Dan Wheeler's Explorer 4.0 Radiator and Taurus Fan Thread

[DanWheeler]

is 185 on, 170 off the proper range for a thermostatic fan switch in the water neck?

they have a 200 on, 180 off but that seems too high

 

[Viperwolf1]

Too bad there isn't a way to use the same sensor for a temperature gauge and the fan thermostat. With the thermostat for the fan i'll be monitoring temperatures in 3 different places. (ECT, fan switch and gauge)

4 if you count the ACT. You could build a circuit to monitor gauge and thermostat temp together but it would be complex and not worth the effort.

 

[Viperwolf1]

is 185 on, 170 off the proper range for a thermostatic fan switch in the water neck?

they have a 200 on, 180 off but that seems too high

185 is too low. Fan would be on all the time if you use a proper 195 degree thermostat. 200 is fine.

 

[Smokeater11]

WOW!! I installed my Taurus fan yesterday and that thing is amazing!! I also swapped radiators so it's hard to tell if it's the fan making the difference or the radiator or a combination of both. I'm probably gonna have to change the t-stat in it back to a 195* becuase I can't get the thing above 185* when it's running down the road. I wired it to the high side but I think I might change it back to the low side until it gets hot here in the spring.

 

[bax]

Mark try High,low, and off.

 

[73stallion]

how do you do that roger? they make a relay for it?

 

[Smokeater11]

Mark try High,low, and off.

I have the "off" taken care of by the switch on the dash(remember the one you recommended for use in deep water) and I was thinging about putting a female receptical of some sort inline on the wire to the relay and putting male plugs on both of the wire(high & low) from the fan. That way I can run which ever speed I want without having to wire in another switch. Just unplug the low and plug in the high once the weather gets hot, if I even need to. Right now the only way I can get it above 190 is to let it sit and idle with the fan off. But as soon as I turn the fan on it drops like a rock. This afternoon it went from 200 to 170 in about 20 seconds. ;D Daddy like!!

 

[DanWheeler]

I'd like to wire up an alarm in case my switch gets bumped from auto to off.

here's what I'm thinking - please let me know if there is an easier way to do this.

I think I can use a SPDT relay and a piezo buzzer of some sort to make a noise whenever the 3 way switch is in the off position. If i connect both "on" terminals of the switch to the 85 side of the coil (86 goes to ground) and use diodes to isolate them then I could connect 12v to the common terminal (30) and connect the piezo alarm to the normally closed terminal on the relay then when the switch is on either of the on positions (auto or high) it will trigger the relay causing the alarm circuit to open and turn off.

Will that work or is there an easier way to do it?

thanks,
dan

 

[Viperwolf1]

I'd like to wire up an alarm in case my switch gets bumped from auto to off.

here's what I'm thinking - please let me know if there is an easier way to do this.

I think I can use a SPDT relay and a piezo buzzer of some sort to make a noise whenever the 3 way switch is in the off position. If i connect both "on" terminals of the switch to the 85 side of the coil (86 goes to ground) and use diodes to isolate them then I could connect 12v to the common terminal (30) and connect the piezo alarm to the normally closed terminal on the relay then when the switch is on either of the on positions (auto or high) it will trigger the relay causing the alarm circuit to open and turn off.

Will that work or is there an easier way to do it?

thanks,
dan

You can look at the diagram I have here. It might give you an idea. The amber light comes on when the fan is turned OFF.

http://classicbroncos.com/tech/liberty-electric-fan-for-your-early-bronco

 

[DanWheeler]

You can look at the diagram I have here. It might give you an idea. The amber light comes on when the fan is turned OFF.

http://classicbroncos.com/tech/liberty-electric-fan-for-your-early-bronco

Your wiring diagram is boggling my mind. ?:?

I keep staring at it but it's not making any more sense.

I never thought of having that much control over the fan.

I think i'll be satisfied with automatic-on / off / high for now but that is pretty cool.

 

[DanWheeler]

nice writeup btw.

so, does your fan stay on after the ignition has been turned off? I've never understood why some cars do that. What is the point of cooling the radiator if its not being pumped through the engine?

also - my Taurus fan doesn't need both wires connected to run at the high speed. The brown wire to 12v runs low speed. the blue wire to 12v runs high speed.

