Cooling fan upgrade comparison: Explorer 11-blade fan and HD clutch versus SPAL 19" 850-watt electric brushless fan

[Shank]

Way preliminary review,
Using this Camaro Spal fan in my 4.8 “LS” swap with the controller below, so far so good.

https://gkgoodcheapparts.com/products/fpm-brushless-fan-control

 

[MikeE024]

Way preliminary review,
Using this Camaro Spal fan in my 4.8 “LS” swap with the controller below, so far so good.

https://gkgoodcheapparts.com/products/fpm-brushless-fan-control

Great to hear it's working well so far.

Two days ago, my ECTs were 212 with the AC on in the 104* sunshine after I parked and idled my rig. In the five minutes it took to grab a meter and get amperage readings for Walrus, the ECTs dropped to 206* before I shut off the rig.

On another sunny 100* day, my ECTs dropped from 212 to 201 and then settled at 203 while idling a hot engine in the sun with the AC on for about 15 minutes after driving pretty hard in traffic.

(current controller settings: 160 min. /200 max. (getting the temp reading from the lower radiator hose))

 

[Wildman]

Way preliminary review,
Using this Camaro Spal fan in my 4.8 “LS” swap with the controller below, so far so good.

https://gkgoodcheapparts.com/products/fpm-brushless-fan-control

While more expensive this one was programed for A/C?

Lingenfelter Controller

 

[Shank]

While more expensive this one was programed for A/C?

Lingenfelter Controller

I can force the one I bought on with AC as well.

 

[Wildman]

I can force the one I bought on with AC as well.

I don't know anything about them. This one is just popular with the JK swapping crowd.

 

[Shank]

I don't know anything about them. This one is just popular with the JK swapping crowd.

This may have been posted here but this is a great resource. That controller would have my fan screaming for no reason with AC on.

https://www.240turbo.com/BrushlessFans.html#WMcontroller

 

[Wildman]

I can force the one I bought on with AC as well.

When you say forced are you just meaning that if A/C is on the fan is on 100%?

 

[Shank]

When you say forced are you just meaning that if A/C is on the fan is on 100%?

The Lingenfelter is forced 100%. The Widget Man that I have I can force to 100% OR I can have it run 50% more than current setting when AC is on. That’s a huge plus to me.

 

[Wildman]

The Lingenfelter is forced 100%. The Widget Man that I have I can force to 100% OR I can have it run 50% more than current setting when AC is on. That’s a huge plus to me.

OK... That is a big plus...

With the SPAL temperature sensor it's 100% on with the A/C.

 

[Shank]

OK... That is a big plus...

With the SPAL temperature sensor it's 100% on with the A/C.

I tapped my GM sensor for mine (I know it’s “the worst thing to do”).

 

[MikeE024]

The Lingenfelter is forced 100%. The Widget Man that I have I can force to 100% OR I can have it run 50% more than current setting when AC is on. That’s a huge plus to me.

What do you mean it’s forced to 100%?

The most mine has pulled so far with the 160/200 settings on the Lingenfelter is 24A with the AC on. To go to 100% at those settings, my ETCs would likely read around 225-230* since the GM sensor is reading at the lower radiator hose.

At 100%, the fan pulls 60A (which is screaming). I run an override switch as an emergency option in case I ever need 100%.

Before the hotter weather hit, I had the settings at 160/230, which had the fan pulling 10A.

 

[Shank]

What do you mean it’s forced to 100%?

The most mine has pulled so far with the 160/200 settings on the Lingenfelter is 24A with the AC on. To go to 100% at those settings, my ETCs would likely read around 225-230* since the GM sensor is reading at the lower radiator hose.

At 100%, the fan pulls 60A (which is screaming). I run an override switch as an emergency option in case I ever need 100%.

Before the hotter weather hit, I had the settings at 160/230, which had the fan pulling 10A.

According to Lingenfelter’s instructions:

“When the override input is activated, the fan/pump will operate at maximum speed”

Perhaps it is not this way?

 

[MikeE024]

According to Lingenfelter’s instructions:

“When the override input is activated, the fan/pump will operate at maximum speed”

Perhaps it is not this way?

No, that’s correct.

The override input (via a rocker switch in my case) tells the controller to run the fan at 100%. It’s an emergency option that overrides the settings in case you ever need it.

Edit: I think I understand your situation a little bit more, but I’m still guessing.

Were your widget man settings determined with the AC off, and it’s unable to adapt to the coolant temp increase with the AC on? I assume that’s why you have to have the fan increase by 50% when the AC is switched on? Can you have the widget man learn in stages, so stage A is with the AC off and stage B is with AC on? Maybe that’s Arduino territory.

