just bought two 12 inch spal fans

[definitiveno]

any tips or things I should know about the install? I was thinking of just hanging it with some home made straps or some thing, any one have pics of your installs?

 

[DSMJim]

any tips or things I should know about the install? I was thinking of just hanging it with some home made straps or some thing, any one have pics of your installs?

I installed mine through the rad with zip ties so they sit right on the rad it's self. Wire both of them to your normal circut, not one to the normal circut and one to the a/c like stock. The spal fans pull less air then stock but give you a whole lot more room. You will find that with just one spal fan wired up to the normal relay you will likely overheat because they don't move enough air.

Once I wired both upto the normal on off relay it worked great. You'll have to play around with your wiring though cause the normally open is only two wires vs. the stock wiring of 4 wires. You will have to get it to work on the high setting which you can trigger with the fan turn on mod you do on the ecu.

 

[Bastard1g]

Yea, my car overheats with just one. i have to order another one. For the time being, I am watching the needle while leaving the heat on (sometimes on high in hot ass florida) I will order one this week though. How can you tell what speed it is at though?

 

[99gst_racer]

Here's a couple pics of the set-up I intended to use....

My dump tube was in the way of the AC fan, so I took this 12" one off and opted for a 10". You dont need straps to mount these. Flex-a-lite makes a nifty kit. It is plastic screws and washers that run through the core of the radiator. They hold very strong and only cost about $6 per kit.

I'm not sure about your SPAL fans, but mine pulls 1230 CFM at 0 static pressure and 12 volts. I would assume 2 SPALs woul;d flow way more than 2 stockers. How much CFM do the stockers flow anyway?

 

[definitiveno]

My spals are rated at 1260. (, my spalls are bigger than yours)



That kit looks cool, very practical.... the only other way ive seen was to cut metal straps out and hang the best you can from the radiator mounts, not very sturdy. Any more info on how to splice the wiring will be helpful....



Jim, did you cut and splice the signal wire from the main fan and maintain the original power and ground? A little more detail will help me get a better idea.


Thanks,
defno

 

[99gst_racer]

Any more info on how to splice the wiring will be helpful....

Hopefully, this thread can help you....
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170592

 

[GSX]

I'm not sure about your SPAL fans, but mine pulls 1230 CFM at 0 static pressure and 12 volts. I would assume 2 SPALs would flow way more than 2 stockers. How much CFM do the stockers flow anyway?

Hmmm, interesting. My experience with slim fans is that they don't do nearly the job in moving air that the stockers to - despite what it say here Flex-a-lite. I believe it has to do simply with the angle/depth of the blades ... the greater the angle/depth, the more air it is likely to move.

I'll be watching this thread to see what happens. Let's continue the discussion.

 

[BlknBlue2G]

It definitely has to do with the lower frontal area of the radiator that the fans are pulling air through without any sort of a shroud. I would suspect the stockers flow the claimed 25% less but without using all of the radiator frontal area you need that 25% just to break even. Also with the motor right up against the fins you are also going to lose performance. I dont know if I want to believe anything that says "200% MORE STYLE"

 

[Mackzero]

My setup is exactly like 99 GST Racer's. I have no overheating problems what so ever. I run the fans like the factory, but I did wire up the a/c fan to a switch and relay so I can turn it on when ever I wish. Haven't had to do that yet though....

 

[definitiveno]

for the engine side I bought a high performance spal puller, says it pulls 1650 cfm (not really a slim line, just a small shroud), for the condenser side I bought a slimmer one though. Only flows 1250.......


Should I still rewire it for both to run?

 

[99gst_racer]

Hmmm, interesting. My experience with slim fans is that they don't do nearly the job in moving air that the stockers to - despite what it say here Flex-a-lite. I believe it has to do simply with the angle/depth of the blades ... the greater the angle/depth, the more air it is likely to move.

I'll be watching this thread to see what happens. Let's continue the discussion.

Actually, I think the biggest area of importance is the way they are mounted. If you have your fan mounted with a 1/2" gap between the fan itself and the radiator, then that is not good. The puller fan will 'suck' it's air in from the path of least resistance and in this case about 75% of the total amount of air the fan is moving, would be coming from around the sides of the fan. Leaving only 25% of the fan's potential to cool the radiator. If you have your fan(s) mounted right up against the radiator, then there is only one path for air to follow; which is being sucked through the core of the radiator.

I've seen this first hand too. Flex-a-lite was here doing a seminar/demonstration at my work about 5 months ago. The radiator temps were significantly lower with the fan mounted flush against the radiator as apposed to a 1/2" gap.

 

[99gst_racer]

I believe it has to do simply with the angle/depth of the blades.

Actually, I was told by flex-a-lite that they experiment with blade angle and curvature more for dampening sound as apposed to increasing airflow. Their new S-blade series fans look totally different compared to the standard Trimline fans. I figured they flowed more or differently; come to find out they flowed the same and the design changes were made for quiet operation.

 

[GSX]

Thank you 99gst_racer. That was very informational.

Again, I'll be following this tread as I think this is one of the biggest problems we face as DSMers when using bigger turbos/FMICs

 

[drewbird91]

Just my 2 cents, I had my one spal fine attached like 99gst racers, threw the radiator. That caused my stock radiator to leak, basically cause I jammed a wire/strap threw it. I would suggest going to the hardware store and getting a metal strip with holes/slots in it and fab up some brackets. It took me a hour or so. I had to buy a fluidyne radiator since I ran those straps threw my stock radiator, couldn't get just another stock one. Make some brackets and paint them black.