I'm not sure what connecting both the brown and blue wires to 12v. Maybe thats helicopter mode. Is this the same for all Taurus fans? I thought I remember someone said you had to connect them both to 12v to get high speed.

 

[Viperwolf1]

The liberty fan motor is wound differently than the taurus fans. Don't put 12v to both coils on the taurus fan.

I used a DPDT switch for the ON/OFF. One side of the switch powers the relays (fan on) the other side powers the warning light.

Yes my fan can stay on after the ignition is off. It can be used to cool a hot engine.

 

[DanWheeler]

well i got my switch panel wired up last night. it's not as fancy as yours VW, but I think it will work. One side of my DPDT switch powers the fan relays (auto/off/high) and the other side powers a SPDT relay which has the normally closed pin connected to a piezo. When the switch is on auto or high it applies 12v to the relay which opens the circuit turning the piezo off.

I'm just not sure if the relay will burn up since it will be powered anytime the truck is running (unless the fan is off) it's a 10 amp mini relay from radioshack.

I think eventually i'll upgrade to the ViperWolf fan method but unless you guys think the relay will burn up, i'll just stick with this method for a while.

 

[Viperwolf1]

I think the relay will be fine. Just be careful about the type of power (switched or unswitched 12V) you feed to the relay and piezo. Could lead to a battery drain if you're relying on an active relay to open a circuit.

 

[DanWheeler]

ViperWolf, note sure if you are watching but I have a fuse question. Does your formula for figuring out relay amperage apply to fuses as well? For a fuse does it need to multipled by 2?

I have a junkyard Ford fusebox that has 50 amp maxi fuses and some heavy gauge wire. Do you think a 50 amp fuse would be sufficient?

Also, are fuses supposed to go on the battery side or the accessory side of a relay?

thanks
dan

 

[DanWheeler]

to clarify, i'm asking about the fuse for the Taurus fan high speed which will be connected through the PAC-80 relay.

 

[Viperwolf1]

ViperWolf, note sure if you are watching but I have a fuse question. Does your formula for figuring out relay amperage apply to fuses as well? For a fuse does it need to multipled by 2?

I have a junkyard Ford fusebox that has 50 amp maxi fuses and some heavy gauge wire. Do you think a 50 amp fuse would be sufficient?

Also, are fuses supposed to go on the battery side or the accessory side of a relay?

thanks
dan

Yes. 50 amp on the low side and 70 amp on the high side should work for you. You might be able to get by with some smaller fuses if you experiment with extras. It all depends on what the motor is pulling at startup. If you don't have provisions for a 70 amp in the fusebox you can wire it with two 35 amp fuses in parallel. I'd fuse the battery side of the relay. It protects more of the circuit that way.

 

[DanWheeler]

Yes. 50 amp on the low side and 70 amp on the high side should work for you. You might be able to get by with some smaller fuses if you experiment with extras. It all depends on what the motor is pulling at startup. If you don't have provisions for a 70 amp in the fusebox you can wire it with two 35 amp fuses in parallel. I'd fuse the battery side of the relay. It protects more of the circuit that way.

thanks, that is a great idea with putting the fuses in parallel. From what I can tell, up to 80 amp maxi fuses are available but I'm not sure how common or readily available they are. I did try running the fan at 10 volts (low battery) with a single 50 amp fuse and it didn't blow, at least not right away.

unfortunately it looks like the 2nd fan I got from the junkyard must have sat out in the rain and rusted because it sounds pretty rough. The 1st fan I picked up spins nicely but I cut it up so I could run it horizontally and now its too mangled to install vertically the way I want it.

looks like its back to the junkyard to find a 3rd Taurus fan. I tried moving the blades and motor from the 1st to 2nd fan but they are pretty well jammed on there.

 

[Bronchole]

I use a circuit breaker. 40A work fine since they can operate for short durations at a higher current than their rated current.

 

[DanWheeler]

I'm thinking about this fan controller for the low-speed on the Taurus fan:

The wires dont look very thick... should I be concerned about that? For the high-speed I ran the same size wire that was coming out of the taurus fan motor.