I wouldn't recommend stacking fans one on top of the other - you'll often get less air through than you would with a single puller or pusher (puller is more efficient & ducting is simpler). You often set up a lot of drag between the different blade flow patterns which, for all intents and purposes, stops the air flow.

For the Taurus fan, you'll need something around 75 amps as well as some arc protection components to keep the contacts from burning off. You can get these, or 100% duty cycle solenoids from the Mouser site, good products, good service. You also need to match wire size to the current requirements or you certainly will have a bunch of melted insulation and copper slag sitting around - you can weld with that amount of current.

The Delta or Flex-a-lite won't handle the Taurus fan - I think they only go up to around 30 amps. If you want one of these, you'll need to wire it up using the low speed connection of the fan only. If you wire it up correctly, you won't have the lights dimming. The variable speed controllers use Pulse Width technology to control speed and at the same time cut down on the appreciable current draw for start up, but you still need a controller that's robust enough to handle the electric motor's requirements - that's why I suggested the PWM controller offered by Painless. Most of the others don't have the solid state components to switch amperage high enough without frying.

With a PWM controller, you seldom need to get to full speed, but I'd rather have the noise of air motion rather than having an overheated engine.

I agree, but get the right one.

 

Alfons,

Im not going to pretend to know about e fans as much as you seem to, but I do know theese few things for sure:

1. The variable speed flex a lite controller that Brian In Tucson mentioned in his first post is what I've used with great success, and many others have used it with the Taurus also with no problem.

2. The included 30 amp fuse for the flex a lite controller went out in about a week, but after a call with flex a lite I put in a 40 amp fuse with their reccomendation and have had no issues so far. I also should note its wired to the high speed connection of the fan.

3. The Delta Current controllers, to my understanding, are designed to work with the Taurus fans, or at least the website advertises as such.

With my previous setup, the lights would dim because of the inital draw on the fan when being turned on high speed. The system was not reliable at all, and I was doing it for fun/experimentation, I learned alot about how to wire a system like this. With my new flex a lite controller, It doesn't happen as the controller gradually ramps up the current to prevent the inrush current spike.

The real thing for the OP to understand here is that if he doesn't use a controller that can handle the current he will need to design a system that can, and finding componenets to do so wasn't easy for me, even going online. At the end of the day it would have been cheaper for me to just buy the controller in the first place.

 

Well after catching a steal today i changed my plans around alot...

I ended up picking up a fan from a 98 dodge grand caravan (dual fan)... as well as a hayden adjustable controller... FOR A WHOLE 5 BUCKS! well im still working on the mounting brackets (they stick out past the radiator but the fans itself cover then almost perfectly...)

but it is mocked up secure enough to test run and see if the controller will work and such...

The first intial testing of the fans proved good (jumping the fan leads straight to the battery)

then i wired the controller up and hooked the 3 leads for power straight to the battery (live ignition and a/c bypass) with the other leads hooked to the fans and grounds to grounds and it kicked fine...

then i finished wiring (with the a/c bypass wired to a toggle for full on mode) and started the truck and the minute the fans kicked it blew the fuse inline to the fans from controller (find it strange its fused there but not on the 12V+ line) I then realized it had a 20 amp fuse in it.

IIRC the caravans have a 40 amp fuse for the fans stock, and with this controller having a 40 amp relay would i be fine putting the 40 amp fuse in?

Second off the fan shroud doesnt quite seal against the radiator as well as i like, and i was thinking of using some foam insulation strips i have (stick it to the shroud and it will contact and compress against the radiator but not cause the wear the plastic potentialy could) Would this work or will the radiator get to hot and melt the stuff?

 

The rating on relays is supposed to take a whole bunch of things into account so that the listed power rating is safe to use. I've seen cheap relays where using the rated power notably shortens their life, so you'll need to try it and see - it should handle 40 amps plus some for short periods.
I wouldn't use foam unless you know it's heat rating. There are various other things you could use such as flexible sheet ABS or even heat rated silicone (this comes in a tube as caulking and is used for things like furnaces etc. It should have the heat rating right on the tube, so anything that will handle around 100 C should be OK. Have a look at the red or copper RTV tubes, one of those would work.). The silicone will also provide some "grab" to hold things together better & it's easy to work with.

