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Electric fan(s)


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Can I get some opinions on radiator fans, not manufactures but configurations. Should I get 2 small fans or 1 big fan?

I have one electric fan now that was about 1550cfm but is dying and probably 800cfm, or less (almost lost my motor yesterday)

High desert is a different animal from where I'm from in NJ. I'm also trying to add as much cooling as possible.

 

 

Location facts

280z/81 turbo 3row stock rad and lots of bills :)

Albuquerque NM

5000ft elevation

average 15 to 20 percent humidity

mild temps till about 2pm then anywhere from 95 to 115 degrees

never much of a breeze

Daily car (1 mile commute to work)

Occasional day off trips around town (thats when the fan became a problem)

Edited by sekkyoshi
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I've always run two. In my 260 I had one as constant on since I removed my clutch fan and then one switch activated when I wanted to use the AC or was doing a canyon run.

 

In my 280zx I have 2 fans with a metal shroud and both are wired to a single switch; I have to run them after my car warmps up because my Gnose front end does not allow enough air to pass through and it is very turbulent because of the gap between the lip and the radiator .

 

Whether or not you are using a shroud makes a big difference.

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The Ford Taurus 2 speed fan seems to be the fan of choice for many applications, including some pretty high power engines. You can get them cheap, and there are ways to wire the 2 speed function that doesn't require any switches or driver input (Google Volvo relay + Taurus fan).

 

BluDestiny is definitely right, a proper shroud and ducting is worth much more than people typically expect.

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Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I will check out the taurus fan first, then see what ebay has to offer. The shrouding thing is very true a fan without a shroud is like a carb without a venturi. Thanks again.

Edited by sekkyoshi
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I recently installed a SPAL dual 11" with shroud that I got off ebay.

The height was about 1/32th higher than the 280ZX radiator tank

spacing and the width was about 1/4" less than the core width.

 

This allowed for a vey tight interference fit, with just a couple zip

tie mounts in middle top and bottom of the shroud for an extra

bit of security.

 

I have both fans set to turn on at 195 degrees and off at 170, and

at idle with the car not moving that drop takes about 2 minutes.

 

The only negative is the electrical load at idle is too much for

my alternator (60amp)

 

 

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I am running the Flex-A-Lite 410 Puller rated at 2.500-cfm (I also have the cab mounted manual over ride switch) on my modified L30 Turbo and I lived in Colorado Springs for 10-years with this set-up (now Houston which has more extreme weather than NM and CO) and have had no issues.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FLX-410/

 

Yasin

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I have two 12" straight blade eBay fans on a custom shroud currently. I'm using one fan for low and both of them for high. The fans just barely handled 100 degree Tennessee heat. I recently put ac on my car, and in 80-90 degree weather they are struggling. I plan on temping a pusher between my intercooler and condensor to see if the extra capacity helps significantly. If so, the search begins for decent 12" fans.

 

I ran a Taurus fan for several months, the thing was a beast. I had to trim the Taurus shroud ALOT to get it to fit between the rad and motor. In humid 85 degree weather the fan never cycled to high,

Edited by lowrider
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After having my single (which cooled marginally) fail in use (admittedly not as big an issue now, 20 years later...) I have always used dual fans, temperature staged.

 

One fails, you always have SOME cooling available. And trust me, stopping every two or three blocks driving through Compton/Watts in the hot summer of 1992 was NOT something that was enjoyable, nor particularly good for my health!unsure.gif

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After having my single (which cooled marginally) fail in use (admittedly not as big an issue now, 20 years later...) I have always used dual fans, temperature staged.

 

One fails, you always have SOME cooling available. And trust me, stopping every two or three blocks driving through Compton/Watts in the hot summer of 1992 was NOT something that was enjoyable, nor particularly good for my health!unsure.gif

 

Nice.

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Yeah, it takes "Life Lessons" like that to get me to change.

 

You don't even want to know what got me to Lasik my eyes.... Lets just say when you hear your glasses hit the 'water' but they don't sink...and then you wear them for three hot hours in a hot Indonesian Summer waiting to get to your 'backup spares' knowing where they just were....dry.gif

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I've been running the ford fan on everything i drive. Its not the taurus fa, though, its from a smaller ford, not the escort, i forget the name, but its got an angle formed into one of the lower corners of the shroud. I ran this with a fan controller from autozone. Its been working well for me here in philly, the temps here rarely hit 95+(with the exception of this summer).

 

The issues i've had relate to the relays used. One 30 amp relay wont last long, to fix this i ran two and at one point 3 in parallel. A friend of mine ran a hefty solenoid, but that eventually failed too. Now i'm running one relay on the low circuit with a 160 degree t-stat. No issues yet.

 

These things create a pretty sizeable current spike, that seems to be what was killing the relays.

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Hey Sekkyoshi, I'm also in Albuquerque. I was going to try to use a set of 350Z fans on my Z. But really if you're not cooling well enough, maybe you should consider a triple core aluminum radiator. The stock L28 just had the single fan, but electric fans allow for more power. Dual fans always seemed the best idea to me.

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  • 1 year later...

Excuse the thread bump...but meh, I'm using a Koyo radiator and a single Flex-a-Lite puller fan. I have a radiator hose coupler with a thermo/fan switch screwed in it. Turn-on temp: 190° F, turn-off temp: 180° F. The whole circuit is controlled by a Painless Wiring weather/waterproof relay, circuit is enabled by ignition switch. I have no A/C compressor, this is a fun run-about-car with no need for pesky parasitic draw to cramp my style.

This thing hardly ever heats up enough to the point that the fan is continuously running. Even on the hottest Chicago days. The Koyo aluminium radiator deals with most of it.

This all makes for flawless cooling all the time in an otherwise nearly flawless operating 1975 280Z with a lightly massaged L28 block.

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So I bought a 2 speed Taurus fan from pick-n-pull and it works fine, however I do not find in any of the Z forums on the Net how someone has modified it to fit between the radiator and the water pump?  Can someone please give me insight on how to accomplish this?  I have a 1977 Z and bought a 1994 Taurus fan.  

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