my fan has a wire straight to the battery and it drains it.
2006-12-21 18:47:34 · 5 answers · asked by Lepke 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The alternator charges the battery and keeps the system around 14 VDC with engine running. If fan is NOT running with engine off, then no problem.
2006-12-21 18:57:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The battery and alternator are all part of a circuit together. Changing the location of where the radiator fan is connected will not change anything.
Also, the battery acts as a "buffer" for the output of the alternator. The generator inside the alternator will generate an AC current. There is a rectifier inside the alternator that "flips" the negative portion of the voltage. If you hooked a oscilloscope to it, the output of the alternator would look something like this - nnnnnnnnnnnn. That is, it'll keep jumping up and down between 0 volts and a maximum value. The battery helps to flatten this out so that the output from the battery is a constant instead of oscillating. It's possible to damage things by running them directly off the alternator if they're expecting a constant current and instead get an oscillating one.
Anyway, if everything was working okay, your battery should not be getting drained. Either your alternator is not providing enough current, your battery is old and cannot hold a charge, or possibly you have a short in the system that is draining energy.
2006-12-21 19:05:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anand T 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In the set-up you describe, the fans should be running continually until the battery is depleted. Is this the case?
Otherwise, you would not want to run the fan off of the alternator. The fan should be triggered by a temperature sensor. Depending on the make and model these sensors differ but generally fall into 2 categories.
- direct feed sensors - when the engine reaches a preset temp the sensor will complete the circuit from the battery to the fann once the engine cools, the circuit is then broken by the sensor.
- ECM sensors - modern cars have a computer module that controls may diffrent aspects of the car. This would include the cooling fan. The sensotr relays engine temp to the computer which continuosly adjusts fuel ratio/timing and sends a signal to the fan controls when appropriate.
It is critical for engine life that the fan be wired as it was from the factory.
that being said, if this car is not worth the time and money (restoring to original configuration could be expensie if someone removed some of the components) you could simply run the hot wire to the fan to a switch inside of the car that you could operate manually.
2006-12-21 19:11:28 · answer #3 · answered by shifty67 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it is OEM fan that is draining the bat. You have a short that needs found and fixed. If it is aftermarket. You can locate an available plug in your fuse box to wire it into. Be sure it is the proper size and amperage for the fan motor.
2006-12-21 18:58:32 · answer #4 · answered by blazes m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why in God's name would you even consider doing something like that?!!! Obviously you have no aptitude to work on a car-take it to somebody to replace your alternator. That's why your battery is dead!
2006-12-22 02:19:20 · answer #5 · answered by gittit 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