenlowes now gone back on and I'll now see how long this cheap & cheerful control unit lasts, which I've had to fix with tie wraps.

 

So I now have a spare fan but only front mounted.

 

                                                           Regards,    Jiohn               .

[Steve P]

I fitted a Spal 11 inch sucker fan behind the rad on my Vitesse,very thin and works well,you might be able to see it in my avatar,

Close but it just clears the crank pulley.its switched by a thermo switch from Rally Design fitted in the top hose with an override switch in the car.

 

Biggest test was crawling up the M6 last August for 6 hours,guage never reads more than 3/4.

Steve

[Guest]

Hello John.

 

I have the same set-up as Steve but purchased my curved fan from stoney-racing via Ebay. The fan is a 120W unit slim and 12" which fits the Vitesse Mk2 rad perfectly. There is not much space between the fan / water pump housing and crank but it fits perfectly and does a sterling job. Again like Steve it has been tested abroad with crawling traffic and high temperatures and all taken in its stride.

 

Here is one of the companies Ebay references: 182024941567 the chap who runs it Dave is very helpful and worth calling should you require the fan to be set-up differently from what is listed; he will do that free of charge. 

 

I got my alloy hose adaptor, again via Ebay, from mattyzx - this reference number shows the unit: 400741996781 I have a spare alloy unit if you decide to go via that route.

 

All wiring goes through a relay with an override switch + warning light.

 

Taking all the above in to consideration I'm currently installing an electric fan on my Alpine using the above suppliers.

 

I have added some pics from 2014 showing the fan in relation to the water pump housing and the top hose thermal switch. The dash photo shows the override switch by the battery condition gauge and I've added an electric fan wiring diagram FYI.

 

Hope that helps ??

 

Good luck.

 

Regards.

 

Richard.

 

edit: now with the alloy thermal switch adaptor photo which Clive, Steve and I have mentioned.

Electric Fan Conversion Diagram.pdf

[KevinR]

On the GT6, clearances are very tight and will require the removal of the crankshaft driven fan.

 

Even then, it is likely that the crankshaft fan boss will still stick out too far.

 

Many years ago I bought a replacement boss and shorter bolt, which gives much more clearance.

[Clive]

I could be cheeky here.... I have a new, unused and now not needed fan switch and hose adaptor, looks identical to the one Richard is using. 

If interested drop me a message.....

[JohnD]

Agree with Kevin.

I machined my crank boss conical to clear my Kenlowe fan.   See pic.

Even so it has taken the plastic lable off the fan, without marking the motor body!

 

Pusher fans in front are never as good, as they muck up the air entry into the radiator core.

 

John

[SpitFire6]

Hi,

 If the fan will not fit behind the radiator just fit it in the front. The difference is minimal. Would enjoy seeing real-life tests?

IMHO, you would get better cooling changing from 50% antifreeze to 25% or even 0% antifreeze if your climate allows it. add a suitable corrosion inhibitor of course.

 

I run a push fan configuration. Once I find a cowing and fan combo to fit between engine and rad I will fit as it is the best IMHO.

 

If you can fit a pull fan with shroud, I would guess this is the best place for the fan. Most pull fan fitments I have seen have no cowling.

 

I don't run the Standard inefficient water pump and thermostat. have fitted a proper modulating thermostat, so not in a rush to fit pull fan and cowling at the moment.

Back on Mechanical pump since 2018.

 

Cheers,

Iain.

 

 

 

[Dave C]

I've just taken part in the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti as co-driver in my friends Jaguar XK120.

 

Take a look at this link if you are interested:      https://www.facebook.com/coppadorodelledolomiti/?fref=ts 

 

Anyway, I had the opportunity to have a good look in the engine bays of some very expensive classic cars and almost exclusively they were using their original mechanical fans with an additional electric pusher fan in front of the radiator.

 

The accepted wisdom for our Triumphs seems to be that if we use an electric fan it should be a sucker/puller fitted behind the radiator.

