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Cooling fan override..
Comments
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Hi striderStrider590 wrote: »Problem is they're not in contact with the coolant........
Thats a good point and I had thought of that but i figured that putting them on top of the radiator (heat rises etc) that they'd still get hot quicker than they would say attached to the bottom. You have however made me think that I should get lower temp rated switches to be on the safe side.Strider590 wrote: »The engine bay of a moving vehicle is like a wind tunnel, the temperature difference between the coolant and the surface you attach them to, could be 20 degrees at standing and 50 degrees when moving.
When this car moves the temperature falls drastically anyway so I'm not really too worried. It's only when its stationary that it starts to climb. When moving it seems to hover at the 1/3rd up the gauge.Strider590 wrote: »Do you REALLY need dual speed fans? I don't see the point
On a hot summers day with the A/C running it gets extremely hot very quickly and uses the hi speed mode to cool itself down when the low speed doesn't cut it - kind of like an emergency cooling mode. Yes it also makes a hell of a noise but I'd rather that than overheating!Strider590 wrote: »Also be careful of the current through those, 12A maximum (or 150watts each), will they feed the fans directly?
No they will simply ground the relays which turn on the fans.
This is an electronic simulation of the fan unit (note the two motors are on the right):
The switches simply activate the relays which by default have two relay switches in default / off mode which lets the 3rd relay in the middle act as an on/off switch to both motors in series. When the hi / parallel switch is activated it switches both motors directly to their own supply / ground.
My thinking is that if i use two thermostatic switches in there with (thanks to your comment) lower rated temperatures, I can still have a working fan unit with minimal fuss and then get the ECU fixed at a later date once I have the wonga.Strider590 wrote: »Finally (and this applies to whatever you do), remember not to take a direct feed from the battery, if you do, you could end up effectively bypassing your ignition switch (depending on whether you leave the old feed in place).
That is a good point but seeing as the switches will be open when below their trigger temp I don't see this as being a problem.0 -
90 is a bit low and 120 is too high.
A thermostat wont be starting to opem until 85 - 90 degrees C. It will be fully open just over 100 degrees C 102 - 105 usually.
I would have one come on just below 100 and the other at 105.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
It will if you put a dual-speed switch in the hose adapter. And then you can pick temperatures to suit your heart's content off the shelf.TrickyWicky wrote: »Probably not much other than I doubt it supports dual speed fan units?
I have had cars with one fan speed controlled by the coolant temp and one controlled by the temp of the air coming off the rad, but both being controlled by the coolant is by far and away the preferable route.0 -
Why not just go down the breakers and get a secondhand controller?
Alternatively, as your knowledge of electronics is more than a passing one why not strip down the original and repair it?Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
Strider590 wrote: »What's wrong with a bog standard M22 threaded coolant fan switch mounted into an inline coolant hose adaptor.... Like....
http://thmotorsports.com/hasport/hasport_radiator_hose_adapter/egkhafsts/i-150417.aspx
That's ^^ expensive, you can pick them up on eBay for under £10 + £10 for the switch.
Yeah, when I said 'thermostatic switch in one of the radiator hoses' in post 2, that's actually what I meant. Not just some thermostatic switch dangling somewhere or taped to a hose!0 -
As you haven't fixed it, or followed any advice since you posted a couple of months ago, don't you think for the good of the car you should let someone who knows what they are talking about properly diagnose the fault? Heath Robinson "fixes" of the wrong symptom always end in tears.0
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Quiet_Spark wrote: »Why not just go down the breakers and get a secondhand controller?
Alternatively, as your knowledge of electronics is more than a passing one why not strip down the original and repair it?
It's an old car! There are none in any of the breakers around here. Well thats not quite right.. there is one however it is owned by the scrapyard owner who refuses to break it because it belonged to his father. It also has a different ECU / security system that is not compatible with mine.
As for the ECU, yes i do a bit in the way of electronics but thats extremely specialist and I have no surface mount component (de)soldering equipment, oscilloscopes, test rigs, ECU tech data etc. Believe me if I could, I would fix it myself and having taken another similar ECU apart from the same model (like the scrap yard one) when looking at it internally it's way above my level of competence to repair.BeenThroughItAll wrote: »Yeah, when I said 'thermostatic switch in one of the radiator hoses' in post 2, that's actually what I meant. Not just some thermostatic switch dangling somewhere or taped to a hose!
LOL yeah sorry about that but at the time I didn't realise there was an inline hose connector that was designed for the job. I had it in my head that you meant make a hole in the pipe and bodge it in with glue or something!As you haven't fixed it, or followed any advice since you posted a couple of months ago, don't you think for the good of the car you should let someone who knows what they are talking about properly diagnose the fault? Heath Robinson "fixes" of the wrong symptom always end in tears.
I know whats wrong with it - the ECU has a defective cooling controller and believe me if I could get a specialist to do it for free I would. Sadly they don't tend to bother so unless £3-400 falls out of the sky I have to find a cheaper bodgier way of getting it to stay cool in an MOT test and while it's on the road.
It isn't that I've not fixed or followed the advice since my last post, I have some personal issues going on including health and quite frankly I don't get much chance to deal with the car and besides... this thread was a slightly different angle on the problem.0 -
Whack the heaters on.0
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If you really are going to bodge it, get a thermo controller from a performance or kit-car parts supplier.0
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