It’s all one stage with the Lingenfelter. But turning the AC on simply warms up the coolant a bit more, and the fan ramps up based on the temp increase reported by the GM sensor.

 

[Shank]

No, that’s correct.

The override input (via a rocker switch in my case) tells the controller to run the fan at 100%. It’s an emergency option that overrides the settings in case you ever need it.

Edit: I think I understand your situation a little bit more, but I’m still guessing.

Were your widget man settings determined with the AC off, and it’s unable to adapt to the coolant temp increase with the AC on? I assume that’s why you have to have the fan increase by 50% when the AC is switched on? Can you have the widget man learn in stages, so stage A is with the AC off and stage B is with AC on? Maybe that’s Arduino territory.

It’s all one stage with the Lingenfelter. But turning the AC on simply warms up the coolant a bit more, and the fan ramps up based on the temp increase reported by the GM sensor.

I was wondering if you were using it that way. It seems its common to force on fan with AC. However there should be no reason either controller cannot see the increase engine temps and change fan speed.

Perhaps there’s a benefit not for engije temp, but for AC operation to have fan running faster?

 

[Steel City 06]

I was wondering if you were using it that way. It seems its common to force on fan with AC. However there should be no reason either controller cannot see the increase engine temps and change fan speed.

Perhaps there’s a benefit not for engije temp, but for AC operation to have fan running faster?

Basically you just want to have some minimum airflow at all. Full fan worked okay for setups with low-powered fans, but now that we have fans over a horsepower, full power ends up being pretty ridiculous and wasteful.

If there is zero airflow through the evaporator with the AC running, you will trigger the high pressure switch. It will also stress out your AC components and shorten their lifespan.

 

[MikeE024]

I was wondering if you were using it that way. It seems its common to force on fan with AC. However there should be no reason either controller cannot see the increase engine temps and change fan speed.

Perhaps there’s a benefit not for engije temp, but for AC operation to have fan running faster?

I don’t have before and after numbers, but I noticed that my AC runs a bit cooler in idle on hot days than it did in the past. I can only guess that this is because it’s moving more air in idle than the stock setup did (since the fan speed is driven by the coolant temp).

This is obviously a different discussion than Steel sharing that a minimum fan speed is necessary to prevent AC pressure issues. (Which is why he added the diode). And walrus is working on a setup that can provide even less minimum fan speed than the diode would provide.

It’s going to be 110* and sunny today, so I’ll get a temp reading with the multimeter just for fun.

Does the widget man constantly relearn and adapt?

 

[Shank]

I don’t have before and after numbers, but I noticed that my AC runs a bit cooler in idle on hot days than it did in the past. I can only guess that this is because it’s moving more air in idle than the stock setup did (since the fan speed is driven by the coolant temp).

This is obviously a different discussion than Steel sharing that a minimum fan speed is necessary to prevent AC pressure issues. (Which is why he added the diode). And walrus is working on a setup that can provide even less minimum fan speed than the diode would provide.

It’s going to be 110* and sunny today, so I’ll get a temp reading with the multimeter just for fun.

Does the widget man constantly relearn and adapt?

To be perfectly honest I haven’t done extensive research on different options. I knew this would work for me, I am on a super tight schedule so I just had to pull the trigger and run with it.

 

[MikeE024]

It was 110* here and felt hotter in the sun.

I checked the AC vent temp after I parked (52.1*).

 

[MikeE024]

Another brief update.

It’s 108* here and my ECTs bumped up to 221 by time I parked with the AC on. I noticed that my coolant temps briefly peak when coming to a stand still.

Idling in the sun with the AC on, my temps dropped to 201 and steadied again to 203.

So far the fan seems to be helping. In the past, the stock fan was outpaced by the heat when idling with the AC on.

 

[Steel City 06]

Another brief update.

It’s 108* here and my ECTs bumped up to 221 by time I parked with the AC on. I noticed that my coolant temps briefly peak when coming to a stand still.

Idling in the sun with the AC on, my temps dropped to 201 and steadied again to 203.

So far the fan seems to be helping. In the past, the stock fan was outpaced by the heat when idling with the AC on.

That makes sense. It takes time for the fan to ramp up after the return leg gets warm, and also the thermostat opens more at the same time to compensate for the drop in flow. But it does catch up quickly in my experience as well.

Since the E-fan can provide 100% power at engine idle, it can probably pull more air than even the Explorer fan did at idle.