 

Some of those cars had fairly small radiators like ours, so I'm left wondering why we are doing one thing and they are all doing the opposite.

 

Any ideas?

[Darren Groves]

Something else worth reading: http://canleyclassics.com/technical-archive/overheating

[Guest]

Hello Iain.

 

As you know XK120 Jaguars run with a DOHC 3.4L (3442cc) engine. During their production the bhp range increased from approx 160 to about 210 and that's with an unmodified engine.

 

So with that level of horses a few robbed bhp for a mechanical fan is neither here nor there; one good reason for keeping it. 

 

However when you look at 90% of our humble Triumphs the cc and bhp is significantly less and then of course a few robbed bhp for a mechanical fan does make an impact.

 

Out of interest do the XK120 vehicles run with a metal or plastic fan and can you recall the number of blades on these mechanical fans ??

 

Regards.

 

Richard.    

[Dave C]

Hi Richard,

 

Most of the cars I saw had metal blades on the mechanical fan, but I must confess I didn't count the blades!

 

I accept your point about the bhp, but my main point of interest was that they all (i.e Jaguar and several other famous marques) had gone with placing the electric fan in front of the radiator.

 

I dither backwards and forwards on whether I should fit an electric fan. I'm currently using the mechanical fan. I had one overheating incident a couple of years ago and then had the radiator re-cored. Since then, no problems but my doubts arise from the fact that you don't realise there's going to be a problem until it happens. Therefore no problems so far doesn't necessarily mean no problems tomorrow or the next day.....

 

Dave

[JohnD]

Could it be that these  no doubt otherwise original cars  had to retain the mechanical fan to be "original", but needed extra help?

And with the mech.fan, the only place the electrical one could go was in front?

 

In other words, they were forced to use an inferior position?

 

Iain,

"Real Life" tests are never conclusive as there are so many variables.   So here is a laboratory test of pull vs.push fans:

http://martinsliquidlab.petrastech.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html

 

As you will see, the researcher concluded that it depended on the power and speed of the fan.   " So.... slow speed = pull, high speed = push, medium speed = it doesn't really matter."

It's worth reading!

 

BUT, I think that the speed of a radiator fan is approx.8000rpm, so that's a LOT faster than the 1350-2000 rpm of the test fans.

And, I think that the article was directed at 'overclockers', who run PCs at vastly higher bit-rates than the manufacturers intended, so that their chips need cooling, so different application.

And most electric radiator fans are self-shrouded - they have a flat ring around the blades.

JOhn

[Dave C]

Could it be that these  no doubt otherwise original cars  had to retain the mechanical fan to be "original", but needed extra help?

And with the mech.fan, the only place the electrical one could go was in front?

 

 

 

I think that's probably it John. Thanks...

[Guest]

Hello.

 

I think the other problem with fans fitted in front of the rad can often be the actual size of the rad itself.

 

If say for example you have a rad that is pretty much square in width & height and then fit the largest fan possible, it is likely to cover a very high percentage of the matrix area and as such acts as a shield for inrush of air above say 30mph.

 

Conversely if you have a rad that is wider than its height (i.e. a wide fitting Spitfire rad or on similar lines) then the fitting of the largest fan possible (as restricted by the height of the rad) still allows considerable free flow of air either side of the rad.

 

Quite often it's not the dimension of the electric fan that is important but the amount of air it can pull / push when operating. Many owners also fit their electric fans to one side of the rad or the other; trying to give the rad a 50/50 restricted & unrestricted situation.

 

It's an interesting topic, I have to say.

 

Ironically, my Vitesse has the electric fan (120W) engine side and yet the Alpine has its electric fan (80W) mounted grille side. These positions have been dictated by the space available and nothing more scientific than that !! The Alpine has yet to hit the road (more work required) so I cannot comment on the efficiency of the front mounted fan although it (the car) will benefit from the 3x core high density matrix that I have just fitted.

 

I guess as long as the coolant needle stays in the "happy" position, then one must be doing something right !!

 

Regards.

 

Richard.