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Do Bullet Connectors or Switches Lose Voltage?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=147374
Printed Date: April 19, 2024 at 1:00 PM


Topic: Do Bullet Connectors or Switches Lose Voltage?

Posted By: camaro454
Subject: Do Bullet Connectors or Switches Lose Voltage?
Date Posted: May 28, 2022 at 10:54 AM

New here, I have a PWM installed on my car that controls my two (2) eFans. The car is a 69 Camaro with a 72 Mark IV 454 engine. The eFans are dual 12v Ford/Bosch fans 12" in diameter. The fans are controlled by a PWM that is powered by a 16" #8 AWG wire and a matching #8 AWG ground wire. Both are connected directly to the battery terminals. The car has Vintage Air and it is tied into the electrical system with a trinanry switch so that when the AC is turned on, the PWM knows that the fans might be needed. The AC operation works great, its not a problem at all.

As noted above, the PWM power and ground are connected directly to the battery terminal. I'm having some issues with overheating since I installed Vintage Air and placed the condenser in front of the radiator... I suspect its an airflow problem so I'm trying to look at all aspects. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but when the car gets up to the temperature that triggers the fans to go on (195°) and I get up to highway speeds, the fans stay on and engine temp hovers between 200° and 220° depending on the road speed. So one guy in my car forum said perhaps the fans running is maybe acting as a air restriction. I'm not an EE and I don't know if road speed air can spin the fan faster than its top (powered on) RPM. So, I thought the simplest way to check this is to pull over on the side of the highway and cut the power to the PWM altogether and resume driving at highway speeds since both mechanical clutch fans and typical eFans don't work when road speed exceeds the CFM flow through the radiator core.

My real question here is whether an inline switch, a inline fuse, or an inline bullet connector would lose voltage and the fans wouldn't get full power? Disconnecting the fans when the engine is hot is kinda out of the question because the connectors are located down low and the area is pretty hot and tight. The PWM is mounted on the fender well next to the battery, and the wires are all on the underside. Any suggestions will be appreciated.-Thx-Mike

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Without Curiosity... there is No Knowledge



Replies:

Posted By: Ween
Date Posted: May 28, 2022 at 2:01 PM
To lose voltage would mean increased resistance. Which would mean the connectors or switches would get warm, then hot.. and then probably fail. Have seen fuseholders have that issue.
Do a visual inspection couldn't hurt.




Posted By: camaro454
Date Posted: May 28, 2022 at 4:24 PM
Thanks for the reply. As this is basically a temporary "fix" to study the effect of no power to the fan on the highway, I'm not thinking long term effects. I'm just curious if something like a bullet connector can be used for a day to do some simple highway driving. Once I confirm that the airflow is sufficient at highway speeds without the fan running, I'll probably put the original power wire back on and see what I can do about airflow. My car has a upper closeout panel forward of the core support, and this winter I fabricated an aluminum lower closeout panel because I was concerned that the big opening between the front lower valance and the core support is an easier path for road air to take than going through the condenser an radiator core.

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Without Curiosity... there is No Knowledge




Posted By: Ween
Date Posted: May 28, 2022 at 4:36 PM
You should be fine with a bullet or tab style quick disconnect. Makes for easier servicing in the future.





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