I have had a problem with my efan from Jusnes Modified and the 30A fuse that connects it and the relay to the battery. To put it in better terms - it basically eats up fuses like I eat buiscuits on Thanksgiving, its relentless.

I am not sure of what the problem is. I am using a decent gauge wire, and a relay, along with a 30A fuse that is right next to the battery. Currently, there is no controller hooked up, it is controlled by an on-off switch in the cab (my Jusnes controller died on me).

My question is what can I do to stop this thing from blowing fuses on me? It is an important that I know it won't give me any problems when I need it most. I am thinking maybe it could use a bigger fuse, or maybe it needs some sort of resister in there before the fuse, so it doesn't get so much energy. If It coes need a resistor, how would I go about figuring what size I need, and where could I get one for this application?

 

It's the startup surge that is blowing it, and it's not uncommon with eFans. In fact, the better/heavier wire you use, the more likely it is.

If the wiring you're using can handle more than 30 amps, you can use a 40 amp fuse to eliminate this concern, and still have protection against a wiring fault fire. My fan came with a 25 amp fuse which blew all the time and I upsized to 30. I don't think there's a "standard" 35 amp fuse so the next size up is probably 40.

However, this can also represent friction or jam problems and even bad bearings. If you haven't, I'd review the mounting and make sure something isn't in the housing with the blade that's kicking up and jamming it sometimes, or some similar problem.

 

does it do it on start up only?

if not then there could also be a scare in the wire that would allow it to short out and blow the fuse......

 

Good point! I shouldn't assume it's a "startup" only problem.

 

Well John you assumed correctly. It is only happening at startup. And there is nothing blocking the blades. The odd thing is that it doesnt happen always, only some of the time. I'll try the 40A fuse and hope that it will work.

 

huh....that is crazy.......you might ought to check the fan motor and make sure that it doesn't have a scared wire in it.......

 

how did you kill your fan controller? because mine died on me the other day and im not quite suer why. the damn thing was running even though my truck was completely off.

 

water, over use, anything can kill it.....it is a simple electrical design....

 

What is this scared wire? Did someone sneak up on the fan and yell BOO

Its either damage to the fan motor or startup load. If you can put a 40 amp fuse in there and it doesn't blow, it is probably startup load. Just make sure your wiring can handle 40 amps for obvious reasons. You also might take a vested interesting in buying a SLOW-BLOW type 40 amp fuse.

If it is damage to the fan motor causing this intermittent problem, it would blow at any random time while the motor is already running, not just on startup. It could still be a problem with the motor, the above upgrade to the fuse would tell the tale.

 

No, water wasn't the cause. This is my 2nd controller that died on me, and neither of them ever saw water.

Where can I find a slow blow type 40 amp fuse? And how does it work?

 

I don't know if they make them in blade fuses. Mostly they are just the glass fuses that come in those types.

 

they make the slow blow 40a in the big MAXI side blade fuses... I use to run them in my BMW in place of a fusible link

 

Yea, I've never seen a slow blow ATO fuse. They all fast acting like normal. You might have to replace it with a glass AGC fuse or a big momma maxi fuse.

 

I just picked up a 40A AGC fuse, they didn't have any small 40A blade fuses.

So this is a slow blow? How does a slow blow work... more importantly, when will it blow?

 

You need to find specifically marked slow-blow. Not all glass fuses are slow blow. It just takes longer to heat up and blow than a normal fast acting fuse.

 

Ah, thanks for the info. They didn't have any that were listed as slow blow where I went, I'll have to look for that if this one blows.

 

When you gonna' finish hooking up my controller, compadre'?

 

Why don't you find an alternate power point?

Try that first, doesn't cost you anything.

Painless Wiring also sells a good electrical fan controller.

 

John, I'll finish up the controller when I have some free time. I've been working 60 hour work weeks, so I went the easiest route I could to get my fan working when I need it.

 

Before you go and smoke test your wiring with bigger fuses (30 amp works fine for that e-fan) double check ALL your wire connections.Any arcing connection will cause the problem you're having.An under sized relay will eventually burn its contacts to the point where it will send multiple startup surges through the fuse.Check All crimp connectors for discoloration inside and out.If in doubt re-do the connection.

 

Huh?

 

It's a good point, though it's unlikely -- particularly since John is usually good at nailing down the wiring connections.

The arcing would have to occur with the fan not spinning or spinning very slowly (which would fit the problem here). Breaks or arcing on shutdown, when most arcs occur, will not cause this. Only interrupting the current when the fan is stalled will do this. If it has any inertial left in the rotation at all, it will draw less current.

And like Matt, I'm not sure what the other poster was saying about tying into another power point. He's hooked directly to the battery and this fuse is only feeding the fan motor -- hard to see why tying in somewhere else would be of any benefit at all.

Interesting, I had an eFan controller that looked exactly like the Jusnes unit and it failed also. Not sure if it's the same and I didn't buy it from them. That's what pushed me to make my own design so I wouldn't have to depend on an external controller.

 

its threads like this that remind me I have yours still sitting in my tool box.

 

In other words, instead of wiring it directly to the battery, wire it somewhere else.

Look through your fuse box and see if you can't find a 30-40 amp source and try that for testing, just to make sure.

 

Uh. No, don't do that. For one, it won't fix anything. And two, there is nothing in your fuse panel that will support that. And three, it would be a total waste of effort with the battery being right there.