Electric fan?

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by spyder7723, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. EverLuc

    EverLuc Light Load Member

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    I am pretty sure it will work. You have to try it and report. Perhaps switch out the thermostats as well. It is just a radiator wuth coolant. Nothing special. I swapped out that big condensor in front of the radiator for a cheapy ebay model. It was narrower and wayyyyy lighter. My A/C cools phenominal and coolent temp stays cooler in the summer. Less wind resistance when the fan is on. You would need a shorter belt to run the alternator once hub fan is deleted. Easy find. Do it. I think about it all of the time. Plus, the fans are spread out. You can throw each one on a different switch or two on a switch when in the city. I did the 2 fan junkyard conversion on an old F250 with a 390 block. Way better than belt driven.
     
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  3. shovel98

    shovel98 Light Load Member

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    Seen it done on a truck that ran Midwest and west coast see no reason why not. Ran into to a guy in Denver that done four electric fans on his 379 pete with n14 plus he took a extra air tank and plumbed it into the stock radiator for a little extra coolant capacity said he never had any over heating problems with that setup.
     
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  4. swaan

    swaan Road Train Member

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    If your a town guy pulling light loads then sure maybe it would just be adaquit.
    But if that was the case then your manual fan would not be on much either so why even go thru the hassle of putting electric fans in the first place.
    I just don't see the point . The stock fan works so well why bother.
    But hey that's just my opinion.
     
  5. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    It works in many applications. The last cat loader i ran used an electric fan. Made blowing the radiator or simple, just reverse the current and it blows instead of sucks. Almost all modern diesels in bus applications use an electric fan. And they do it without the benefit of ram air.

    About an hour ago i found a company making retrofits for class 8 trucks, but only up to 400 horse power and 72k lbs gross. So it's promising, just not quite there. It makes me concerned that drawing through the cac, ac condenser and 4 core radiator might require more than i can make an electric motor do.

    Heck i might do it anyway. But wait till winter just in case. And use 4 small fans vs 1 big one.
     
  6. crappedouttrucker

    crappedouttrucker Light Load Member

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    you need to think about your cfm on the electric fan. to key thinks come into play. the electri motor and the fan blades. there are 2 different type of electric motors on the market. brushed and brushless. and they are rated a few differnt ways. rpm's, turns per second, and kilo-volt. learn the difference in them. the fan blade is done by how many blades and how they are turned or pitch of the blade.
     
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  7. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    Actually a town guy sees his fan working more often than an over the road guy. At least in summer. The fan comes on more often to cool the ac than it does to cool the engine. He would benefit the most from an electric fan.

    The reasons to bother are many. Why take a 10 speed out and put a 13 in? After all the 10 speed works fine so why bother?
     
  8. wore out

    wore out Numbered Classic

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    Most equipment in that capacity uses a hydraulic driven fan. Reverse flow through the fan drive motor reverses flow. Its a lot easier to get the power to run a high flow blade with hydraulics over electric. It also allows for easy swinging coolers to keep them blowed out. As well as less parasitic load on the engine. Or at least all the yellow stuff I chased was that way.

    I think expense is a lot of reason it hasn't been wide spread. Motors to run a fan that size are gonna be pricey. You loose more capicty or flow and create hot spots when you use multiple fans over a big area. Back to equipment one of the biggest causes of overheating in the summer is the insulation around the radiator being gone or in shambles. Doesn't pull enough air across the fins then troubles arise
     
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  9. crappedouttrucker

    crappedouttrucker Light Load Member

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    before i did anything at all. here's what i would do
    measure the space between the radiator fins and the engine fan.
    go to an rv dealer and take a look at how they install the fan on the motor coaches. again measuring that fan to see how much space it takes up.
    calculate the difference between the space of the 2 measurements. making sure it would fit with out interferance.
    decide the best way to install the electric fan in front of the current engine fan.
    decide which fan to get based on cfm air flo and the rpm's of the electric fan motor. the high the rpm's the better the air flo.
    set the electric fan up on the current engine wiring harness. using it as the main coolant fan for flat ground running like the mid west.
    set the engine driven fan up on a switch on the dash. as a back up plan.
    I would test everything thoroughly before i went any where. making sure there are no problems that would put me on the side of the road.
     
  10. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    I don't think any truck had the room for both. As far as rvs go. Everyone i have seen uses an electric. Or at least any relatively new one. The older ones running 92 and 71 series detroits use an hydraulic driven.
     
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  11. crappedouttrucker

    crappedouttrucker Light Load Member

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    keep doing you research.... you will eventually come up with something that works and fits your needs.
     
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