onthedownlow

iTrader: (4)

I have a derale fan controller hooked up to a single electric fan in my 1984 camaro. This set up worked fine for a few months and then one day the 30 amp fuse blew. So I replaced the blown fuse, and a few weeks later the fuse blew out again.... and this time I wasn't there to catch it. I had run into the house to get something and when I came out there was steam rolling out from under the hood. So I shut the car off immediately and popped the hood. The radiator was pissing out the rad cap and literally boiling in the overflow container, was a bad mess. This time the fuse holder was melted and no longer usable. So I went to the garage and bought a new heavy duty fuse holder and 30 amp fuse. I had thought that this would clear it up. Apparently not as the fuse blew out again last night. I noticed that the wire that comes from the fan controller was quite warm while the fan is running. One other thing I should mention is that when the fan does start it makes a groaning noise for about a second and goes away. Could the problem be that the fan itself is almost dead and this is what is causing the fuses to blow? I know I rambled a bit in this post but if you have any ideas why this is happening please share.

Thank you

Z06 FAN

I have the same brand controller and have had the exact same problems as you including the melted fuse holder. The first thing that happened was the fuse holder melting without blowing the fuse and melting the wires going into and out of the holder. Then I had replaced with a heavy duty fuse holder this week. Now I have blown the fuse twice in 2 days. I have an 87 Iroc with dual fans so I unhooked one fan to see what happens.

onthedownlow

iTrader: (4)

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that my problem is a burnt out fan motor. I got the fan from 86 formula, the car had 200 thousand on it. Hopefully another member from here has had this same problem and can tell us how they fixed it.

IROCmenace

iTrader: (1)

Some things to consider
- amp rating of the fan motor
- solid connections and ground, make sure ground wire is as big as supply wire
- bad controller

Sounds like resistance is making the wire heat up.

It is possible a bad/locked up motor could cause the resistance.

I had an issue where the relays on a Hayden controller clicked 5 times a second when they hit the turn on, turn off temp. I changed to a Dakota Digital and no more issues. Must have been bad out of the box.

onthedownlow

iTrader: (4)

Thanks IROCmenace, going to check these things out and see where I am, pretty sure the ground wire is the same size as the power.

one92rs

iTrader: (5)

also what kind of connectors did you use. regular crimp ons from the auto parts?? some of them are very cheap. also when crimping the terminals on most will make only one crimp. i crimp all my connectors at least twice. i usually buy uninsulated connectors. strip the wire enough to go thru the connector and a tiny bit sticking out the back. crimp the terminal from front to back and then solder the rear bare wire to the terminal. have never had a problem with this. after the soldering add heat shrink.

formula1LE

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like your fan motor is pulling right at the limits of the relay meaning worn out motor. If you are using a good quality relay, the ground lead does not have to be as big as the power supply wire since minimal current is required to energize the coil side of the relay.

Also keep in mind that high quality relays have better internal contact materials which resist overheating so you don't have a run on issue either.