Desert Cooler Radiator results

Just had a short but interesting conversation with Desert Radiators, they said the standard radiator is good for street but no good for offroad, as is my experience. Said their radiator is twice the capacity of the standard radiator.

Asked about fitting a thermo fan and they said that fitting a thermo fan would be going backwards as the standard viscous is fine. I also can't see how a electric fan can pump as much air as A fan the size of the viscous hooked up to the motor, just my comprehension of it.

Also said would not be able to notice power gain by going to a thermo fan.

Any way based on my research I will go ahead fit one, test over January on sand tracks and post the results for those interested.

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Originally Posted by Hammer H

Thank you Businessconnected ,Has anyone else experience with thermo fans, I can't imagine thermo fans can suck as much air as the viscous. On the other hand I believe thermo fans are fitted to worked performance hot rods, v8s, big blocks, or am I wrong?

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Thermo-electric fans are not all created equal. There is a massive variation in power required and thus air moved. Even for fans that look pretty much the same.
They also need to be fully shrouded to suck air through the whole radiator. Unshrouded fans just recirculate hot air.

The one major advantage of electric fans is being able to move maximum air at low engine speeds. Viscous fans of course move most of the air at higher rpm.

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Originally Posted by TheTree

A thermo fan should be fine as long as it moves at least 2000 CFM of air

Steve

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Just be careful, many fans from non reputable brands claim fictitious airflow numbers. If anyone is serious then download a SPAL fan catalogue and have a dig through. They list power draw and air flow curves for all their fans. You can at least trust their figures.

You'll find Spal fans on most ferraris. Probably mafia connections.:angel:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hammer H

Just had a short but interesting conversation with Desert Radiators, they said the standard radiator is good for street but no good for offroad, as is my experience. Said their radiator is twice the capacity of the standard radiator.

Asked about fitting a thermo fan and they said that fitting a thermo fan would be going backwards as the standard viscous is fine. I also can't see how a electric fan can pump as much air as A fan the size of the viscous hooked up to the motor, just my comprehension of it.

Also said would not be able to notice power gain by going to a thermo fan.

Any way based on my research I will go ahead fit one, test over January on sand tracks and post the results for those interested.

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I too had the same conversation with Norm and I disagree about the thermo fans, after all the later Rangies etc have them fitted

On thing is though that it is a lot more work to fit the thermo fan !

Since I have a good standard radiator and an engine watchdog fitted, I shall report on how it behaves offroad during the coming summer


Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dougal

Thermo-electric fans are not all created equal. There is a massive variation in power required and thus air moved. Even for fans that look pretty much the same.
They also need to be fully shrouded to suck air through the whole radiator. Unshrouded fans just recirculate hot air.

The one major advantage of electric fans is being able to move maximum air at low engine speeds. Viscous fans of course move most of the air at higher rpm.



Just be careful, many fans from non reputable brands claim fictitious airflow numbers. If anyone is serious then download a SPAL fan catalogue and have a dig through. They list power draw and air flow curves for all their fans. You can at least trust their figures.

You'll find Spal fans on most ferraris. Probably mafia connections.:angel:

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Yes agreed you must be careful and use a reputable manufacturer for the fan

Desert coolers came with a shroud and of course running one without a shroud is pretty useless

Norm told me the fan they supplied moved 2800 CFM of air so that seemed to be more than adequate

Steve

I see spal thermos can move up to 3000cfm, but I wonder how much air the standard viscous moves.

I also fitted a watch dog temp sensor and this is what has encouraged me to look at better cooling options.

As the watch dog climbed to 102 degrees Celsius the standard gauge said all was fine and had not moved at all. The day was pleasant October day maybe 25c it's the constant sand driving at low speed that woks the temp up, I also had the standard thermos on high with a bypass switch wich seem to help by about 2 degrees c.

I admit my my cooling system may not have everything replace recently, new radiator two years ago, but IMO the cooling system does not cut it for the 4wd I do, maybe it would if at 100 p/c.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hammer H

I see spal thermos can move up to 3000cfm, but I wonder how much air the standard viscous moves.

I also fitted a watch dog temp sensor and this is what has encouraged me to look at better cooling options.

As the watch dog climbed to 102 degrees Celsius the standard gauge said all was fine and had not moved at all. The day was pleasant October day maybe 25c it's the constant sand driving at low speed that woks the temp up, I also had the standard thermos on high with a bypass switch wich seem to help by about 2 degrees c.

I admit my my cooling system may not have everything replace recently, new radiator two years ago, but IMO the cooling system does not cut it for the 4wd I do, maybe it would if at 100 p/c.

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102 degrees is completely normal. Why would the gauge move? They are built with a dead-band in the middle to not alarm easily worried drivers.

It's only above 115C that you need to start being careful.

Maybe I'm wrong, I thought getting to 105c was too hot.

A 15psi radiator cap will stop water from boiling until around 120C. Glycol can push that higher (haven't checked).

Have now placed the order, hoping for the same results as Fantom P38, thanks all for your input.

im not replacing any other parts thermostat, water pump etc, so I will see the direct comparison and report back after some hot days in January.

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hammer H

Have now placed the order, hoping for the same results as Fantom P38, thanks all for your input.

im not replacing any other parts thermostat, water pump etc, so I will see the direct comparison and report back after some hot days in January.

Cheers

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Good choice I reckon, let us know how it goes mate

Steve