# Electric primary engine cooling conversion



## HL Vogt (Nov 21, 2012)

Has anyone changed the belt driven engine cooling fan to electric?


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## akjimny (Nov 21, 2012)

Hi HL and welcome to the RVUSA Forum.  Need more clues.  What are you contemplating changing the fan on?  Post back and we'll try to come up with some answers.


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## HL Vogt (Nov 21, 2012)

I'm looking to get more efficient cooling as well as free up some HP for better climbing and flat-land mileage.  The target is a "98 HR Endeavor, 37 ft., with the standard 5.9 L Cummins 24 valve & Allison 6-speed World trans.  Have contacted a few vendors but they don't offer a "kit" for this kind of service or recommend their fans for gross weights above 18K.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd previously looked into the Banks systems but their mechanics and fit-up wouldn't fit; combined with their lack of concern pushed me to get all the parts returned.  There are many options for enhancing this engine's performance outside of Banks and I figured the fan change would be a good start.


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## LEN (Nov 21, 2012)

Think for the $$$$, if your motor is electronic, I would go with a programmer and a piro gauge. That would give the xtra HP/torque and maybe a bit of mileage to boot.

LEN


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## akjimny (Nov 22, 2012)

HL - I'm not a diesel expert (or any other kind of expert, really)but I'm sure somebody makes an aftermarket electric fan that could be adapted to your rig.  Just going to Google I came up with over two million hits.  The stuff on the first page looked promising.

Maybe one of the diesel experts will see this and chip in with more expert advice.


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## HL Vogt (Nov 23, 2012)

I've done searches with key words that may have been too restrictive and, maybe, narrowed my returns since they never ended up with the quantity of responses you did!!!  What was your search criteria?


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## HL Vogt (Nov 23, 2012)

You make a good point and maybe this could aid the cooling issue indirectly by working the engine less for the same load.  I have the gauges and considered the programmer but not as the initial upgrade.  
Increasing available HP/Torque while making the cooling more efficient with one modification made the thought of switching the belt driven fan to electric was appealing and I hadn't considered it a major expense.  
The programmer would be a simpler implementation too!  Thanks for the "brain jog".


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## Clay L (Nov 23, 2012)

It won't work the engine less. 
The alternator supplies the electricity to turn the fan and the alternator takes the same HP from the engine to generate the power to spin the fan as the mechanical fan did plus some small loss in mechanical to electrical conversion.

The only way an electrical fan can use less power from the engine is if the blade design yields a more efficient movement of air.    

The concept is TANSTASAFL.
 Coined by Robert Heinlein as I recall. It stands  for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" A pretty good restatement of the First Law of Thermodynamics.


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## HL Vogt (Nov 23, 2012)

Clay L:  Thanks, I've ruled out the electric fan as a viable alteration.  Besides, the existing fan is temp. controlled via a clutch so any perceived gains would be marginal at best even with a more modern blade design.  Power gains via other methods abound for the Cummins so I'll defer to the experienced pros and proceed accordingly.

All the best,


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## trell (Dec 19, 2012)

Electric fan are much more efficient than a belt driven fan for many of reasons. They do-not run all the time as a belt driven on does, even with a a clutch fan the are still not as good a Electric ones.That is one reason why about all new cars are equip. with them. But I know little about diesel motors as my coach is a V10 Ford.


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