Talk:Radiator (engine cooling)

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Technology

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Electric cooling fan circuits

Electric radiator cooling fans are frequently wired with 3 cables , one of which is ground (?) and the other two are switched (12v? , DC?) turned on by the electronic control unit (relays) to select fan speed apporpriate to cooling demand. Can anybody supply the actual circuit or logic for controlling these 3 fan wires? I cna't find this circuitry anywhere on the internet, or in Chilton's in the local library. Doens't seem like it should be big secret! user:70.181.101.92

There are two forms of this:

High power fans, where a simple heavy gauge cable takes the unswitched high-current feed direct to the fan (from the battery or alternator), then a low-current control signal is fed from the engine management system (or just a thermoswitch). These can have several or gradual speeds, all controlled by the one wire.
Two-speed fans. There are two "power" feeds, one for high-speed, one for low-speed.

Most fans do have a ground wire, as the way they're mounted on the radiator means that the usual earth return doesn't work.
Andy Dingley (talk) 12:20, 2 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Construction

[1] says Radiators come in one-, two-, three-, or four-core systems .

Does this mean either that 4 independent radiators are arranged to yield counter-current heat exchange, or does this mean that 4 rows of water tubes pass through the fins and each water molecule passes just one tube before leaving the radiator yielding high air and water flow and high mass?

construction photos and parts Arnero (talk) 21:47, 21 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Overall classification

I think it would be a nice idea to mention at the start the class of equipment that rads belong to, namely "heat exchangers". Maelli (talk) 12:00, 5 February 2014 (UTC) So I did! Maelli (talk) 12:02, 5 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]