markjonesx 1 Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 I have a qucik question, do they suck or blow? And why use these; 5th line down http://www.sjsportscars.co.uk/index.php?mod=10 When I could use these, 1/3rd the price; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390386799656?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 Quote Esprit S1, 238G, Blog Online Photo's This car was most definately hand built, NOTHING FITS! Link to post Share on other sites
Buddsy 1,643 Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 The ones for my turbo are 11" and I need 3 of them. I have found some on ebay for about £25. Merlin has the 11" Tripac make for £56.00 plus VAT and when you are buying 3 that mounts up. Still I am leaning towards the Tripac ones as they are a good known make rather then the unknown Chinese ones on Ebay. To me I think the cooling of the engine is worth a fair price cause its gonna cost if the fans dont work and you dont know or stuck in slow moving traffic. Thats my thoughts. Buddsy Quote "Belief is the enemy of knowing" - Crrow777 Link to post Share on other sites
esprit s2 94 Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Think they should suck but on my Esprit I had them blowing. I bought the SJ fans, 3 of them, and the car never over heated even in heavy traffic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GavinT 114 Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hi Mark, I just purchased four of the cheaper fans from a seller here on ebay in the States. $75.00 for the four incl shipping. The only difference is that the blades I have are straight and not curved. I looked at some known brands and respected outlets for cooling fans and they all sell the ebay one with a different label on it for about twice the price. The same motor, same housing, same blade etc...so why pay more just for a label? I haven't installed them yet but I did a quick test with just one hooked to a battery and it performed well. Moved the air well and was nice a quiet. In terms of positioning, I think the straight bladed fans need to be positioned in front of the radiator as blowers because that is just where that design works more efficiently. I believe SJ's are straight bladed and originally they were telling people to mount them as a puller but changed the position to a blower after some complications. SJ's are also correctly sized and are almost a straight bolt on. With the ones of ebay I think you will need to make some some mounting brackets and arrange them like this:- http://www.lotusespritrestoration.com/2011/05/rebuilding-lotus-esprit-s1-radiator.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 517 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Looking at the spec of the ones on eBay...12V80WCFM Pull, 1175-1450CFM Push 1325-1550 They push more than they pull so I guess that's why people have mounted them on the front of the radiator rather than behind but wouldn't that block up a large chunk of the radiator surface under normal free air flow usage? I also need some of these. Paul. Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Link to post Share on other sites
markjonesx 1 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hi Paul, I used to design cooling systems for the automotive industry. I'm going to have 3 x fans on the rear side of the radiator, 7" diameter, and pushing to eject the air forward. The only question is which fan? they just need to be reliable. From what I've seen on the internet it looks like they are all using the same motor from the same Chinese factory. Think I'm going to punt on these, look reasonable; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230717524048?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 Quote Esprit S1, 238G, Blog Online Photo's This car was most definately hand built, NOTHING FITS! Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 517 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Yes I'm with you 3 of those should do the job. However, I've seen the fans mounted on the front of the radiator rather than the rear and as I said surely that blocks the radiator off for normal use but I'm guessing there's a good reason for doing it - I just don't know what it is!! I was going to mount mine on the back as that's where they were originally and I was going to suck rather than blow as that's the normal direction of air flow. However, the fans you listed will push more than they pull so is that why people mount them on the front, to have them pushing air from front to back. All very confusing!! Paul. Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Link to post Share on other sites
markjonesx 1 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Putting them on the front is just plain wrong, I would love to know why someone wanted to do this. SJ's web site shows this configuration. You could set the fans to suck, however, unless they are fully cowled in this will reduce their effectiveness. Working on the principle that the fans will only be needed at standstill or crawl traffic, push and eject should be sufficent based on the info I have. Quote Esprit S1, 238G, Blog Online Photo's This car was most definately hand built, NOTHING FITS! Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 517 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Yes I agree, I don't want to block off any of the radiator during normal driving so I'm going for the back. As to whether they should blow or suck I doubt it really matters that much as there were only 2 fans fitted originally, so having 3 modern ones should more than compensate. Paul. Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSMAN33 1,470 Posted February 23, 2012 Report Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hi Paul I bought three of these fans but have encountered a problem as they foul the anti roll bar, I need to do some further investigation when I manufacture the brackets which I plan to do this evening. You can buy a dog legged anti roll bar (S2) from SJ but this is not original and may only allow a pair of fans to fit. My radiator is still mounted in the original cowling which in turn secures to the angled support bar below the ARB so is allowing me to trial fit. Not sure if the early S1 has this bar or not? I will try and do some photos this weekend so you can see my problem but suspect this is the problem Steve had hence mounting them on the front. Quote Do or do not, there is no try! Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 517 Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Dave Have you sorted this yet? I was just about to buy some!! Are 7" the right size? Cheers, Paul. Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Link to post Share on other sites