 

[99gst_racer]

That caused my stock radiator to leak, basically cause I jammed a wire/strap threw it.

Dude, not to call BS or anything, but that's what those plastic screws were designed for. They go through the fins.... How could you justify that causing a leak? They are not strong enough to rupture or puncture aluminum......

 

[white 2g awd]

i'll go with 99gst_racer on that, i put a tranny cooler on my old probe, (attached it to the radiator) and never had a problem, and i thank that cooler for letting my tranny last another year. but maybe, just about anything is possible i guess. could you actually see any type of fluid or anything by that strap? none the less, a reason for you to get a better radiator, thats how i would look at it.

 

[maximumbob]

My dad's warranty for his aluminum radiator for his GTO said it would be voided if fans were attached with the plastic screw things. They probably work fine most of the time though.

Bob

 

[rob_rousseau]

It definitely has to do with the lower frontal area of the radiator that the fans are pulling air through without any sort of a shroud. I would suspect the stockers flow the claimed 25% less but without using all of the radiator frontal area you need that 25% just to break even.

I agree. Without the shroud you aren't drawing air through as much surface area

 

[99gst_racer]

I agree. Without the shroud you aren't drawing air through as much surface area

Yes, I also agree with that, but if you look at my first picture in post #4, you will see that the fans cover about 75-80% of the core's surface area; and with high CFM fans, that would be more than a sufficient amount of surface area to get the job done. A shroud would increase the cooling surface area, but I'm not sure how it would effect the fans efficiency. Either way, with a set-up like mine, a shroud is really just not needed.

 

[drewbird91]

It was actually leaking where the plastic screws went threw. I had it attached like that for a few months and it was fine. My car bounces around alot (lowered) and the radaitor was the stock one. So what happened is after a few months that plastic screw slowly started to make a bigger opening where it went threw the radiator(kinda like a fatique failure). And probably began to loosen as that occured. It wasn't like I put the plastic piece threw the radiator and it started leaking, no it was the bouncing my car saw, plus the screws support the fan (I know it is light but it still made a bigger opening). The radiator was actually leaking from where the screw went in the radiator. I know my old stock radiator wasn't perfect but I know those plastic pieces caused it to leak. Brackets aren't hard to make at all.

 

[98gstshadow]

ok I also bought 1 of the fans and Im leaving the stock ac fan in place, should I use brackets or the kit from slimline I also haave a fluidyne, seems people are split on this decesion?

 

[talon_boy69]

Here's a couple pics of the set-up I intended to use....

My dump tube was in the way of the AC fan, so I took this 12" one off and opted for a 10". You dont need straps to mount these. Flex-a-lite makes a nifty kit. It is plastic screws and washers that run through the core of the radiator. They hold very strong and only cost about $6 per kit.

I'm not sure about your SPAL fans, but mine pulls 1230 CFM at 0 static pressure and 12 volts. I would assume 2 SPALs woul;d flow way more than 2 stockers. How much CFM do the stockers flow anyway?

racer...are those 10" or 12"?

 

[oncehuman]

Just my 2 cents, I had my one spal fine attached like 99gst racers, threw the radiator. That caused my stock radiator to leak, basically cause I jammed a wire/strap threw it. I would suggest going to the hardware store and getting a metal strip with holes/slots in it and fab up some brackets. It took me a hour or so. I had to buy a fluidyne radiator since I ran those straps threw my stock radiator, couldn't get just another stock one. Make some brackets and paint them black.

Sorry to also call BS on this but I work in the military and on our tow tractors that pull the helicopters and jets around. They use those plastic mounting kits that 99gst racers has. And needless to say none of those have ever caused a leak and they have been using these for years, even before I graduated high school probably. So maybe you or someone that mounted the kit wasn't too fineese about installing them. Sorry dude.

 

[oncehuman]

It was actually leaking where the plastic screws went threw. I had it attached like that for a few months and it was fine. My car bounces around alot (lowered) and the radaitor was the stock one. So what happened is after a few months that plastic screw slowly started to make a bigger opening where it went threw the radiator(kinda like a fatique failure). And probably began to loosen as that occured. It wasn't like I put the plastic piece threw the radiator and it started leaking, no it was the bouncing my car saw, plus the screws support the fan (I know it is light but it still made a bigger opening). The radiator was actually leaking from where the screw went in the radiator. I know my old stock radiator wasn't perfect but I know those plastic pieces caused it to leak. Brackets aren't hard to make at all.

Ok also you need to remember something. Your stock radiator was how old at the time it started to leak at those points? I can almost garuntee that your radiator didn't recieve its recommended radiator fluid changes. I cant say that about my car considering I bought it used with no documentation on all the services done to it. So what I am saying is your core probably had corrosion going on inside causing it to be brittle. Another possibillity if you did do the fluid changes on time is poor mixture for your specific climate. And honestly the weight of those fans is minimal so i dont think your suspension would have anything to do with it even if you cut your springs. Cause if that was the true reason why your radiator leaked on you that there would be millions of import inthusiats with cut springs or coil-over kits that would be buying new radiators every few months.
I hope thats a little knowledge for some people.
And I seriously hope I didn't diss you in anyway either.
Chris

 

[oncehuman]

ok I also bought 1 of the fans and Im leaving the stock ac fan in place, should I use brackets or the kit from slimline I also haave a fluidyne, seems people are split on this decesion?

I would use the plastic brackets provided with the fans and make sure the whole kit is used. Also when you go to put them on tighten them snugly not to 50 lbs/ft. Thats what I would do.