My New Toy!!!

[flareside_thunder]

Haaaaa ha hahaaaa...I got me a Mark8 electric fan from the boneyard the other day....26 bucks and works like a charm...gonna install it here in a bit.....I've been advised I can use an inline fuse so I think that's the route I'm gonna go.(waiting for the flaming)

 

[LEB Ben]

Meh...electric fans. In my junk, take em or leave em, not worth the time IMO, I've got no issues staying between 180-190 as is. Hope it does a great job pulling in more air for you though.

 

[Truckin4life]

Why would you get flamed for an inline fuse?

Im curious as to whats wrong with them?

Heck i use them on anything that goes to the battery, cheap insurance...

 

[LEB Ben]

^^^I think he was more talking about how the e-fan topic always starts a pretty intense debate on FTF. Hell, some members have even left the site over that debate.

 

[Truckin4life]

out of curiosity, who left over a e-fan debate?

 

[flareside_thunder]

I figure I'll get flamed over not using a relay......Ben, I never really noticed a difference in power when i had a smaller (way too small) e-fan on here before...but I was getting 2-3 more MPG's.

 

[Truckin4life]

im superconflustered now....

so a relay means that you dont have to use a inline fuse?

uhm......
no.

So you goin to wire it to always run?
or you goin to hook it up to a temp switch?

 

[LEB Ben]

out of curiosity, who left over a e-fan debate?

PM sent

I figure I'll get flamed over not using a relay......Ben, I never really noticed a difference in power when i had a smaller (way too small) e-fan on here before...but I was getting 2-3 more MPG's.

Gotcha...

 

[flareside_thunder]

Hm, I never really thought about the fuse/relay thing Don.....Gonna wire it to the solenoid for a key on/fan on setup.

 

[73F100Shortbed]

I would use a relay considering the amps the fans pull. But it's all up to you

 

[flareside_thunder]

True...but specs show this fan draws 30amps....if I use a 30 amp Inline fuse I should be golden.....theoretically.

 

[Skandocious]

Lets get something straight here...

A fuse is used for protecting the main power circuit. It blows if the circuit draws too much amperage (past whatever the fuse is rated for). This type of situation can happen when something bad happens and your wiring shorts out-- the fuse will prevent an electrical fire from starting. You should only need 1 main power wire to your battery for this entire fan project, and that is the wire that needs to be fused.

A relay, on the other hand, is more like a switch. In fact it's somewhat of an automated switch. The idea behind a relay is that he has 2 circuits inside-- the power circuit, which carries the electricity from your battery to the fan; and an inductive circuit, which will flip a switch inside of the relay and close the circuit when you apply +12V to this circuit.

Here's an illustration:

On the left you can see the inductive circuit and on the right you can see the switch.

Now, similar to a fuse, a relay should be used for keeping your circuit safe when power high-power-draw accessories such as an electric fan or fog lights. Presumably you will have a switch on your dash to activate these accessories but letting the full current flow through this switch and directly out to your accessory is a BAD idea. These kinds of switches are not built for such high loads.

So rather then using the switch to send power to the accessory, you use the switch to send a very small +12V load out to the inductive circuit on a relay, which in turn will flip it's internal switch and SAFELY close the other circuit in the relay and send 30+ amps out to your fan.

Clear as mud?

 

[Skandocious]

PS-- Junior if you need any help with the installation just let me know man. I think you've got my number, though I can't guarantee I'll answer before 8 or 9pm Pacific.

 

[flareside_thunder]

lol....I got it all installed...just trying to find a good key on accessory to wire my hot to......and no....I don't have your number anymore....

 

[Skandocious]

Did you wire like I said? Fuse on the main power wire and relay operated by the switch?

 

[flareside_thunder]

Not as of yet.....don't have a ride into town.....and hell I got an egg around my right rear tire that goes almost all the way around it...

 

[Skandocious]

Do me a favor and do NOT hook up any power until you've got it set up like I described in my previous posts. If it's not setup that way then you're truck could have big issues.