Anyone here ever added a fan in front of their condenser to improve AC cooling/lower low side pressure??

If so, what size did you use?

Was/Would it be an improvement?

I'm thinking about adding a 14" single pusher , it could only improve overall cooling and my 140Amp alternator can handle the add'l load.


RT

 

obviously a stupid idea...

 

Its not stupid. GM did it on taxis, police cars and HD vehicles of the same time frame.
You shouldn't "need" it if your cooling system is working properly. If you idle a lot in the heat with A/C crankn', you may need it.
Check out GM parts books for ideas how it was done on caprices buick roadmasters and other big cars of the day..

 

Auxillary pusher fan was part of H/D cooling option of
C4 corvettes,my porsche 928 has one too

 

I run a 16in. "pusher" fan as my primary and the single stock"puller" fan is mounted to the 12.5in X 17in. engine oil(on at180*with a sandwich temp control) and a transmission oil cooler on the rearside of the radiator as a backup that comes on at 220* if needed. The front fanis thermostatic adjustable switched controlled set at 190* with a180* thermostat and the whole thing works fine.

I had to remove the bottom front support bracket screws to slide the frontfan in and it mounted up real nice and tight after replacing them. Did not evenneed tie/mounting push rods but I used them anyway. A temperature controlledfront fan would be the way to go, I just like the keyed on option because ofthe trans cooler.

 

I run a 12" pusher fan. It seems to work good and it does run cooler on hot days.

 

I ran a 14 for a while untill I installed the taurus fan and I wanted to run it by itself to see exactly how good it was. With the taurus fan it works better than any fan set-up I have run. The old set-up was better after I added the 14 pusher fan especially in town. I will probably add the pusher before summer ends to see how much of a difference it makes. I have been experimenting a lot this year with a lot of things. I have a 5.5 inch fan on the lower passenger corner (pusher) mounted over my trans cooler. My trans does not use the radiator.

 

Before you add another fan, what is your current setup?

 

Nothing wrong with pusher fans - I know a lot of people who added them and never had any issues. In some cases if you have a lot of additional coolers (power steering, oil, trans), you need a pusher to keep the fluids at a constant temperature (not just airflow based on speed of your car).

 

I had a couple of pushers many years ago, when I was on the quest to fix my overheating issues.

Cooled ok, but acted like a big road vacuum cleaner. Fans were always sucking up road debris, and getting fouled with plastic bags. I ditched them eventually.

 

I have a be cool rad, 170 stat, aluminum pump, 60/40 water, taurus fan with flexalite controller set at 180 or so, It stays about one needle width above 180 or at 180 all the time no matter temp or speed. I also have a 8x10 trans cooler with a 5.5 fan in front of the a/c condensor on the lower pass corner. If I add the pusher it will probably stay at 180 or just below. I also have a new air dam with baffle. I did a test with and without baffle and there is a 40 plus degree difference depending on speed. The taurus fan is by far the best and I have tried many combos since the late 80s. Must have the air dam and baffle as well.

 

I have the dual 14" pusher fan setup off a Lexus LS400 mounted in front of my radiator, in the spot my condenser used to sit. I no longer have AC on my car, but they should still fit even with it. The wiring is straight forward, just make sure to use at least 10 gauge wire and use a switched relay to control them. The benefit to these fans is they fit perfectly over 75% of the front of the cooling surface, which means that together with the factory single puller fan you have effective airflow over virtually your entire radiator. The fans are also reversible if you wish to run them as pullers. I sourced mine from a local junkyard for $40 for both.

 

Not to me. Why?

 

You created a forum profile just to reply to 12 year old thread to a member who hasnt been logged in since 2015....

 

I didn’t do the legwork to research that member’s most recent log in. I myself have been an active member of other boards for twenty years.

This week I made a difficult decision to add a 14” supplementary pusher to my recently replaced 10.5:1 460 clutch shroud to enhance the 134a in stop and go - and from all I’ve googled it appears to be a smart move. If that’s stupid - I’d just like to know why.

 

I think the OP thought it was "stupid" b/c he'd gotten no responses. Sarcasm.

I don't think that there are too many people who would dispute that it would help the condenser work better.

 

I know this is old... but I thought I'd add that I did this with a 12 inch SPAL pusher fan,.


It definitely helps with cooling ac and temp wise. The a/c feels notably cooler than what the stock fan and even my upgraded LS fans can do for the ac. Vent temps seem to lower about 2-3 degrees more with the fan on.


