quote:

Originally posted by Reserector:

quote:

Originally posted by mattman555:

Durlast Starter Solenoid # F492 $9

If the solenoid is not rated for "continuous duty", you are wasting $9. It could cost more if it quits and causes an overheat. That's what happened to me. Just my 2¢

I got everything in today (The Quest Alt and the Swanky Fan), except for the two wires I mentioned above.. still looking for where to put them...

I hooked it up to the Solenoid and used a manual switch... took it around town and and checked the Solenoid as I went... it got so hot I couldn't touch it... Time to go get a continuous duty one..

But... the temp gauge stayed below 1/2 and it even dropped when I went though the bank drive though!!

I noticed a HUGH draw of air from the front of the radiator and I wasn't going to get to close as it might suck me in

To respond to Eli..

Power is as simple as PIE, you got that right...
Flex-A-Lite fan equals $$$$$
Swanky Fans were Free - a Swanky member got his hands on them and gave them out to us..

This post might help... I don't think there are any left... and the unlimited supply turned out to be onl a few..

http://nissan4wheelers.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/146605233...10633231#48210633231

The difference is in the trigger coil. Most starter noids are designed to operate for several seconds at a time when cranking a starter. The continuous duty ones have a different winding that allows them to stay triggered without building heat.

quote:

Originally posted by Reserector:
The difference is in the trigger coil. Most starter noids are designed to operate for several seconds at a time when cranking a starter. The continuous duty ones have a different winding that allows them to stay triggered without building heat.

Yep... that what I was thinking too.. I put the new one in and it worked great...

Here is the one I got from CarQuest -

Part Number - FS597 - $42

I will have it out an about tomorrow... so we'll see how it does..

thanks!

I finally got a chance to install one of the SWANKy fans in the beast.
I made a custom bracket to bolt the fan to the stock K5 fan shroud mounting points using the factory mounts on the Volvo fan:



I used a 30 amp auto resetting circuit breaker from NAPA:


And a SPAL programmable fan controller:


The SPAL controller allows me to set two temperature setpoints using any existing temp sender. At the low setpoint it turns the fan on and pulses the power to it so it runs at about half speed. Once it gets to the high setpoint (or if it gets an A/C signal) it kicks the fan to full speed. It also has a wire that grounds at the high setpoint or on an A/C signal to run a relay for a second fan.

The SPAL is only rated for 30 amps, it seems to work fine but I just installed it tonight and haven't driven the truck with it yet. I just warmed it up in the driveway to get the setpoints programmed and made sure it turned the fan on (high and low).
Even on the low speed the fan is moving a lot of air. I'm betting it rarely gets to the high setpoint other than on a restart of the truck.
I also put a switch on my dash so I can shut the fan off for water crossings.

Brent -

Very nice... I look forward to seeing your K5 someday soon!

I pulled my out before I sold my Pathy as it was giving me to much trouble.. it pulled so much current that it melted one of my battery tabs off!

I haven't put an ammeter on it or anything, but at half speed it should only be pulling about 1/4 the current. In the couple test drives I did to day it only went to "high" on startup, otherwise low was enough to keep it cool.
I picked up the SPAL unit for $75 shipped to my door. If you throw in the cost of wiring (it comes with a very nice wiring harness), the solenoid, and a cheapy fan controller the SPAL is only a little bit more than the way you did it with the added benifit of running in a lower current mode most of the time. Hopefully it holds out to the high current demands of this big fan.

Glad to see someone else get one mounted successfully. Ive been running mine for a long time now, and have worked all the kinks out at this point, I believe. The true test will be this summer when we are battling the 120 degree heat.

I love the mounting bracket, reddog.

I am concerned about the 30 amp breaker and SPAL. I put a 30 amp ammeter on mine and tested it in free air. It slammed the guage needle, then settled at 25 amps. I never tested it with a radiator in front of it.

I strongly suggest that you keep a close eye on the guage and carry some wire and crimp connectors to bypass anything, should it fail in a week or two. With a hunk of wire, you can always hook it direct to get you home.

Like Daniel's, mine has been working great for months now, but not without some initial failures. I hope to spare you that grief.

Keep us posted.

Yea, I'll be carrying everything I need to bypass the SPAL unit if I need to. I'm hoping it will be OK though. It seems like a beefy unit, waterproof, heat sinks and I believe its solid state so there shouldn't be any contacts to burn up. As long as the transistors can handle the load it should be OKK.

So my fan made it through 1 and 3/4 summers. It died about two weeks ago. Something in the motor shorted out and it was blowing the circuit breaker, running for 2 seconds, then blowing the breaker again. Swapped it out with a 16" slim fan from my local friendly Checkers Auto, and not only is my truck a lot quieter with the fan on, the amp draw is less than half of what the other one was. All I had to do was wire in the new fan, as I already had the wiring set up for the SWANKy fan. Ill grab some pics tomorrow, but keep an eye on your fan, the other two of you that are running it that I know of.

I still have a couple of fans laying around if anyone needs one.

My truck is still running on the SPAL controller. I have a few thousand miles of AZ heat on it so I'm pretty confident it's not going to die. The SPAL runs it at 2 speeds and 2 temperature settings allowing it to run much quieter and draw much less power 99% of the time.

Datz.. I think I would like one on my way through town if they're still left when I get there.

I'll take one if you still have'em. Where do you work? That might be closer than driving to your house

This is the reason why I haven’t installed a elect fan. A belt driven fan is simply more reliable. I will be adding a helper fan for the a/c. Since the ARB install I’ve noticed my truck doesn’t get as cold air when sitting in traffic. During the day.

I wasn't saying that they are all going to die, just that mine did and I wanted to let everyone know what happened so you could keep an eye on it.

quote:

Originally posted by TheDrip:
Datz.. I think I would like one on my way through town if they're still left when I get there.

I think I've got 2 or 3 left. I'll make sure and save you one.

Mine is loud, draws a lot of current and moves a lot of air. The shroud is a great fit over my HB radiator. I am happy with it for however long it lasts. Thanks again, John, for making them available to us.

If it goes bad, I will look for something with less amp draw, though. What, exactly did you get, Daniel? How well is it working?

I picked up a 16" slimline Flex-A-Lite fan. Its working amazing and at less that half the amp draw, it was a good choice for me. It was the more expensive option, but it moved twice the amount of air for $30 more. I got this fan.