Any price yet for the varible controller yet?

Sorry for the delays in more information. Both Andy and I are in the middle of moving, which makes everything more difficult. Even if it was completely ready, I don't have my stuff unpacked and ready to mass produce them.

I think I've tweaked the algorithm to where it works pretty well on my truck.

Last I heard Andy was having trouble with the temperature sensor not reading correctly.


Today I let the fan run at 90% and it took 3 minutes to go from 202* to 190*, where it hung and stopped cooling any farther. This is with a 180* stat, in the mid 80s for an outside temp. My temp sensor and my dash gauge both showed 190*. I plan to take the thermostat out at some point and go for a drive to see what it does.

On a recent long trip, it would gradually warm up to 210*, then the fan would kick on and keep it there. Driving on the highway it wouldn't cool itself enough to turn the fan off. However, driving between 35 and 45mph down a back road it actually would cool itself off, and get cool enough to turn the fan off.

that last part has me concerned with your setup.
at highway speeds at most it creeps on at 25 percent, but eventually shuts off.
either your cooling system isn't up to this at all, or the fan is impeding flow.
I have not tried it at 90 percent on purpose at highway speeds. but guess I have one more thing to try.

I'm 99% sure it's my cooling system having issues. I can start with the fan off, go to 55mph, and eventually the temps will creep high enough to trigger the fan. By a few degrees above the target temp the fan is at full speed, which lasts for a mile or so until the temperatures are below the target temp, and the fan goes back to idle.

So the fan at full speed is able to keep the temperatures under control while I'm doing 55mph.

If the temps continued to go up with the fan at full speed and doing 55mph, then I'd be worried about the fan impacting airflow, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

It sounds like you still have a heating problem with your truck. The fan and new radiator are trying to cover it up but there's no reason for it to be making that much heat.

Any update on the controller?

have not heard from him in a while.
been moving,so not as much time to test as I had hoped.

I have had a couple of runs in it. and it acts a bit off to me coming down from freeway speeds.

or I might be expecting too much since it is 100 plus out.

coming from a cold engine crusing in town seems to be fine. maintains around 25 to 50 percent on the fan.
can't really hear it at all.

coming down from an extended 70 mph run, or heat soaking the engine for a bit, and it has a hard time staying below 80 percent, with odd spikes in temp keeping it at 90.

Now a lot of that is the temp sensor.
it is acting weird.
And I haven't had time to trouble shoot it.
could be bad ground, bad sensor, or bad placment.
it is the stock gauge sensor location, but I don't like where it is.
tucked behind the alt.

anyway, my computer is hooked up as an a/c signal, so I can tell when it hits over 205 via my efi system. it will tell his computer the a/c is running and force start the fan to 90 percent.

so far I have not seen the a/c signal come on, except in the heat soak condition, and it doesn't stay on for more than 5 min or so.
but the temp sensor his system is reading, chugs away saying it is still 220 or more. so he is fighting to bring that down. but the a/c signal is off, so I know I am really at 195 ish.

again, more is better in that case, and perhaps it is not actually an issue leaving the fan running at 90 percent longer than is needed.

I hope to get a chance to mess with the sensor this weekend. but don't hold your breath.

update is... not much to update

I just recently moved, and am attempting to beat the new place into submission. 8.5 acres that hadn't been maintained in 5+ years

I need to put the other temp sensor in tonight and see if I can duplicate Andy's issues, or at least see what's going on. But then I won't have a known good temp sensor to compare to I'll make something work.

I'm fairly happy with how the algorithm is working. Once I get the temp sensor issue figured out, I'll send out a couple for pre-testing, then I'll open it up to everyone. After I get my electronics desk built and everything out of boxes.

Any update yet?

Less to update than I had hoped... I got the Autometer sensor installed. It reads a bit low, but that shouldn't matter since everyone will adjust the knob to match their specific set up.

I'm still trying to come up with a better algorithm that doesn't have it going to full speed if it's 2* over (seems ridiculous).

Mostly waiting for another client to pay me so I have some money to purchase components and put some together.

Do you still have the basic on/off controller available?

I know the variable speed controller has been delayed due to everything going on with you and with Andy.

Finally some good news! I found another feedback algorithm that seems to work a whole lot better. I'm about to go out on a drive and see how it does.

I also added a staged output function to the current hardware. Basically, at the target temp, the fan goes to 50%. A few degrees over it goes to 75%, and at several above that, it goes to 90%. A few degrees below the target temp it stays at 25%, and if it gets too low it turns off again.

If the feedback hunts too much for their satisfaction, they can change one of the switches to enable the staged output.

So, I don't think there's anything in the way now of starting to build more and offering them for sale

This next week I'll get everything lined up so I can start cranking them out

mind sending me the new one to try out too?
not sure it will be very helpful as the temp has dropped to normal levels.

lol, another hardware change.
I really hope you get your money back and make a few bucks after all this.

Yeah, I would be happy to test the staged output. It should stay in the 80's another few weeks. Enough to get some good running in.

you are going to have to figure out what is wrong with that truck.
At 50 degrees out, I bet I can hold my radiator after a freeway run.
not that I drive my car much at 50 degrees out. lol.

Well, all the hardware change is is a different microcontroller. Otherwise nothing else changed. Sure hope I make a few bucks as well

Was talking to another friend tonight, and before I take it on a 100 mile trip tomorrow I'll check the timing and make sure it hasn't gone full stupid. 15* initial, ~34ish total, + vacuum advance.

Alrighty. A year later (), I think it's ready to go

I put together 7 tonight, but two are already spoken for. I need to test them still, but they should be ready to ship out middle of next week (depending on which box you want, I don't have many big ones).

http://www.ma-uav.com/FanController.html

Just ordered one. But I won't be able to run mine until the car is done, hopefully next year.