Adding Auxiliary Electric Fan

Remember to use small gauge wire to the switch from the relay and back.

 

Yeah figured I'd match the gauge of wire that the switch comes with

 

What fan are you going with?

 

I had a Zirgo 10 inch fan laying around so I'm using that. May upgrade later on to a Spal or some other higher quality fan. Doing this as a little test run.

Not that the Zirgo is bad, but it's ok. 1200CFM should do the trick.

 

Been busy so I haven't been able to finish it up this is how it looks mounted. This was also before I figured out the blades of my fan were facing the wrong way for a "push" set-up.. The blades have since been flipped and reinstalled. Just have to finish up wiring and it'll be good to go.

 

Why use small gauge wire? I’ve always just used the same gauge for everything.

Note: I’m not saying you are wrong. Just wondering why

 

The wires from switch to relay and back are "Control/Signal" wires. They need to be small gauge, if for whatever reason you fuck up the run and they short, the wires will not carry more amperage than the main wires to the relay and accessory.

 

Ah for that reason. Make sense. Especially since those lines usually aren’t fused.

I think just about everything I’ve added to my truck (except big boy stuff like the battery and compressor) is all 14ga.

I’ll keep the smaller gauge in mind next time.

 

Alright @caribe makaira I'm running into some issues, and maybe you'll be able to work your magic.

So I ran my wires exactly as in the diagram that we (you) came up with, below:



It unfortunately did not work. The switch lit up the "Auxiliary Fan" lettering, but did nothing else.

Consulted the manual(s) of the fan itself (Zirgo). See the below diagrams which are contradictory.





Now also see the below posted diagram from the relays I bought:



SO with all of the BS out of the way: I tried each way, but I'm likely doing something wrong. The farthest I've gotten to is where the fan turns on, but the relay is buzzing, as if it is opening and closing the relay very quickly.

 

Another layout of my relays. Seems typical.

To clarify, while the relay buzzes, the fan spins (slowly), not enough to move air.

 

Have you tested the fan, no relay, large gauge fused wire on power and ground?
Might be an AFU relay.

 

So the fan seems good to go. Funny enough I was fudging wires and connected the 87 and 85 terminals together without 30 being connected to the battery. It was seemingly running off of the add-a-fuse. Spinning and moving air. Probably not the best idea but it worked for the short time used to test.

 

But yeah tested the fan without a relay and it works well.

 

Yeah, do not repeat that same test.

 

Yeah was not the smartest thing to do. Luckily nothing was harmed

 

Look at this and duplicate.

 

This is actually how I had it set up almost exactly. 12awg for fan power and fused battery power. 12awg for fan ground.

I tried both ways, but would grounding the fan ground wire separately make any difference? As opposed to running it to the 86 terminal?

 

It might help. Especially if you keep the switch ground in the cab. Still think you might have a bad relay or the pin labelings are wrong. You can test the relay alone with a 9v DC battery, verify it clicks.

 

So I was mainly trying all of this with the fan and the relay terminal ground to the chassis. The switch is grounded in the cab at an existing ground point behind the dash.

I'll have to give it a test tomorrow. I have other identical relays that I'll have to try also.