Taurus fan control

[Bigburlynakedguy]

One of the issues that needs to be addressed when installing a Taurus fan is the wiring. The fans draw near 80 amps at start up then simmers down to a mere 30 amps of continuous draw. These awesome fans pull around 3000 cfm, more than enough to cool even the meanest jeep motor.

I first ran mine through a relay that came on when the ignition was on. This cooled the jeep great, but two problems were evident. The fan was on high all the time, which made it very loud, and my jeep likes to run around 190 degrees, and it took extra long to get it up to operating temperature. The type of wheeling I do means stopping and starting a lot. I will get out of my jeep and spot for someone, leaving my jeep sometimes for an hour or more. The fan on continuously from start up means the jeep takes a long time to warm up.

In steps DC Controls, www.dccontrol.com has designed and built a controller unlike any switch on the market. Designed for the Taurus fans, it has a simple probe into the radiator to determine temperature and is set to come on at 180 degrees. There are prongs on the controller and jumpers that will increase or decrease the motor temp by 14 and 28 degrees respectively. I set mine to come on at 166 degrees.

The fan comes on gradually so there is no voltage spike to contend with. When the jeep is warming up, the fan does not come on. The controller adjusts the speed of the fan to what it needs, so it runs quiet most of the time. There is a wire for A/C that turns the fan on to 50% power when the A/C come on, which I hooked to the OBA compressor. There is an ignition wire that can be hooked up to either the ignition or 12v to run the fan even after the ignition is turned off. I opted to run it 12v hot all the time, to cool the jeep when it is off. The fan stays on for about 90 seconds until it has cooled the radiator to below 166 degrees. The kit contains wires for the fan, to the battery, to the A/C and the ignition, as well as the jumpers to adjust the temperature setings.

The kit I bought contained the probe, wiring and controller for $110. You could very well buy just the controller for $80 and probe for $15, but the wiring kit sure made things easy. Here are a couple pics of the mounting and the unit.


Special thanks to Randii on the board for turning me on to the product.

[rockmup]

Nice................. thanks

Can this be turned off manually ? For deep water ?

[Isley]

Can you wire it into both of the fans inputs (hi and lo) or is it either or? I'm assuming the latter.
You mentioned that the controller adjusts the speed of the fan. Does it step it's speed based on the 'base' temp and go up from there? ie.. every 10 degrees above 166 (in your case) up the fan speed by another say 15%.

[Bigburlynakedguy]

If you connect the (yellow) ignition wire to a switch, you could turn it off for deep water. I wheel in the desert and have never seen water past my tires, so I didn't need to.


The Taurus fans are designed to run on either or field, but not both. They actually run faster on just high as opposed to low and high at the same time. By the time my engine is at 180-190 it is at full speed, so yes, it steps up quickly as needed.

[SeaBass44]

Adj. Fan Thermostat, Auto Zone, Imperial Automotive Products (Hayden) p/n:226203, cheapest I have found yet that is reliable and works decent $17

[ToiletDuck]

Originally Posted by SeaBass44

Adj. Fan Thermostat, Auto Zone, Imperial Automotive Products (Hayden) p/n:226203, cheapest I have found yet that is reliable and works decent $17

i run the same setup and it works great.

[Bigburlynakedguy]

The Hayden controllers are a decent option, but not intended for the amp draw of a taurus fan. So add two $25 relays and you are close. I saw 3 Hayden controllers go bad last year, that's why I wanted a better option.

[randii]

Glad it worked out for you -- I was tickled with mine. There's some more details in this thread, but I think you pretty much hit the highlights above:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...ght=controller

Getting the coolant up to temp fast and STAYING there is perfect for EFI -- perfect for the pulse-width modulation that they use in these controllers. Smart move hooking the fan up to a constant 12V -- the electronic thermostat will shut it off, if everything works well. Far simpler than the setup I installed!

Randii

[Wilson]

To get this straight, this box takes the place of:
-Thermal switch
-relay
-circuit breaker
as in wire it up and you are good to go?

[SeaBass44]

Originally Posted by Bigburlynakedguy

The Hayden controllers are a decent option, but not intended for the amp draw of a taurus fan. So add two $25 relays and you are close. I saw 3 Hayden controllers go bad last year, that's why I wanted a better option.

of course I run relays

P.S. org post, nice controller

[Bigburlynakedguy]

Originally Posted by Wilson

To get this straight, this box takes the place of:
-Thermal switch
-relay
-circuit breaker
as in wire it up and you are good to go?