You can fit an 11 inch on the passenger side and the 12 on the driver... I removed the 11 inch though as i put it on another car and I now have a trans and power steering cooler on the passenger side area.

My only regret is that the one I got was a straight paddle pusher so its rather noisy, so maybe id upgrade it to something more quiet unit in the future.

 

I also put on an auxilliary fan. The relay it uses is triggered by 12V being sent to the compressor (I tapped into that circuit). So it only comes on when the A/C is on.

But yeah, it definitely helps when the car is idling or at low speeds.

 

My added condenser pusher fan on my 1987 G20 is on the high blower fan relay trigger wire and fires up when the dash switch is moved to high fan speed. At highway speed the blower switch rarely has to stay on high speed. The 12" pusher is on the passenger side. Dropped my vent temps about 3-4*F at idle. About a 5 psi reduction on the low side pressure and a 15-20 psi reduction in high side pressure. I optimized the refrigerant charge yesterday in 102F and 46% relative humidity. At idle it holds 45F from the center vent, at 1,250 rpm it blows 40F and at 2,000 rpm it drops to the mid 30s. I have 6-9*F of superheat off the outlet of the accumulator and about 10*F of subcooling from the condenser ahead of the orifice tube.

 

Curious, what type / brand of fan are you running? Is it loud?

 

Spal 301101504, it is a loud straight blade fan and draws a good bit of amperage, but I do not care. It is compact enough to fit in the space and move a good bit of airflow even as a pusher. I have a 145 amp AD244 alternator, electrical system does not even notice the load when I kick the blower on high speed and the Spal kicks in.The clutch fan drowns the sound of it out by ~1,000 rpm anyway.

https://youtube.com/shorts/vSr11XNNDkg?si=f_gd47qRv7w5uV_C

When I am actually driving it, the intake and exhaust growl are the main things you hear anyway.

https://youtu.be/_ga0jNScBX0?si=Sc7SIrjdUXfXwq8P

 

Retraction on the Spal number. After posting about this yesterday morning, the Spal fan failed hours later sitting in traffic for over an hour. I replaced it this afternoon with a solution that has a much better mounting method. I have actually this fan about 20 times over the past 10-15 years on various GM vehicles. I picked this one up from Oreilly this morning, it is listed for a 1999 Tahoe. Results are very similar to the Spal mentioned above. The mounting legs worked out great on it, I flipped the short legs on the fan, 1 long leg bolted to the condenser mounting bolt, then I put 3 rivet nuts in place after slightly bending the brackets to line up and position the fan where I wanted it. I also removed the auxiliary transmission cooler, it was starting to leak and not really needed anyway. The radiator tank where it sits is only running 130-135F. The passenger side had more space for the fan setup. Removing the trans cooler also took some thermal load off the condenser.



This was the test this afternoon in 103F and 35% relative humidity. I call a former R12 system holding 45F at idle in a fullsize van a success in this heat.

 

Nice!!!

Thanks for the detailed report / videos etc!


I got the Spal 30102040 which has one of those big older thick motors and its super loud. its a little intrusive but bearable... but maybe one day I'll upgrade to this fan. Its really hard to find a good pusher fan! Nice to see the results and install!

 

I drove it around today in 104F for 2 hours. Definitely staying noticeably cooler at idle with the condenser fan running.

It literally takes all the available space for the condenser fan to fit as well. The fan motor actually touches the grille. I need to put a little piece of foam between the motor and grille because the motor causes the grille to vibrate to where you can hear it in the driver seat at a stop.

An unexpected benifit of the fan, the air intake for the engine sits above the gap between the condenser and radiator. With the fan running my IATs dropped 20F. They stay under 120F now.

 

Any idea why that spal fan quit? i have used all kinds of different e-fans over the decades- including salvaged used,and no trouble with any of them except one an ice jam burnt out.

 

I honestly have no idea. It let the smoke out of it though. Popped the fuse instantly and is practically locked up. Its almost like they forgot lubrication on the bushings/bearings when they assembled it.

I have had a few burn up on vehicles that had E-fans from the factory and seen a lot of E-Fan failures. GM had a bunch of them burning up on the Police Tahoes a few years ago. I made good money selling the replacements even at the dealership wholesale price. The E-Fans are always running on high speed nearly instantly here and those Tahoes racked up the idle hours.

 

I heard the thinner motor aka pancake motor fans like the SPAL fan are more prone to failure than models with the thicker motors (like the stock thirdgen fan motors). the stock passenger fan in my old camry was a pancake design and that stupid thing kept burning out... I could only buy it from the Toyota dealership and it was like $200 a pop....


