Little DC Controler help

[Sicarius428]

Hello guys, I'm back to seek some guidance on something i know very little about... electronics. I have the misfotune of actually liking electronics so I happily purchased a Viper electric fan and a DC control unit (35 amp). After seeing the Viper fan installed in the ponyboy19's SN95 I just had to try... Now the fan is mounted to my griffin radiator and the DC Control is installed... I have U/D pullies so I am using the jumper and the fan does come on with 10 percent of power when the ignition is on. Problem is that the fan does not go above 10 percent which allows the engine to slowly heat up. I have a becool 180 degree thermostat and an autometer electrical gauge which the sensor is tapped in the thermostat housing. My guess is that the controller is not getting a reading from the temp probe. I do have an override switch in the car wired from the positive lead from the battery to the dc controler to the positive fan lead to the fan on the controler so I am not going to be stranded... i hope. I did cut the probe wire to fit so it's possible it isn't making a good connection with the vampire like jumper connector.... or i possibly destroyed the probe installing it.... Is there a way i can check if its the probe or the controler? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Kevin

 

[HISSIN50]

Kevin, I take it you already have an Email in to Mr. Baskin? He can offer the best advice, as well as advise on the probe issue.....?

Good luck and bump for ya.

 

[Sicarius428]

Thanks for responding Hissin, I havn't emailed Mr. Baskin yet... just hoping that somebody had something off the top of their head really. I'm gonna email him in a few minutes. Thanks
Kevin

 

[sgarlic]

You sure when you shortened the probe wire you hooked it back up correctly?

One other thing to check, on mine if the connector where the probe attaches to the DCC isn't sitting on correctly (whichever one is plus and whichever is minus.. refer to the installation diagram,) it won't turn on.. mine only works if it's on the way the diagram says.. and I put some electrical tape over it to hold it on to the DCC.. it's a loose fit, mine slips off easily.

I would also however recommend e-mailing Brian over at DCC.. I'm sure he can help.

 

[cobradvm]

Problem is that the fan does not go above 10 percent which allows the engine to slowly heat up. Kevin

Are you saying that you are overheating because the fan is not going above 10%? How do you know that the fan never exceeds 10% - simply because the engine overheats or by the speed of the fan?

I have underdrive pulleys, a DC Controller, Taurus fan and the DC Control indicator light. I did run the jumper, but removed it. I didn't quite see the rationale behind it. I understand that with pulleys the w/p will not be as effective and the car will have a tendency to overheat.

What I found was that the car took longer to warm up (which makes no sense since the stat shouldn't open until 180* - but that's what seemed to happen). So I ran it without the u/d pulley jumper and it works great without it - I really don't think it is necessary. As soon as the car needs to be cooled, the fan is kicked on - it never gets above the 1/2 mark on the temp guage (200 supposedly).

So what I would try is remove the jumper and see what happens and see if the fan kicks on. I didn't touch my sensor wiring - just coiled it up with a zip tie and tucked it out of the way. I would suspect that the temp sensor may not be working since the u/d pulley jumper makes it run regardless of the temp. It would appear the power to the fan is ok.

I also yanked the jumper because sometimes I liked to listen to the radio with the engine off, and the fan would come on as soon as the ignition was turned on. Also I like to watch my light turn from green to orange (and very occasionally to red!) With the u/d jumper it starts at orange - no fun!

Good luck

Howard

 

[baskin]

You want to diagnose the controller and sensor seperately. First, turn on the AC and verify that the fan runs at about 50%(no jumper) or 100%(jumper), if so, the control unit is verified to be working correctly. Next, ohm out the sensor, it should read approximately 100k ohms at ambient temperature.

If both check out fine, check that the probe is securely mounted in the radiator fins. If the fins are bent up, squeeze the fins around the probe with a pair of needle-nose pliers

The u/d jumper was initially designed to compensate for the low coolant flow of the underdrive pulleys by providing some convection flow, but in most cases it’s not needed

 

[Michael Yount]

One other thing to think about with your gauge sender location in the t'stat. If your t'stat should ever fail closed, you won't get full indication of it on the temperature gauge. The way you have it set up, the t'stat has to open before you'll start to register the temperature of the coolant that's in the engine. It would be best to have your gauge sender on the back side of the t'stat - which usually means a manifold fitting somewhere.

 

[Rick 91GT]

What is the web address for the DC controller?

Thanks

 

[Michael Yount]

www.dccontrol.com

 

[Sicarius428]

Thanks you for the input. I've been away for the past few days but I will give it a shot the first chance I have. Technically the BeCool thermostats should fail in the open position which I guess I will find out if it happens... hehe. Thank you Michael for the knowledge. I never even thought of the problems that would incur.
Kevin