Question for those who have Electric Fan...

I was curious, do you guys have your hooked directly to the battery off of a toggle switch or do you have it hooked to the ignition somewhere?

If you have it hooked to the ignition somewhere, please tell me where :)

Thanks

Mark

Mark, most electric fans worth using that will provide adequete CFM rating to cool will also pull an enormous amount of amperage. A simple toggle switch will not cut it as most fans draw more current than the typical toggle switch can handle. I have a link for installing the Lincoln fan, you may find some useful info there. BTW in most cases it is also necessary to upgrade to the 130 amp 3G alt.

Link:

Fan install

I have a fan from a newer mustang Muscle motors reccomended it. I don't know how many CFM's though.

I'll check the link out

Thanks

Mark

That fan will draw more amps that the standard Fox body alt. can handle. If you don't have a 3 G alt. you'll need to upgrade in order to run that fan.

I'll get another alternator, but thats not what i'm worried about right now :)

The guy I talked to at muscle motors did exactly what I want to do. Hook it to a toggle switch and be able to turn it off/on whenever I want. I have a heavy duty toggle switch in there so I really don't think that will be a problem. I just need to find a strong enough source so I don't melt thinkgs :)

I'm sure someone did it the way I want to...

Nice page though :P

Mark

hmm I am going to buy a Painless wiring relay kit :)

PRF-30103

Make it easy

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This Painless Wiring Fan-Thom II relay is designed to protect your electric fan. It features thermostat protection that screws into the engine block or manifold. This relay provides constant power to the fan at temperatures at engine temperatures above 185 degrees F, and turns the fan off at 170 degrees F. It also protects from power spikes and keeps the fan from feeding back through the system. This relay is a necessity if you are adding an on/off switch to your electric fan circuit. Complete with wires and connectors.
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Mark

Mark, you can use a toggle switch but you want to wire that into a H/D relay, that way the strain is put on the relay (made to handle the current draw) and not on the toggle switch. You should be able to tie the positive wire into the starter solenoid, that way no juice will run unless the key is on. This is where I tapped into for my MSD ignition, no power unless you have the key on.

So instead of spending the money on a kit with a temp sensor all I have to do is use a relay and all of the things I have?

Which would be the best relay u think?

Cause alot of people I talk to say those temp sender's go bad and they just go to using it constantly.

Which post on the solenoid is it?

On my msd I put the red to the Red/Light Green wire on the old coil plug "where it said"

Mark

Actually now that I think of it, if you connect to the solenoid then it will have constant power. However, you can still do this if you plan on not using a temp sensor. You'll be able to turn the fan off/on using the toggle switch, with a constant power lead (the solenoid) you'd have the flexibility to run the fan with the car off. For the correct post just follow the (+) battery cable to the solenoid and you are in business.

My preference would be to use a toggle switch to control the fan operation instead of letting a thermostat control it.

As far as a good relay, check with a car stereo install shop. I had hell finding a 30 amp and they were the only ones I could find that stocked an assortment of relays.

My digital 6 has a constant power (large red wire) this is what I tied into the solenoid. The red/green is connected same as yours.

well yeah connecting to the solenoid would be the same as connecting it direct to the battery, But I wanted it so that it would only come on when I turned the key. I didn't want to have to keep turning it off whenever I turned the car off "you never know I may forget :) "

Even if I did connect it direct I would still need to use a relay correct?

Yeah my large red is going right to the battery :)

Mark

Yes use a relay. If you want a switched power source then my suggestion would be to "dig" around in the engine bay with a test light til you find a good size wire that has power only w/ key-on, tap off of that & run to relay & wire the rest according to the relays instructions.

It will probubly be hard to find a good sized wire for the ignition. "maybe I can connect to the fuse box some how". hmm

I think I read it somewhere.... that It doesn't have to be a thick wire as long as you control the relay by it. Meaning you can hook it up direct to the relay but have a switch that turns the relay on or off so it is not drawing alot of juice...

Sound good? :)

Mark

That's the idea, I would still try to find the heaviest gauge wire you could, poke around in those wires near the solenoid there's bound to be one there that will suit your needs.

here is a link to an ebay auction that uses the same exact relay i use for my electric fan setup. works great. i control the relay from the same 12v source that is used for my radio, that way it can only be on with the ignition.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2414591141

edit: it is 40amps surge and 30 amps continous use

double post, sorry. trying to use back button:rolleyes:

When i hook mine up i wnat to have the temp sensor so i'm not cruisin and i forget about it, and a switch so i can cool it down for true street or whenever i'm playind around.

Brent

shew.....a few beers and i forget how to type.

the relay that i got off of ebay is setup like this there is two wire alreay there for 2 different ways to power the coil on it. this way you can have your switch goto one wire and the thermostat on the other.

Back from the ashes with this thread.....

Here's what will work for what you were looking for mheinjr:

Tie in a H/D relay to the starter solenoid & the fan power. In the interior locate a power wire that only has juice with the key on and use this to operate the relay which in turn operates the fan.

Key on: You have on/off control of your fan.
Key-off: Fan won't operate as there's no power to trip the relay.

Probably too late for this, but I thought I'd throw in my $.02 again.

yeah thanks, but been done for 2 weeks :)