Yes, the kit also comes with a fusable link to wire it into the battery.

Like Randii said in the other post, there are cheaper options, but IMHO, few better.

[ironpig70]

how do you install the probe into the radiator????

[6869704x4]

Ive seen alot of posts about the Taurus fans but dont remember anybody saying they got the controls from the car. I realize all the pieces might not be there but if you got the controls from the car you know it would handle the load. Wire the relay with a switch and your good to go.
Is there something about the controls that I dont now about that would make it more complicated?

[randii]

Originally Posted by ironpig70

how do you install the probe into the radiator????

It inserts between the fins near the inlet -- I suspected it at first, but it seems to work fairly well, based on keeping it cool on a buddy's 351 mustang. We checked it with an infrared non-contact thermometer.

DCC also has some sort of inductive heat sensor that you can bolt to the thermostat housing. Both are solid state, variable resistance sensors, not fluid-based bulb/capillaries.

Randii

[NavyDood]

Model FK-35 is all you need to run a Mark VIII or Taurus fan. With the Taurus fan, you only use the high speed wire (yel/brn) and ground (blk) and leave the low speed disconnected. It regulates the speed of the fan depending on the temps from the probe that sticks in the fins of the radiator.

[Daveyclimber]

I Also purchased the dc control for my road racing mustang , very very simple to wire up and very clean without alot of crap like relays and such . Havent fired the car up as of yet . I have read many raving reviews of this product and it is just so damn simple . Plus you can wire in a switch , hook it up to AC or any other accesory that you want to activate the fan . purchased the LED light so i know that it is running for sure , hard to hear with straight pipes

[gtxracer]

Originally Posted by SeaBass44

Adj. Fan Thermostat, Auto Zone, Imperial Automotive Products (Hayden) p/n:226203, cheapest I have found yet that is reliable and works decent $17

I'm gonna try this unit. For $17, you might as well.

[Daveyclimber]

Hope it works , just remember you get what you pay for . dont mean to sound rude , but if your gonna be that anal about it you might as well wire the fan directly to a battery kill switch and control it manually . Maybe i'm being a bit pssimistic , but thats my style

[mj]

you do not "get what you pay for"
you get what you deserve

[SeaBass44]

The $17 unit works very well, hell a big relay through the ignition works great too, FORD seems to think so.....& they have not had trouble with it in how many years of the taurus?

[ExtremeXJ]

Originally Posted by SeaBass44

The $17 unit works very well, hell a big relay through the ignition works great too, FORD seems to think so.....& they have not had trouble with it in how many years of the taurus?

How does the $17 controller work? Does it start the fan at a lower speed to avoid the amparage draw?

I am very interested in this mod.....

-Rock

[usmcdoc14]

Originally Posted by ironpig70

how do you install the probe into the radiator????

I actually install mine INSIDE the radiator top hose by bending the metal tube that the "probe" end is on 180* using my finger to get a nice smooth radius. The probe goes in the upper outlet and the hose goes over the outlet and the probe tube.
never had it leak and is very accurate. also it does not damage your radiator fins and can not be knocked out/ vibrated loose

[SeaBass44]

Originally Posted by ExtremeXJ

How does the $17 controller work? Does it start the fan at a lower speed to avoid the amparage draw?

I am very interested in this mod.....

-Rock

No, just a cheap T-Stat controller

[studlybilly]

I dont see the difficulty in using a continuous duty Solenoid, and putting a cab mounted switch in the 12v trigger. Keep it switched off on dead cold starts until she's ready for the hurricane. $17 Isn't bad if there reliable and work good though.

[SeaBass44]

Funny I was just asked about this from an Ebay customer this morning.

Here is same thing I told him

I do not offer a kit & I have run this fan in a jeep before, GREAT FAN!

I never hooked up the t-stat controller, just had it on with ignition, but found out about this T-Stat controller on the net


Adj. Fan Thermostat, Auto Zone, Imperial Automotive Products (Hayden) p/n:226203, cheapest I have found yet that is reliable and works decent $17

that and a 3 position switch on-off-on & a 70amp or better relay

I have 70 amp relays $20each 2 required with a 3 way switch, at least the way I came up with, see drawing attached
3 position Neopreme O-Ring sealed & a rubber boot too DPDT toggle $20
$6 shipping
$66 + go get the T-stat control at Auto zone

there are many ways to hook up a fan, this is just another way