Yes. More like burnt to a crisp. Noticed my car getting hot yesterday while in some traffic. 210 on my Autometer gauge. Which was odd since it was 30 degrees out and it hasn't got that hot, in traffic, in the summer since I put the Godspeed radiator in. Anyway got where I was going and pooped the hood and the fan's not working. Upon investigation this is what I found the whole fuse holder was burnt. Checked the fan resistance. Looks to be 2 to 3 ohms. Going by the rated current draw for it that seems about right. Replaced the fuse holder and fuse and it works like a champ. Only thing I can figure is the fan says it needs a 30A fuse for start-up and maybe I used a 20A 'cause it's all I had and never put the right one in. That was 15 years ago so I don't remember.

Now after some internet investigation about fuses melting but not blowing I've come to a possible reason. I'm thinking over the years the fuse may have gotten to where it wasn't making good contact with the terminals of the fuse holder. This caused resistance between the contacts which caused it to heat up but not blow. Over time it would just get worse until it finally melted everything away and finally broke the connection.

 

There is usually a lot of current flowing to keep that fan going and sometimes the fuse holder is not sufficient to take the draw or running amperage,.It will get hot and eventually melt.
One way you could find out which size fuse to put in is to hook up an ammeter in series with the fan and test it on Start up and Running.
My fan wires melted at the relay when I had my setup wired up.That told me that I needed some GOOD connectors and a better higher amped relay.

*if you had a 20 or 30 on there I would would be highly suspicious of that low of an amperage of fuse running such a high draw circuit.

 

is that a flexalite fan? if so, that's your problem.

surprised it works half decent without a shroud.

 

Which is why I recommend snagging the entire Volvo fan & relay assembly and using it complete.
I even found the (relatively) rare fuse assembly which puts a separate 30a resettable breaker on each fan leg.
I've never tripped a breaker in over five years of daily running.

The relay and fuse assembly will even power the big Lincoln 18" fan which I put in a few years ago.

 

The manufacturer of the fan says current draw is 11 amps but to use a 30A fuse for the inrush current at startup. I may still check it though. The fuse holder I just put in is rated for 30A. I may look for something better eventually. I may re-wire with heavier gauge wire as well. Everything but the fuse holder and the wiring on the fan itself is 14ga. The fuse holder and fan are 12ga. May change it all to 12 sometime.

It's a perma-cool. Back when I bought it the Flexalite black magic was all the rage but this was cheaper and I'm cheap. First problem in 15 years so I'm pleased. I probably get away without a shroud since the thing probably doesn't even run 60% to 70% of the time since most of my driving is highway.

When this fan dies I may go on the hunt for that.

 

Those inline fuse holders suck. A lot. In most cases they are just spade connectors which grip poorly. The poor grip leads to excess heat, which leads to a bad connection, which leads to more heat, forming a feedback loop until it melts.

 

I may get one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Jex-Electroni...ribution+block or something similar to clean things up. Then I could have one cable from the battery then split out to my fan and my amp.

 

Glass tube fuses are beyond retro.

 

Old retro fuses for an old car.

 

Get a 10g amplifier kit and call it a day.