i want to wire an electric fan to my fuse box

[joncash]

Well that about says it. How many of you have gone to the trouble of tapping into the fuse box as opposed to just splicing a keyed on wire?

I never do custom wiring, so I'm a little shaky, but I really want this install to go smoothly and be as reliable as possible. Are the fuse box adapter kits safe?

I'm installing a Black Magic Xstream this weekend, and deleting my AC at the same time. Searching gave me some generals but not the specifics I was looking for, so please, pretend I took the short bus to school and lay it out for me.

 

[89streetbeast]

if your looking for a hot wire for your fan from the fusebox i advise not to do it. had mine tapped that way and about toasted the casing for the fuses. if you want to use it as a hot for a toggle switch then run a relay from your fan to the battery then that would work i guess. depends on how you want to hook it up wether its on with a switch or on with a like a coolant temp sensor.

edit: if you go with a sensor and relay type wiring this would work great http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM-890016

 

[HISSIN50]

Agreed. Some fans can have a start-up draw of 75-100 amps. Nothing in the interior wiring was designed for that, especially given the distance the fan is from the fusebox.

A 50 or 75 amp relay is a much more efficient and safe way to do things. I'm not too big on using a manual fan switch alone either. There are some fairly cheap adjustable fan controllers out there that work. Or go with the best - DcControl.com. It's also real easy to wire up if you are not into wiring things.

Good luck.

 

[joncash]

Gotcha, wiring to fuse box is bad. The Xstream fan kit cam w/ a fan controller that has an integral temp sensor and allows a manual override switch as well as an AC kick on function. I might go to the DC Control unit later, but I was trying to get this thing working this weekend.

I'm okay with reading the wiring diagram, but I should have said that I'm unsure about tapping into the car's harness. Since I'm deleting the AC is there a way I can use that circuit? My main concern is finding a reliable/safe power source. Hope that clarifies a little, thanks for the replies, guys.

 

[Modular2v]

your going to need a relay too!

 

[Mustang78]

i just got some 12ga wire and made my own wire to the starter solenoid.. and a 12ga ground..i used a random wire in the harness to trip the relay when the key is turned on with no ill effects..i bought a parts store adjustable fan controller and it works great

~Mark~

 

[superhuaman]

I used a 4cyl electric fan module, but thats cuz it was already there, lol. It controls a 70A relay with a 60A maxifuse. works goooood.

 

[HISSIN50]

Gotcha, wiring to fuse box is bad. The Xstream fan kit cam w/ a fan controller that has an integral temp sensor and allows a manual override switch as well as an AC kick on function. I might go to the DC Control unit later, but I was trying to get this thing working this weekend.

I'm okay with reading the wiring diagram, but I should have said that I'm unsure about tapping into the car's harness. Since I'm deleting the AC is there a way I can use that circuit? My main concern is finding a reliable/safe power source. Hope that clarifies a little, thanks for the replies, guys.

Cool - you should have about all you need (you'd hope the kit includes a relay if it doesn't use a PWM/variable speed output).

As said, the best power source for the load-side of the circuit is the battery (using fused power from there). For the control side, if you want the fan to shut off with the key, an accessory wire under hood works fine. You won't want to use the AC for anything if deleting it. I'd just wire up the controller and include the manual on/off switch.

Good luck.

 

[jrichker]

i just got some 12ga wire and made my own wire to the starter solenoid.. and a 12ga ground..i used a random wire in the harness to trip the relay when the key is turned on with no ill effects..i bought a parts store adjustable fan controller and it works great

~Mark~

This is as good a method as any. Since it is a 30 amp circuit, I would run a 10 gauge wire and fuse the power wire coming from the starter solenoid. The red wire on the low coolant sensor or the red/green wire on the ignition coil are good sources of low current power for a relay coil.

Important: note that one end of the diode case has a band around it. The band goes towards the powered side of the circuit. The other end goes to ground. If you reverse the diode, you will make smoke.

Note that Radio Shack has a suitable relay & socket if you don't want the red fan off LED.

Relay Radio Shack Catalog #: 275-226
Relay socket Catalog #: 55017871

 

[joncash]

Okay, anyone who has read my posts might have caught on to the fact that I'm a little obsessive. I checked some articles on wiring up a fan controller and relay and they generally agreed on the basic configuration outlined in the Ford Muscle article. I spent a little while trying to figure out how to integrate the diagram in that article w/ the diagram in the instructions and got a little unsure.

Then I wondered why Flex-a-Lite could be so bold as to sell a fan kit for almost three hundred smackers and not include a relay. So I took the module apart, and holy crap, there was my relay. The module that comes in the #185 kit is almost exactly (internally) like the diagram in the FM article. The controller and relay are soldered directly to a circuit board and then stuffed into the plastic housing. That's really cool.

At least I'm optimistic now. I still have a stock alternator that is a least a relatively fresh Motorcraft unit, so maybe it'll crutch me by until I get that Pa Performance unit I've been wanting. If it doesn't....I think we all know where this is going.

I'm putting this thing in on Friday, I'll definitely post the results.

 

[HISSIN50]

Sounds good.

Not being familiar with your controller and not having seen a schematic, I wasn't sure. For future reference, if the schematic shows fused-battery power going into the controller, feed power out to the fan, a 12 volt input and ground input (the latter-most often from the controller and/or a manual switch), that suggests there's an on-board relay.

Good luck with it!

 

[Mustang78]

the LED is a good idea, looks like i'll be wiring one up this weekend to some spot on my little idiot light panel under the radio..maybe make a new hole for the LED above the radiator on the picture?? damn i'm good..haha

~Mark~