Why a Thermatic® Fan Is Better For Your Engine

Moving air across the vanes of a radiator, or heat exchanger, is crucial to keeping an engine as cool as possible.

Vehicles come off the production line fitted with a belt driven fan, the belt being attached to pulleys which are attached to the engine. Often, these designs have a mechanically driven fan attached to the nose of the mechanically driven water pump and the fan has a type of clutch that allows the fan to speed up or spin down and come to a stop by itself.

For the general market, this setup proves sufficient for standard vehicle use on standard roads.  However, as a mechanical fan runs off the engine, its performance is reliant on the engine running above a specified RPM, with no excess stress in its environment.

When outside factors that create a high stress environment are introduced, a typical mechanical fan does not sufficiently maintain a suitable engine temperature.

Other factors of a mechanical fan that cannot compete with the efficiency and performance of a Davies Craig Thermatic® Fan include: they are less energy efficient, they are often less aerodynamic due to the design of the fan blade, they are often placed in an unsuitable location in respect to the radiator, and they are often lacking a shroud to assist in directing airflow.

A Davies Craig Thermatic ® fan runs off your car’s electrical system making it more energy efficient and reliable than a standard issue mechanical fan.

Benefits of a Thermatic® Fan

There are multiple benefits of fitting a Davies Craig Thermatic Fan® to your engine. As describe above, they run on the electrical system meaning their function is not restricted to when the engine is running and are more energy efficient.

Furthermore, when you have a requirement for greater cooling capacity, two fans can be fitted in an upstream/downstream configuration. In this situation, we recommend installing one fan in front of the radiator on the driver’s side of the car (headlight side), and the other diagonally opposite on the back of the radiator, on the passenger’s side of the car (engine bay side). 

To further enhance the functionality and usability of the Thermatic Fan®, a Davies Craig LCD EWP/Fan Digital Controller (8001) can be fitted to allow greater control over the fan’s activity. The controller can be set to run the fan at all times, only when needed, and/or to run on after the ignition is switched off.

Fitting a Thermatic® Fan

When it comes to finding and fitting the right electric fan or fans to suit your car, there are a couple of areas to look at. The thickness of the radiator is the first aspect to consider. A thicker radiator requires a greater airflow through the vanes.

Secondly, the shape of radiator itself must be considered. As a rule, one large electric fan will do as good, or a better job than two smaller ones. However, a wider than taller radiator may negate a single fan fitment, therefore two smaller diameter fans can be mounted side by side. It’s here that the research teams have provided a unique and groundbreaking solution. Davies Craig Thermatic® fans for cars are built to have reversible blades and hubs.

Davies Craig Fan Design

The design of the Davies Craig Thermatic® fan blades supersedes that of the standard fan in two ways. The blades are shaped to be both more aerodynamically efficient (reducing drag) and less likely to vibrate and cause supersonic shock. Supersonic shock is where the ends of the blades reach a velocity approaching the speed of sound, and therefore, not unlike many WW2 fighter planes that crashed due to the phenomenon not being understood, shake uncontrollably.

The blade design we use has them straight out from the hub, and by curving the struts that are inside the shroud housing, airflow is increased and airflow noise is decreased. Also, when it comes to the tips of the blades, we’ve looked at the aerospace industry and the work put into the winglets on the ends of the wings on aircraft. Those stubby little winglets decrease air turbulence and balance air pressure as the tips rotate past the shroud.

And because we know not every engine is the same, Davies Craig offers six different fan diameters, from 8 inches to a large 16 inches. This means there will be at least one or two electric fans that will be ideal for your engine and radiator size. Couple this with our extensive range of digital controllers and there is a fan & controller package perfect for your vehicle that will far outperform your existing mechanically driven package.

www.daviescraig.com.au is the one stop online shop for an electric Thermatic® fan for your car and its extra cooling needs.

We’d love to hear about your installations; which electric fan and controller did you choose to replace the existing mechanical fan? Drop us a line via our blog and our Facebook page.