peteyg 344 Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 They should suck. Quote Pete '79 S2 LEW Miss September 2009 Link to post Share on other sites
Buddsy 1,643 Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 Yea Im with you on that, Im sure they should always suck. I bought the Tripac ones which are made in the USA. I bought 3 11" ones and when you cut the lugs off they fit the S3 turbo set up just right. Info on my resto thread if your interested. Buddsy Quote "Belief is the enemy of knowing" - Crrow777 Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSMAN33 1,470 Posted March 30, 2012 Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 Hi Paul I have not sorted mine yet although I am sure they will be fine when I get the time, I bought 8" fans although in hindsight 7" would have been better. I am going to get back in to my restoration soon so will be high on the to do list. Quote Do or do not, there is no try! Link to post Share on other sites
GavinT 114 Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 What did you guys end up doing...infront or behind the radiator?. My fan upgrade is my current winter project. Couldn't stand looking at those fans on the shelve any longer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mdw 282 Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 I don't know about the earlier cars but I have 3 modern fans with no cowel on the back of my 88 n/a rad and when they kick in you could roast a chicken under the door area both sides............ well I exaggerate a bit but they are very effective at pulling heat out of the rad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PhilW 401 Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 (edited) Malcolm You should be using a cowl. The cowl is there to increase the fans effectiveness. Interesting reading http://www.elanfactory.com.au/pdf/product_datasheets/Lotus%20Esprit%20radiator%20fan%20cowling.pdf Edited December 22, 2013 by PhilW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GavinT 114 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 I confirmed this evening that any upgraded fans must be fitted IN FRONT of the radiator. As Dave says, fans mounted directly to the radiator will come in contact with the ARB. So if you have concerns about front mounted fans that push the air, stay with original set up. So now I have to undo all that I did today. Oh well, all good fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vintaylor 90 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 Is this the same idea with the s2 since the radiator is the inclined version? Quote Vin Taylor Link to post Share on other sites
philleech 55 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 The idea that the fans fitted in front of the radiator will impede normal air flow doesnt stand up in my opinion as the same amount of impeding will occur if the fans are fitted behind surely? Ive got 3 sj fans fitted to the front of my S1 rad. Theyre not exactly a straight bolt on but it only requires holes drilling into the radiator frame to fit them, Phil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 517 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 As a warning to anybody who owns an S1 with the two part radiator housing/blade if you buy the fans from SJ or eBay they won't fit on either the front or the back. If your radiator housing/blade is all one piece then you should be okay. Paul. Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSMAN33 1,470 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 (edited) That does not sound good Paul, I was going to order some 7" fans in the new year, have you got a solution? Phil, have you got any pics of what yours looks like? Many thanks Dave Edited December 24, 2013 by LOTUSMAN33 Quote Do or do not, there is no try! Link to post Share on other sites
philleech 55 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 Heres a link to my online photos. There is one picture taken through the front of the air intake looking at the rad and fans. My S1 is a very late one with an S2 spoiler so maybe that makes a difference regarding clearance. Phil http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/pjmleech/EspritS12?feat=directlink Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LOTUSMAN33 1,470 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 Thanks Phil, can't seem to get the link to work but as you say with a different spoiler you may not have the same issue. I will do some more investigating now the radiator is back with its new core, just need to do a repair on the under tray. Quote Do or do not, there is no try! Link to post Share on other sites
GavinT 114 Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 I went back and looked again at the position of the fans in relation to the ARB mounts. What I did was move the left and right fans closer to the middle by about an inch. That gave enough clearance around the ARB mounts. I now have about 1/2 an inch clearance between the fan cowlings and the ARB it's self. I'm good with that. So one fan bang in the middle and the other two are mounted about one inch either side of that. Now I am not sure if the fans I have are the same as SJs as I got them off fleebay here in the states. They do look a little smaller but photographs can be deceptive. Paul is completely correct when he says that you can not mount the fans in front of the radiator if you have the two piece panel. The contour of the bottom is different on the two piece set up and the fan cowlings will strike the panel. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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