Volkswagen Vanagon Electronic Fan Controller Kit

1
Hi All,
This User install/function document is dated 27/09/2010 and online source search suggests VanCafe.

Interested to hear experiences from anyone who has installed and used this complimentary/overlay fan controller. Also any thoughts after using it for some extended period of time. TIA.

Cheers.
Ken
2
Ken,

Looks like a great idea - especially for our climate.

Get that fan busy!

Cheers,

Scott

On 5/12/2018 1:45 pm, Ken Garratt unclekenz@hotmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

Hi All,
This User install/function document is dated 27/09/2010 and online source search suggests VanCafe.

Interested to hear experiences from anyone who has installed and used this complimentary/overlay fan controller. Also any thoughts after using it for some extended period of time. TIA.

Cheers.
Ken

--
Best regards, Scott Pitcher SPB Consulting
3
Hi Ken, thanks for posting. Really good instructions and if i would have known about 
this product i surely would have installed it. In the meantime I  fitted a Yaycar  1-0-2 
switch to override the thermostat as mine comes on too late. So, if I experience heavy traffic or climb a mountain, i switch to 1 and  watch the temp coming down. Suits me, love to have some input when driving. Switch was $ 4.95 from memory and got installed into the blanc.
Hart

4
Another excellent idea Hart.

All are worth it in our summer time oven.

Cheers,
Scott

On 5/12/2018 5:50 pm, Hartmut Kiehn hartis@live.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

Hi Ken, thanks for posting. Really good instructions and if i would have known about

this product i surely would have installed it. In the meantime I fitted a Yaycar 1-0-2
switch to override the thermostat as mine comes on too late. So, if I experience heavy traffic or climb a mountain, i switch to 1 and watch the temp coming down. Suits me, love to have some input when driving. Switch was $ 4.95 from memory and got installed into the blanc.
Hart


--
Best regards, Scott Pitcher SPB Consulting
5
I read this article quite a while ago, and considered doing my own like Hart did. I can however force the fan on by turning on the AC (fan runs permanent with AC on), so never fitted a separate switch.
With all my playing and investigating, I don't know there is any real benefit if the original system is functioning correctly. About all it will do is turn the fan on a little sooner than the temperature switch will do anyway, and perhaps run the fan more than is necessary.
Similar to when I fitted the low temp thermostat for a short while. I can't say there are any benefits.

The only time I switch the fan on manually (eg turn on AC) is if I know the fan is about to kick in just before I turn off. I will turn the fan on before I stop so it does start up with the engine off.

Don't forget, the thermostat controls the engine temperature. Turning the fan on will not lower the engine temperature! That should always be steady

Out of interest, was very hot here in Brisbane on Saturday, with my little temp gauge reading the coolant temp coming out the radiator, it was the hottest I have seen driving at a steady speed on the highway (57degC). This was with the AC on, so the fan was running also.

I have a 2002 golf. It recently had a fault where the fan was running all the time. The control of the cooling system on these is much more complex (for example the fan speed is fully variable, not just a couple of pre-set speeds). Interesting fact is the system try's to predict your driving habits. There are a number of sensors that control this feature, but basically if it detects you driving the car for a period under heavy load, It can over ride the thermostat to lower the engine temp a little to compensate!

Getting a little further off topic, I really like these systems
In addition to full control of how the system operates, the coolant flow rate is independent of engine speed. It's a much smarter system than a belt driven pump and a thermostat.
I have a kit left over from another project, but would be a difficult install on a boxer engine,unless you tried to run dual pumps.

Richard
6
This could be good for people with air conditioning. You could use it to switch the fan off over 50kmh to save wear on the fan. It's a waste have your fan run when moving.
7
Sounds like a plan. Might interest T3 owners with Prestige AC systems.

So raises the query ... what wiring changes and where exactly would need to be made to integrate the on/off fan control portion of the Prestige AC system into the on/off sail switch fan control portion of the VVEFC kit? Pen and paper schematic?