 

yeah i thought about that after i made the post.

But i did get it all wired up with a 40amp fuse. i do wanna test with a few smaller fuses (30 & 35 amp) and see if it blows those first, but it is holding up with the 40amp fuse.

Now i just need to get the temp range set to my specs, and do something to seal up the small gaps between the fan shroud and radiator, and finish cleaning up my brackets.

But it did seem to have a noticeable difference on keeping the temp down, but the real test will be tomorrow when i take it out during the day with some more warmth.

 

I'm running a Contour 2 fan setup, the shroud only covers about 90% of the rear of the radiator and isn't all sealed up with goop or tape or whatever. Fan comes on at 195 degrees or whenever the A/C is on. We're starting to warm up here, yesterday was 95, it should hit 100 by the weekend.

My cooling system is having no trouble keeping up with the heat so far, and it is city driving, which in my experience is the most heat generating use. Tho I don't do much offroading. I don't think getting things really sealed up is terribly important--just my opinion. Both fans run when the controller kicks in, the fans are mounted towards the top of the radiator--which logically is where it's likely to be hottest. And the temp probe is mounted there, too.

As I said before, I'm using a flex a lite fan controller, been in there about 3 months. So far it has been flawless and up to the job. Tho, from all the discussion here, I'm probably gonna carry a spare fuse or two.

 

Im carrying spare fuses and spare relays for my controller... Just to be sure as well as the stock mechanical fan and everything to switch it back... just in case LOL.

I went for a highway drive today (about 75 degrees outside now) for a rough 10 miles... it did start getting warmer than usual but i tweaked the fan controller so it kicks on a bit sooner, and now it seems to be sticking right where i want it. Havent had a chance to test offroad yet tho (havent wired up the constant on to a toggle yet since i dont have a/c)

My fan is mounted to the very top of the radiator as well and the probe is a couple inches in from the one side and about 6 inches from the top fins (limited choices up there due to fan placements)

Gonna get a 180 t stat later and get it in and do my final fan tweaks soon.

So back to having a strict trans cooler only fan as well, Since my fans only cover the upper most parts of the radiator (prolly close to 75% of it top to bottom side to side is completely covered) does anyone think it would work fine to mount a puller fan (10" fan) between the radiator and the trans cooler (pulling through the trans cooler) in the lower parts of my radiator, beings there isnt near the air flow down low from the other fans i wouldnt think it would interfere. trans temp cools quickly with the fans on, but the time the fans arent on it seems to rise quicker. So if i can mount a dedicated trans cooler fan with its own controller and not interfere with the radiators fans i think thats the way i still wanna go.

I guess its gonna be more just trial and error.

 

Do you have an aux. trans cooler? That is, is it mounted outside the radiator?

I'm kinda assuming that the trans cooler that's inside the radiator is, for the most part, sufficient. And that it is getting the the coolant from the coolest part, the lower half, of the radiator. I've had trucks with aux trans coolers, I have not been very impressed.

My truck is factory trailer package, I'm wondering if that meant a slightly beefier radiator? And I know that somewhere along the road, my automatic has been rebuilt. 3.55 gearing is neither too high or too low--but makes acceleration,even with a 5.2, pretty wimpy. When I do mountain grades, I do disengage the overdrive.

I look at where you're running, Iowa, and figure that whatever you have for a radiator/trans cooler is probably okay for your driving conditions. You don't have many mountain grades, and probably not so much stop & go traffic either.

 

Well its just a stock radiator, and i am not using the trans cooler built in with the radiator...

I currently have 2 small aux trans coolers in front of the radiator.

Im not concerned too much with normal every day driving with my trans temp, the biggest worry with it is the high revs, slow speeds i often encounter off-road.