virfighter

Hey,

For those of you with electric fans wired to run with the ignition on, how did you wire it? Right now I've got mine grounded on the battery and spliced into a plug coming off the alternator (its a yellow wire, not sure exactly what it runs to). So far it seems to work fine, but are they are any problems or long term things I should be worried about with this? Is there a better way to go about this?

Wiring is definitely not my strong point so I just wanna make sure I'm not doing something stupid, especially when it comes to my fan.

Any comments would be appreciated.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

I have the ground going to a bolt a few inches away from the fan to keep that wire short, the power wire directly to the battery, and the ignigtion wire (tells fan that the car is on) soldered to the tab on the coil. Not sure what kind of fan you have, but I hope that helps.

virfighter

Interesting, my fan only has two leads coming off it, one for power and one for ground.

I'm using the 16" Mr. Gasket Fan out of the summit racing catalog.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

I suggest using a relay...

This diagram is similar in nature, as it's the same principle... However, replace the foglight with the fan and the switch with a switched source insode the car, such as the radio or wiper power supply...



Don't mind it, I just dont feel like making another diagram when it's so similar, as well as I dont feel like uploading it over my 56k.

virfighter

What is the advantage to using a relay? Is that safer then just tapping off of a power source already wired with the ignition?

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Fans can take a good bit of juice... Sometimes 10-20 Amps... You don't want that going through wire that can't handle it, especially if you dont know what else is on that wire... You want the fan switched by the ignition as well... This solves all concerns...

Fan switches off when you turn off the car, it's also on it's own circuit.

Mr BiG G

where do u get the fan that starts only at a certain temperature? i was thinking of puttin one of those in so that the fan doesn't start cooling when the engine is already cold

virfighter

Ok, so I think I got it all except for one thing.

I wire my power wire from the fan to the relay and then ground off the ground.

I run another one of the contacts to a place that switches (I could use my current spot since it is controlled by the ignition, correct?).

I tap power from the battery on the other contact point... how do I wire in a fuse though?

Sorry for the basic questions, as I said, wiring is definitely not my strong point.

RXTbone

I'm getting ready to install a fan also - and wiring is not my strong suit either - but one thing I've never found with a search is a diagram for a two speed fan, with a tempature switch. Also (maybe a stupid question), but is the stock fan clutch mechanical, or is it electrical - and is it as simple as removing the fan? Don't mean to add confusion to the issue...

82transam

iTrader: (18)

I'm using a black magic M150, I got it from www.summitracing.com

faye x7

I believe the fan is clutch mechanical. I hope to replace my ASAP, as my fan saps the power away from my motor quite a bit. Then again, my seems slow to begin with...I suppose with nearly 160k miles on it, it's wanting a rebuild.

1st to 3rd

I'm not too crazy about wiring the fan directly off the ignition. The electric fans suck a lot of juice, esp when they first turn on <- which happens to be the exact same time you are trying to start the car. Perhaps if your were to wire the relay to an accesory like the radio (ever notice it cuts out when the car is starting?).
It's a constant load on the electrical system and slows the warm up process (esp on cold days).
I recommend some sort of thremo switch or manual switch.