Big redo of the old bucket
- Thread starter PotvinGuy
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Gerry
Well-Known Member
I dont watch a lot of TV but the other half does. Loads of American programs over here, she is into Grimm at the moment.
Me - Big Bang, British Super Bikes, nature programs and that about it. Acorn???
Oh and to stay on track
http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/95775b419b69654d2.jpg
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Acorn is an internet site that carries British shows, many of which we don't get here on PBS or BBC. Right now we're watching The Tunnel. And we are working our way thru 20 years of Midsomer Murders. You guys do great mystery. And great comedy; I have watched all the IT Crowd shows over and over.I dont watch a lot of TV but the other half does. Loads of American programs over here, she is into Grimm at the moment.
Me - Big Bang, British Super Bikes, nature programs and that about it. Acorn???
My Painless F5 fan controller gave up the ghost and I called Painless; they no longer make this unit and they don't fix them. So I poked around and decided to try Jegs unit:
It varies fan speed to maintain your desired coolant temp. It's about $100, less than most such gadgets. Instructions are typical SEMA, i.e. barely worth the paper. I'm still fiddling with the pot to get the temp I want. There are 3 LEDs. Red is power, green is fan on, yellow is full speed. I note this only because the instructions don't.
It varies fan speed to maintain your desired coolant temp. It's about $100, less than most such gadgets. Instructions are typical SEMA, i.e. barely worth the paper. I'm still fiddling with the pot to get the temp I want. There are 3 LEDs. Red is power, green is fan on, yellow is full speed. I note this only because the instructions don't.
Indycars
Well-Known Member
Can it vary the fan speed from 0 to 100 percent?
I have the Flex-A-Lite and it comes on at 60% and then ramps up to 100% if needed.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-31163/overview/
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-33054/overview/
I have the Flex-A-Lite and it comes on at 60% and then ramps up to 100% if needed.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-31163/overview/
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-33054/overview/
Yo, Indy! Depending on which blurb you read, it starts them at 50% or 60%. Has an engine-off run time of 1 minute. I also run my electric water pump for a minute, drawing some heat out of the cooling system, minimizing the chance of boilover. That's never been a problem for me, but I like the idea.
Jeg's says it's for one fan, but I use it with my two fans, which only draw 11 amps total.
Same unit is sold under the Maradyne and Intelitronix brand names. None of them have a manual override, but I can wire that easily.
How's that Flex-a-fan unit working? Easy to set temp? Does it hold the coolant temp steady?
The Painless unit did a great job until it died. You set 2 temps with pots. Fans came on 50% at temp 1 and ramped to 100% at temp 2. In use it held a steady temp very well.
I sometimes think I will design a unit that has all the features I want and is easy to use. Watch for the announcement.
Jeg's says it's for one fan, but I use it with my two fans, which only draw 11 amps total.
Same unit is sold under the Maradyne and Intelitronix brand names. None of them have a manual override, but I can wire that easily.
How's that Flex-a-fan unit working? Easy to set temp? Does it hold the coolant temp steady?
The Painless unit did a great job until it died. You set 2 temps with pots. Fans came on 50% at temp 1 and ramped to 100% at temp 2. In use it held a steady temp very well.
I sometimes think I will design a unit that has all the features I want and is easy to use. Watch for the announcement.
Indycars
Well-Known Member
Good to see that you are still hanging out with the rest of us thugs here!
I've been running it since spring 2014 and never had a problem with it so far. I set the temp
one time and have never had to revisit that setting. It rarely has to run the fan, but when it does
it runs until the temp is OK and then shuts off. Not sure if that all happens at 60% or whether
it goes to 100% , but it should happen at 60% since it shuts the fan off. Does that make sense?
The specs on Summit say "No Override Switch Included", but it does have the override function.
It can also turn the fans on when the A/C is engaged, you might find a different function for that.
It will also continue to run for about 30 seconds after you shut the engine off.
I've uploaded the manual in case you want more details.
I read the Flex instructions; typical SEMA with more questions than answers. What is the "water crossing" switch? I'm gonna go out on a branch and guess it's to turn off the fans while fording a stream or other water hazard. Never have seen that feature before.
I am designing the ultimate fan controller and will soon link to my white paper on this site. It'll be Patent Pending, of course, and I will sell the rights for a huge sum.
I am designing the ultimate fan controller and will soon link to my white paper on this site. It'll be Patent Pending, of course, and I will sell the rights for a huge sum.
Indycars
Well-Known Member
Well you picked the right branch to climb out on, it's for crossing a water hazard. I suspect it's intended for 4-wheel trucks, mud racers, etc.
Did you come up with a neat function for the negative or positive A/C circuit?
Years ago I had a Mustang with a electric fan, I put the bulb style temp sending unit in the lower hose because I wanted to know (or I should say the FAN SHOULD KNOW ) the temp coming out of the radiator, not the temp coming from the motor(where most sending units are located). If the motor is running hot it will show in the temp. of the coolant coming from the rad. first no? Opinions? Well the car and engine ran great with this set up, no over heating or hot starts.
The coolant is hottest as it exits the engine at the top. After passing thru the radiator and returning to the water pump it will be at it's coolest. But the location of the sensor is not critical for most of us. The temp difference between the top and bottom of the radiator is normally only about 10 degrees. Sensor location might be important if you had a really hot motor or a marginal cooling system, like a low flow rate or a small radiator.
As an aside, I've seen many hot motors caused by retarded timing. This allows still-burning gasses to pass through the exhaust valve and head passages. And it will fry your pipes. An expensive lesson I learned when I ruined a new set of chrome Sandersons.
As an aside, I've seen many hot motors caused by retarded timing. This allows still-burning gasses to pass through the exhaust valve and head passages. And it will fry your pipes. An expensive lesson I learned when I ruined a new set of chrome Sandersons.
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The water pumps usually have a threaded hole for the heater return, but since T-buckets generally don't have a heater this hole gets plugged. I put the fan sensor in that hole so it reacts to the temp. of the water coming out of the radiator, just as you said. That has always worked well for me.
That's what my thoughts are too 409T, the sole purpose of the fan is to aid in the air flow through the radiator, not to "fix" retarded timing. When there isn't enough air flow, the water coming out of the radiator will be warmer than usual, that's when the fan should kick on, not after the motor gets hotter because the water coming into the motor is hotter. With some of the motors being run in these T's with the small radiator, I bet allot of Ts have a marginal cooling system.
Maybe in your design PotvinGuy, you can run two (2) senders, one on the motor inlet side(low temp ~ 160*), the slow speed fan switch and have a sender on the outlet side (high temp~190*)kick in for the high speed fan switch.
Maybe in your design PotvinGuy, you can run two (2) senders, one on the motor inlet side(low temp ~ 160*), the slow speed fan switch and have a sender on the outlet side (high temp~190*)kick in for the high speed fan switch.
Ah, my unit will be so smart it will work with one sensor located anywhere in the coolant system. And it might even sense timing and tell the owner if it is not optimum. I'm thinking of calling it the OCD Mark I, because only those with OCD would want a fan controller that costs more than a new motor. I'm not a well person...
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