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Hi Folks,

mention was made last week or so about Radiator fans and what to buy.  Revotec, being the most expensive, were being queried as to whether they were worth it or not.

I don;t know about Revotec but I do know about cheap ebay sh*te.  About 5 years ago I fitted a 'good value for money' ebay wonder.

After about five years and 4 miles per year ( 20 ish miles) the heap of dung stopped working.  OK, it was cheap. But imagine if it was on a road going car - major upset.

Mine is similar t the one that Mike North removed a short while ago as it didn't push enough air through the rad.  12V  120W - steer clear.

I would like to thank the forum for raising this issue and killing my fan  :P

 

Roger

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Only problem I have had with my Revotech (fitted in 2013) was the controller, which I have dumped, & now use an "Otter" switch in the rad return pipe, switching through to original relay.

Bob.

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Hi Folks,

Interestingly I have just looked at a quality SPAL fan that shifts 900+CFM and it draws only 6 amps or so at 80.  https://www.t7design.co.uk/spal-radiator-fan-12-0-305mm-pull-va10-ap10-c-61a-909cfm-va10-ap10c-61a.html      The cheapo ebay was 120W and rumour suggests it wasn't powerful enough

Is the fan design more important than the motor power at shifting the air.

 

Am I missing something.!!!

 

Roger

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Roger,

Couldn't agree more...

I compared a Cheap EBay fan and a Spal equivalent on my supercharged TR (Don't want this baby overheating!).

Both fans were the same size and similar wattage. Ebay fan was awful, moved very little air and ran continually to keep the car cool at a standstill.. Spal, way more air movement.. Air coming out from under the car would have embarrassed Marilyn Monroe! Fan only needed to be on for short periods to cool the car.. Only downside was the number of amps the Spal pulls (definitely needs a relay).. lots more amps than the cheap one which also made me question the wattage rating on the ebay fan!

Cheers

Tim

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29 minutes ago, RogerH said:

Hi Folks,

mention was made last week or so about Radiator fans and what to buy.  Revotec, being the most expensive, were being queried as to whether they were worth it or not.

I don;t know about Revotec but I do know about cheap ebay sh*te.  About 5 years ago I fitted a 'good value for money' ebay wonder.

After about five years and 4 miles per year ( 20 ish miles) the heap of dung stopped working.  OK, it was cheap. But imagine if it was on a road going car - major upset.

Mine is similar t the one that Mike North removed a short while ago as it didn't push enough air through the rad.  12V  120W - steer clear.

I would like to thank the forum for raising this issue and killing my fan  :P

 

Roger

I was considering an Aeroline fan?????  220 watts or are we not allowed to say what ****'s name is.

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Alicool supply Spal fans on their own and are what they use if you want a fan fitted on proper brackets to one of their alloy rads - these cost an extra £90 on top of the rad price and have a 14" high capacity fan, be it a puller or pusher.

Photos attached are of a TR5/6 one which I supplied to a memeber

Cheers Rich

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Snap... I have the same fan on my own homemade brackets.. It is a beast!

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Should say it kept the car cool in crawling traffic on the M5 with outside temps in the mid 30s..

Kept the car cool but I almost boiled over :-)

Tim

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I fitted a Revotec, no controller, just a temerature switch as Bob and a fused relay.

If you want to compare fan capacities no need flow rate and head (pressure). 

Cheers,

Waldi

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I removed the cheaper 14inch,120w pusher fan(from ebay make I wont mention but you all know) and fitted a Spal 10inch puller the difference is amazing and to think its a smaller fan too for anyone considering running with no mechanical fan and just using an electric type don't go cheap 

Chris

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6 hours ago, pfenlon said:

I was considering an Aeroline fan?????  220 watts or are we not allowed to say what ****'s name is.

Hey that’s what I have the 220w 12” sucker ( ie fitted engine bay side of rad.) curved blades works for me. 
turn it on and watch the temp gauge drop. Bought feb 2018 fitted soon after. 
fitted to the rad with the plastic through rad spring loads ties. With small felt pads to space it from the rad. The type you can get in a pound shop for fitting to the bottom of chair legs. 

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If my experiences with the Revotec controllers are applicable to their fans I would not be in a rush to buy one.

The Spal on the 4A died within 2 years so even the “good” makes are not always reliable.

Do any of the fan makers who supply new car manufacturers supply the generic market?

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12 hours ago, Andy Moltu said:

If my experiences with the Revotec controllers are applicable to their fans I would not be in a rush to buy one.

The Spal on the 4A died within 2 years so even the “good” makes are not always reliable.

Do any of the fan makers who supply new car manufacturers supply the generic market?

Kenlowe still supply to major manufacturers but not to the classic market anymore Im afraid.

Stuart.

