Recently replaced the cooling fan on my car with a Spal VA10-AP50/C-61A.
Voltage
12v
Blade Diameter
305mm (12")
Current
11.8 - 12.7a

Question is could this fan have too much draw and kill the battery? I have a mini alternator and charge between rounds. The battery seems to not be able to keep up as in later round robin rounds it barely starts the car. Fan runs about 5 to 10 min between rounds to cool. Car has small radiator and does have limited airflow I get that but I didn't have this problem until changing the fan.

XS Power D1600 Battery.

I understand that the fan may take a dump but this issue I have seems to be different.

12” SPAL fan on my dragster powered by the same 16 volt battery, no issues.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

It will draw less amperage at 16v than it does at 12v. I'd check all your wiring for voltage drop and make sure you don't have excessive resistance somewhere.....

I currently don't run an alternator and have had zero issues starting my 16.5:1 665" stuff even going several rounds without charging....sounds like something else might be causing it.

The mini alternator also likely doesn't have a high enough charge rate to replenish the battery, especially for the limited time it's running. I'm going to install a 100 amp on mine as soon as I can figure out where to put it....

I put a 100 amp alt. on last year and used a gilmer belt drive setup under driven 20% -puts out 65 amps at peek 2 red Optima batteries but still charge between early rounds Spal type fan -no issues

Charging between rounds is a must even with an alternator which I run, an ECAE 120amp super mini.

Is your alternator a super mini or ultra mini?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

The principle that a motor uses less current at a higher voltage only applies to AC motors. Operating a DC motor at a voltage below nominal generally has no detrimental effect on performance. In fact, running a DC motor at lower than nominal voltage (and, therefore, slower than nominal speed) can result in less brush and commutator wear (for brushed motors), lower current consumption, and longer motor life. On the other hand, running a DC motor at a voltage higher than nominal increases current draw and can cause the motor coils to overheat, decreasing motor life.

Good Luck

Same fan and battery, no issues. The only item on my car that didn’t work right on 16 volts was my water pump. It was spinning so fast it would cavitate. Step down transformer fixed that issue.

Cashflow what water pump were you running? Also what step down did you use?

Id argue that charging is not absolutely necessary if the system (entire car) is setup properly. Made 8 runs at Gainesville yesterday, every time the charger went on it immediately was in standby. When running the dragster years ago we charged it when we felt guilty, that car didn't know what a single entry was, on gas, in the Florida heat.

I know it is necessary with a big HP, big compression bracket car that’s driven to the lanes and back to the pits with electric everything. Made 5 runs Saturday, didn’t charge the battery and it didn’t have enough to restart it on the return road. 15 starts with #16 not being able to crank fast enough

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

16V batteries are like the lithium battery on your cordless drill, 1 minute they give all they got, the next minute they have nothing to give. Plug the charger in between runs, even if its only for 5 or 10 minutes, every little bit helps. I have never ran an alternator with 16v battery on any car

As far as the fan and water pump, I have been running 16 volts for 8 or 9 years, never had and issue with either

a diode in line with a componet will drop the volts 1.5.two in series 3 volts and so on

could your battery be going bad

Im not ruling out the battery going bad but… its 6 months old. Changed previous battery because of same issue and I thought it was going bad. Wiring in the car has been checked, and the only 2 things running between rounds is the water pump and this fan. I have noticed when fan is on the volts drop about 1.3 volts on my digital gauge. Also I will be checking to make sure the charger is charging.

is that drop with charger, if you need a higher amp charger or one that works lol

If you can do a load test on the battery. Make sure the battery is up first. Average draw about 200 amps for 15 sec. If battery drop below 9.8 volts. battery is bad.

Sulfation test, Charge battery @ 20-30 amps with DVOM hooked up. See what the voltage is. Anything over 15.8 reading on the volt scale, the battery is bad.
i run a pretty simple system Red top with a 48 amp alt. Small Delco. Never have i had to charge the battery.

I have come across in the past year some of the 31 series truck batteries i purchased have not been lasting.. One of my service trucks 4 months.

What is the CCA on the battery? That fan draw @ 11 Amps should not kill a 16 volt battery

It could be very well what Rusty stated. Poor input from the charger.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TD3550,

I changed my fan when I went to a gas carb

Installed a fan with double the CFM as the old one but exact same size

It draws twice the amps but does a good job cooling

One thing that is true and always has been....Cycle your fan and water pump and it will cool better without draining the battery as quickly....

I have 2 12 volt batteries and a super mini alternator....Fan, water pump, fuel pump and a fan on my trans cooler....

My charger is always on between rounds early in a race and as much as possible even once we got to very little time between rounds....

I've never had a low battery condition get me with this setup and have started the engine many times including coasting on the return road

If you keep the heat down after a run as much as possible by coasting you're way better off.....Yes you do have to start it more times but for me that has always worked

On alcohol with a mechanical pump it's not an issue, period....on gas it is.....always has been.....

quote:

The principle that a motor uses less current at a higher voltage only applies to AC motors.

Indeed. I have seen the false argument about power consumption with 16V forever.
When you run the fan on 16V, it turns faster than it did on 12V. Does that take more or less work? 16V isn't magic, so of course it is more work, and consumes more wattage. It's just that simple.