6 replies to this topic

[eden7842]

hey

whats the better fan, ive got a plastic but wonderd if a metal one does the job better or worse?

cheers

[cobblers]

I was searching for this earlier. More or less found out that less blades = more power, but noisier.
Interested to hear opinions though - I've got a 2 blade steel fan and a 12 blade plastic fan, unsure which to use. Don't really mind a bit of noise if it cools better (I also have an electric fan fitted on the wheel side of the inner wing, but thinking of moving it onto the rad)

Edited by cobblers, 08 December 2009 - 11:14 PM.

[dudiome]

hey guys, i havnt got exact figures to hand, but from memory, according to mr Vizard, the fan is only any use up to 30mph, between 30 to 60mph air flow is enough to keep things cold and above 60mph it is actually causing more labour on your engine than good!

i have had bad experiences with metal blade fans and have found the best method is to either bin the fan all together, save yourself the 3hp it uses, and buy one of the ones just out from minispares or moss or somewhere and bolt it to the rad. or, use the plastic fan, but cut an inch or so off the blades.

a happily running 998 or even a fast 1275 running a good rad will not need the fan between 50 and 70mph. i have proven this by mistake and fanbelt neglect!
my next plan is to use the standard rover mini aux electric fan and a good 2core or 4core rad, havnt looked into which is better yet. and besides, mini fans are noisey!!

scott

[rick.spi]

i wouldnt just run without a fan unless you do a full front conversion and eleccy job... not worth the risk by any means.

i think the plastic fan has the effect of turning into a disk and not working very eficiently at all after certain revs (i read that on here ) and the metal ones are better at higher revs, think 2 will be a bit too few tho surely.

i came to the conclusion this meant more fans are better at low revs, and less fans sre better for high revs... please someone correct me if im wrong.

Edited by rick.spi, 09 December 2009 - 04:58 PM.

[Cooperman]

I would never run without a fan. It is too costly if you overheat the engine. If you are running an oil cooler plus spotlights, the air has enough difficulty getting in there without not having a fan.
The old 16-blade fan was very poor when high revs are used and event e4h 11-blade plastic can suffer from 'cascade effect', which is when the fan works as a solid disc (also known as 'discing - I wonder why!).
The best fan is the metal 6-blade export fan. It doesn't bend like the plastic ones either, but t is a bit noisier. If you don't intend on pulling any sustained revs over about 5700, then the 11-blade plastic is fine and quite quiet. For sustained revs of over 5700, then go for the 6-blade metal one.
My '64 'S' has a 6-blade metal plus an electric Kenlowe, a thermostat blanking sleeve and it still gets quite hot on hot days when in traffic or whilst waiting to start special stages.

[sharps555]

2 core rad all the way apparently it is more about air flow through the engine then about surface area as the 4 core rads are worse for cooling as the airflow is blocked

[lawnmowercrap]

3 core radiator easily is the best.

As for what fan, the 2 blade ones are shockingly poor and really noisy. Why else would austin / BL / rover have upgraded them?

You could run a metal 4 blade fan and a 3 core rad and itd be fine.

I ran a 4 blade and a 3 core on my 1275. It never used to overheat, but would get very warm in traffic. Changed it to a plastic fan and never had a problem really after that.


Lee