Cooling fans stopped working

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

3 Fans on 1 circuit is a poor idea. All the fans coming on line at the same time will create a huge surge of required current. Split the circuit, nuf said. Or just let the front ones spin in the wind.

I agree 100%. It's a design flaw with the ERA electrical system. Even on paper there is virtually no "safety margin" in the circuit, much less in real practice. Splitting the circuit up with a separate feed and a separate relay adds quite a bit of robustness to it all. In its original design, if any one of the three fans' motors starts to bind up, you're going to blow the single fuse and kill everything -- that means being towed home. If the one relay that controls it all breaks, unless you're able to switch it out by the side of the road, you're going to be towed home. And those pusher fans will let you get through traffic without the puller. They're not the greatest, but they do make a difference at slow speeds. If my main SPAL puller fails, or the main relay fails, or the main circuit breaker for the SPAL fails, and I'm in bumper to bumper traffic, I just flip the switch and those pushers will keep me from overheating and I'll be able make it home. I really hate being towed home.