Electric fan or mechanical fan?

[Rearanger]

If we're comparing the same CFM (if we know the CFM of the clutch fan) on each fan then how much extra HP does it take to turn the weight of the clutch? Are you saying 10HP? I guess we'd have to assume a fully locked clutch as unless the Efan is multi-speed it will pull the same CFM for all conditions.

 

[Scrambler82]

I know the E-Fan has already been purchased AND will be installed…

E-Fan have a lot of good things about them but there are two things that got the best of me and an E-Fan will be the last thing I install and only if nothing else will work.

The first is the white noise (static) that the fan injects in the Communication Radios in my last truck, CB/Ham/Scanner, the CB being an AM device was the worst.
The second thing was at highway speed the E-Fan would actually stop some of the air from coming through the radiator causing the truck to run at a higher temp.

The truck this happened in was an ’88 Ranger STX with a 5.0L in it and I used the E-Fan because of the space involved but my truck would heat up more on the highway when it should have been at a lower temp. It never boiled over, never went above the 210 on the gauge but that fan ran all of the time on the highway and you could hear it from the cab.
If we were to vote on this I would vote a mechanical fan if at all possible, E-Fans have their place and a lot of people use them without problems, so i guess they are here to stay.

 

[bobbywalter]

If we're comparing the same CFM (if we know the CFM of the clutch fan) on each fan then how much extra HP does it take to turn the weight of the clutch? Are you saying 10HP? I guess we'd have to assume a fully locked clutch as unless the Efan is multi-speed it will pull the same CFM for all conditions.

no no no....i am not helping at all am i?

i am not totally sure where your at with this as stated.

we can never be specific for all situations, so keep the general in mind.

the electric fan has whatever its limits are, but we know (pretty close anyway) its max thievery of power, by its measured real time amp draw when its drawing.

generally a typical oem ranger fan is drawing 1/2- up to 1 hp all the time any time the engine is running when its effectively off ....(and of course when it goes over a certain rpm it is supposed to go to min lockup mode).... lock up varies a bit, they are not all necessarily on or off, and i cant tell you at 50 percent lockup at idle rpm if its kicking out 2300 cfm and costing 1.5 hp or kicking out 2300 cfm and costing .5 hp.... but at full pull dyno testing its easy to see its capacity to draw 2-6 hp when its supposed to be effectively off at those rpms....as removing the fan from the scenario nets the same result time after time with the v8 systems i have worked with.

bottom line is it is not enough for many to worry about on a commuter one is satisfied with, and why i suggest not to replace a functioning system unless specific goals are in play.

i probably fawked this up some more but i am trying, i have 0 education but a bit of access and tons of experience cooling big power rangers. THE HARD WAY.

 

[bobbywalter]

I know the E-Fan has already been purchased AND will be installed…

E-Fan have a lot of good things about them but there are two things that got the best of me and an E-Fan will be the last thing I install and only if nothing else will work.

The first is the white noise (static) that the fan injects in the Communication Radios in my last truck, CB/Ham/Scanner, the CB being an AM device was the worst.
The second thing was at highway speed the E-Fan would actually stop some of the air from coming through the radiator causing the truck to run at a higher temp.

The truck this happened in was an ’88 Ranger STX with a 5.0L in it and I used the E-Fan because of the space involved but my truck would heat up more on the highway when it should have been at a lower temp. It never boiled over, never went above the 210 on the gauge but that fan ran all of the time on the highway and you could hear it from the cab.
If we were to vote on this I would vote a mechanical fan if at all possible, E-Fans have their place and a lot of people use them without problems, so i guess they are here to stay.

your blower motor and ignition system had no noise combined? try shielded wire and straight feed from alt with all wiring out front on the core??



you are a perfect example of why people will insist their is some inferiority with electric cooling because you have been there and done that....and only that and never pursued anything to figure out if there was an alternative issue... thats perfect and i am glad you posted this experience.

and YOU and MEshare the same results for specific applications, because WE ...or at least myself is an ignorant knuckle buster ape. thinkin you a do it get it done guy anyway at the least.


the only problem with your truck and my truck when this situation was occurring was you and me...we were the problem.

i am not sure if you tried mechanical fans or not but i certainly did, various types and all failures for various reason along with various radiators.... ...and depending on situations it was actually worse for some, better for others. the mark 7 mechanical fan is a monster for cooling, and it got its ass kicked too, funny how the upgraded mark 8 vehicle with 80 more hp and even more weight to haul around didnt have a mechanical fan, and comparatively it had NO grill to let air in. but overheating wasnt an issue.

must be pure coincidence?

no, i didnt think so either.... but i kept aimlessly mixing and matching based on flow nubers etc not fully understanding that "potential" for max ratings is key in the more is better game... ..

this is where all the other factors come into play, fin density being a huge player along with core type and material.

these days i can cool your truck with the mark 7 mechanical fan perfectly, or a taurus fan perfectly without the issues you describe.

figuring out the right components is very important. proper installation even more so. the e fan running when on the road is curious, manually cut off with a blocking diode may have been all that was needed. not sure of the setup you had.

that is a 351 cobra r radiator externally mounted, so one would have to think at hiway speed cooling would be a non issue. even at 90 mph with a 7200 pound cruise weight with tools etc....not overly aerodynamic either.


this is just a lucky shot that will fortunately show the extremes i went to to see what works and does not for ranger cooling.

this is a typical load, not even close to heavy, and i covered alot of ground that way and in many cases the engine ran all day to power air and electric tools.

i am confident with cooling advice, been swapping bigger engines into these since the late eighties early 90's.


so you wont get me to agree with your conclusions on the v8 ranger cooling subject. it appears you simply gave up?

if you still have this i am willing to let you experiment with a setup i have in the barn. its beat to hell but still effective.

proper installation of good matched components is the key, and its quite possible this op may end up another e fan hater with the selection he made, or maybe he will be happy...

see what happens

 

[Rearanger]

i am not totally sure where your at with this as stated.

I'm not against Efans, I'm for understanding the measured differences to get a better understanding why one would work better than the other, or why you'd want to replace an existing clutch fan at all. During my teenage life I would make typically stupid attempts at low dollar engine performance derived from baseless assumptions, mostly reinforced by the larger group of teenage minds around me, that also did not have a clue. Our butt dynos always seemed to reinforce wasted changes and money. Now I tend to be anal on, "just the facts ma'm" with a critical eye on return of investment.

bottom line is it is not enough for many to worry about on a commuter one is satisfied with, and why i suggest not to replace a functioning system unless specific goals are in play.

The only performance measurements I keep track of is MPG and I am careful to limit my "improvement" dollars to carefully thought out longevity additions, even though I have the resources to throw much more money at the truck. I consistently make 20mpg and have plenty of A/C cool with acceptable "power". If I can't honestly feel or measure an engine add-on then I'm not interested. If my clutch fan failed I might consider an Efan, but would research a quality install close to factory standards, which would probably require the money to make it not very feasible.

i probably fawked this up some more but i am trying, i have 0 education but a bit of access and tons of experience cooling big power rangers. THE HARD WAY.

Intelligent real world hands on experience with measured outcomes and honest appraisal will beat raw "education" all the time. Trying to calculate theoretical moments of inertia and angular velocity will run you in irrelevant circles without on the road testing. I appreciate your comments as they reflect acquired education with balanced assessment which serve me (and other members) better to assess the issues. Thanks for taking the time.