From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of plander@optusnet.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 7 December 2018 9:11 AM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Volkswagen Vanagon Electronic Fan Controller Kit
 
 

This could be good for people with air conditioning. You could use it to switch the fan off over 50kmh to save wear on the fan. It's a waste have your fan run when moving.

8
I have looked into this also, but not finished investigating. It was part of the reason I played with the temp gauge behind the radiator. I bought a digital anemometer also. The plan was to measure air speed through the radiator at various road speeds with and without the fan on to see if there is much difference. At the same time watch if temperatures change. I should get around to finishing that one day!
The other piece of the puzzle would be to measure current to the fan. I am assuming as road speed increases the current to drive the motor will drop. 
If the current drops dramatically at speed, I don't think there's any benefit turning the fan off. The load will be very low, and it would be spinning even if turn off.

Quote from link below
"As an unloaded DC motor spins, it generates a backwards-flowing electromotive force that resists the current being applied to the motor. The current through the motor drops as the rotational speed increases, and a free-spinning motor has very little current. It is only when a load is applied to the motor that slows the rotor that the current draw through the motor increases. "

Richard


---In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, <unclekenz@...> wrote :

Sounds like a plan. Might interest T3 owners with Prestige AC systems.

So raises the query ... what wiring changes and where exactly would need to be made to integrate the on/off fan control portion of the Prestige AC system into the on/off sail switch fan control portion of the VVEFC kit? Pen and paper schematic?


From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of plander@... [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 7 December 2018 9:11 AM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Volkswagen Vanagon Electronic Fan Controller Kit
 
 

This could be good for people with air conditioning. You could use it to switch the fan off over 50kmh to save wear on the fan. It's a waste have your fan run when moving.


9
Hi Richard & Hartmut & ALL,

Actually I'd say this controller kit is no more or no less than an automated version of Hartmuts $4 on/off fan switch. Both are best used for much the same purpose ... switched on as needed when driving in difficult conditions such as offroad, travelling in hot climates, hauling heavy loads up hills or in very slow or stop/start city driving etc. The other default alternative is simply to wait for the second stage fan switch to activate. 

Lastly, for those with the Prestige AC onboard, much the same as Hartmuts $4 switch can be similarly achieved, using instead the two AC (fan & temp) control switches to instantly activate the fan for similar circumstances as above. Bit fiddlier, but doable.

Choose your poison or not at all.
Cheers.
Ken
From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of cathrich1@yahoo.com.au [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 7 December 2018 10:54 PM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Volkswagen Vanagon Electronic Fan Controller Kit
 
 

I have looked into this also, but not finished investigating. It was part of the reason I played with the temp gauge behind the radiator. I bought a digital anemometer also. The plan was to measure air speed through the radiator at various road speeds with and without the fan on to see if there is much difference. At the same time watch if temperatures change. I should get around to finishing that one day!
The other piece of the puzzle would be to measure current to the fan. I am assuming as road speed increases the current to drive the motor will drop. 
If the current drops dramatically at speed, I don't think there's any benefit turning the fan off. The load will be very low, and it would be spinning even if turn off.

Quote from link below
"As an unloaded DC motor spins, it generates a backwards-flowing electromotive force that resists the current being applied to the motor. The current through the motor drops as the rotational speed increases, and a free-spinning motor has very little current. It is only when a load is applied to the motor that slows the rotor that the current draw through the motor increases. "

Richard


---In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, <unclekenz@...> wrote :

Sounds like a plan. Might interest T3 owners with Prestige AC systems.

So raises the query ... what wiring changes and where exactly would need to be made to integrate the on/off fan control portion of the Prestige AC system into the on/off sail switch fan control portion of the VVEFC kit? Pen and paper schematic?


From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of plander@... [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 7 December 2018 9:11 AM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Volkswagen Vanagon Electronic Fan Controller Kit
 
 

This could be good for people with air conditioning. You could use it to switch the fan off over 50kmh to save wear on the fan. It's a waste have your fan run when moving.