I remember reading about it somewhere when choosing my pusher fan, that's one reason I went with the larger motor fan albeit produced lower CFM and I found it is very noisy. It is SUPER thick though compared to the fans above and you need a lot of space to place them. They are basically kinda old school ancient fan technology though. the thinner motors can produce more speed and cfm but I'm not sure how much of that is based on motor vs blade design however.

but SPAL is supposed to be a good brand and last a while even with the pancake design.

 

On a side note........... did SPAL stop making / branding fans? I noticed on their website a while ago that the selections dropped considerably and now when you browse through it they dont have any selections when you pick the fan sizes... be Coo lradiators on the other hand has a HUGE fan selection and appears to have the exact same SPAL designs as far as the big motor fans,. it appears to be identical to the SPAL fan I purchased a while ago...


SPAL
FANS & FAN ACCESSORIES | SPAL Automotive USA (spalusa.com)



Be Cool
11 Inch Electric Pusher Fan Euro Black High Torque Be Cool Radiator | Be Cool Radiators

 

I am not sure on the Spal branded made fan issue you are seeing.

An ideal fan motor would be a brushless design, but they are $$$ and for a similar fan to what I am using it would be in the $150-250 range. The brushless motors are used in numerous PWM controlled OE applications. I believe the newer Vettes and Camaros use a single ~18" brushless motor fan that is PWM controlled by the PCM. For a single electric fan they get down with the CFM. Volvo has a similar fan on some of their stuff.

The newer Corvette fan comes in two flavors. A 500 watt unit for North America and a 600 watt export motor for even hotter climates outside of North America. 600 watts at 13.5 volts is nearly 45 amps for one fan motor.

 

I think it may have been when brushless fans first came out and people were wary of them? It was quite a while ago I know. Like probably pre 2012 or so.


I'm wondering if SPAL is starting to focus on mainly supplying OE units to GM and others and reducing their aftermarket presence. I went over their website looking for an upgrade but find zero aftermarket products :/

 

It is very possible options have been reduced because of supply chain issues still existing and focusing on higher volume and more profitable contracts with OEMs. There is a Spal made centrifigual blower I need for the rear ac unit in my Express van that has been on backorder for months. My blower motor still works but it is getting weak.

 

I'm wondering if Be Cool is affiliated with SPAL and maybe SPAL is now the OE solution branch while be Cool is the new aftermarket branch.. After going over a lot of the Be Cool products, a lot look like what the SPAL units used to be (going by memory since there's nothing on the SPAL site) The BC descriptions also seem to reflect what I recall being on the SPAL site a while ago. It looks liek the BC product line has expanded significantly

The equivalent of the pusher I got appears to have the same description and is also called a "qualifier" whatever that means

 

Trying to answer that for you. I found a post on the Vette forum in a google search from 2002. The guy posting said Be Cool stated their fans are Spal and they openly considered them to be the best. 2+2 = 4 to me. It was over 20 years ago but with so many OEMs using Spal it is likely the case. IIRC Spal would not sell anything over 35-40 amps as an aftermarket fan unit because they doubted the average installers ability to correctly wire the thing without burning down their vehicle. It is very possible Spal is using Be Cool, Summit and others to distribute their product and not selling directly themself. The newer Camaros have like a 19" fan that has an 850 watt motor and it is Spal made. The PWM controller on it will automatically back off the power if the supply voltage drops below ~13V.

 

Ahh, thanks! I had a suspicion that's what happened, but couldnt find anything that would confirm that.!

I noticed on the Be Cool sie that some of the fans say they require a be Cool 40 amp relay. that all makes sense now..


Good to know the units are still in production.

 

I just searched "Spal Fan" on Summit Racings site and it shows 650 results. Many that Summit stocks. Look like Spal is still selling plenty of products.

Looks like Dewitts also markets Spal based off the search results.

 

Thats where I was confused wondering if they were just stock summit had, leftover units etc... back when I got mine i used the SPAL site to get al lthe specs and part numbers etc...
Good to know I can look at BC and see what info is on there.

 

I used Jegs,com transmission cooler tank made in USA installed between front grille right against Condensor with manual switch. Works great in 120 degree temperature. Engine was running less than half and cold air and great pickup.

Derale Electra-Cool Cooler Assembly Inlet Size: -6AN

Electra-Cool Cooler Assembly

• Inlet Size: -6AN
• 15.75" Width x 11.5" Height x 5" Depth
• 16 Pass

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