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Its not the reliability its the performance as I said the one I had originally fitted as a pusher fan hardly rippled a sheet of paper on the other side of the radiator the Spal fitted as a puller sucks a sheet against the other side quite forcibly

Chris 

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When I bought my 4A in 1996 over the first winter I removed the tractor fan and fitted electric with switch in SS rad pipe. Not so much choice back then so I scoured the local scrapyards and found one complete with a close to size rad cowl from a Fiesta XR2 for £15.  Its been working fine ever since except for the new switch which lasted 5 years. I even picked up a spare motor and blade assy for £10, which is kept in boot under spare wheel, it's been fitted and tested but never needed.

Fans on many modern cars driven on short journeys hardly ever come on and are virtually as new, some have twin fans which would fit a TR, then you would have a built in spare. My old one takes about 6/8 amps but even with a Dynamo and a large 74 amp hr battery has never been a problem. Driving at night with temps over 25 deg and traffic jams could be a problem but it hasn't occurred in the last 20 years so prob never will.

Chris

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1 hour ago, trchris said:

Its not the reliability its the performance

I am rather at a loss to understand why a powerful electric fan is considered necessary.   In normal motoring even at fairly low speeds in hot weather there seems no need for a fan at all. In my experience the only time you need one is in stop-start driving and when queued.

The mechanical fan is not terribly efficient as it isn't shrouded nor close to the radiator and is rotating only slowly at idle, but it seems to work OK for those conditions.  Surely any electrical fan with its close-coupling and high speed should provide enough cooling? 

FWIW my car has no mechanical fan and a 12-inch pusher - can't remember the make - which can only be around 120W but which seems to cope on the rare occasions it is needed. 

 

 

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26 minutes ago, RobH said:

I am rather at a loss to understand why a powerful electric fan is considered necessary.   In normal motoring even at fairly low speeds in hot weather there seems no need for a fan at all. In my experience the only time you need one is in stop-start driving and when queued.

The mechanical fan is not terribly efficient as it isn't shrouded nor close to the radiator and is rotating only slowly at idle, but it seems to work OK for those conditions.  Surely any electrical fan with its close-coupling and high speed should provide enough cooling? 

FWIW my car has no mechanical fan and a 12-inch pusher - can't remember the make - which can only be around 120W but which seems to cope on the rare occasions it is needed. 

 

i

Rob, I think the issue is that some electric fans look pretty and are cheap but the fan blade and motor design is not good. These are areas )that are the most costly in the development and production process) are where the cheap fans cut costs..

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17 hours ago, Hamish said:

Hey that’s what I have the 220w 12” sucker ( ie fitted engine bay side of rad.) curved blades works for me. 
turn it on and watch the temp gauge drop. Bought feb 2018 fitted soon after. 
fitted to the rad with the plastic through rad spring loads ties. With small felt pads to space it from the rad. The type you can get in a pound shop for fitting to the bottom of chair legs. 

I'm not a fan (whooops) of those through the gill ties, one car on the LBL had those cut through the thin copper cooling pipe due to vibration, with resultant coolant loss ( we did travel on some rough roads). Temporality fixed with some two part putty firmly pushed into the gills.

Iain

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36 minutes ago, Tim D. said:

Rob, I think the issue is that some electric fans look pretty and are cheap but the fan blade and motor design is not good. These are areas )that are the most costly in the development and production process) are where the cheap fans cut costs..

Yes that is so Tim, but that is not what I was commenting about. Others have raise the need for powerful fans with high air-flow and I was questioning the reasoning for that. 

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Hi Rob,

I'm with you on this but something just don;t work out.

My cheapo fan (12V 120W)  appeared to work at first but somewhere through the summer with the car going nowhere the motor failed.

The new SPAL fan is 90W with very fancy blades - I suspect it will push more air.

Whether more air is needed is up for debate. However more air may well bring the temp down quicker so you end up with short effective blasts.

 

Roger

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I’ve got the Revotec... works absolutely fine and I like the ‘stat that is cut into the top hose. The Kenlowe ...unless it’s changed had the thermostat wires poked into the water under the hose clip.

 

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Hi Rob 

the point I was trying to make was because of the cheaper fan units build quality they are less effective than a better built unit The one I originally used didn't in my opinion fill me with confidence of its effectiveness the Spal is smaller and only 80w yet provides a better flow through the radiator I suppose it comes down to money you pay for what you get. I agree there's no need for bigger more powerful fan units the same as large output alternators bigger is not always the solution

Chris

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Slight deviation but relevant to fan design.

Propellor Theory.  Chapter 3 covers speed and blade angles and of course aerodynamic pitch which is critical to obtain best air flow at any radius for a given rotational speed.

https://www.classicaviation.in/uploads/ebook/1538908184Aircraft_propeller_controls_by_Frank_Delf.pdf

 

Cheers

Peter W

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