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Your bulb failure modules do seem to have a concerning amount of surface rust on the casings (especially as they shouldn't really get any moisture up there).
However, they are pretty simple engineering inside. I've taken one apart as part of my LED bulb project and will be posting pics soon. If you do need to bypass them temporarily (or permanently), it's very simple.
I need y'all's big brains. I am sure I am experiencing what is described in this document from the Auto Cool Dude. Interference.... Strange things are happening with the idle when fans get going.
I want to shield the line.
I want to include the capacitor.
I want to be sure. How do I do this?
The 'Yellow' one in the Thumb nail of the Video Lol
Its my favorite Color
Ha! Ohhhhh, I see, I see...
This forum is and has always jus been so anonymous, that I kinda took it for granted.
Maaaaan! You don't want that 'shirt'... That was from the days of Occupy Wall Street, I had been wearing it for weeks, and longer. In that photo I was arguing a point, compelling my fellow 'Comrades' to continue with the "Spokes Council" and continue to pay the rent for the space I, and about 400 others were living in at the West Park Church on the upper West Side... They were exciting days, I have to admit.
I kinda forgot that that picture followed me on YouTube, and other places. I anit all young-ish and shiny like that anymore, lol
Alex! Why you blow'n up my SPOT 🤣
I honestly thought your Video was really interesting and certainly not too long and I was getting into it so much that I was sorry when it finally came to an end and much better than most of the XJS ones on YouTube
You explained everything so well, that you've even got me thinking of going back to electric! and I never thought I would say that
And so I'm serious please do more, as it gives the Forum another dimension
The Forum is still Anonymous so if you want I will delete my post but since you put the photo up, that 'Miami Vice' Jacket/Shirt looked so Cool, I sorta thought I'd really like to get one
Alex, I appreciate that. Thank you. I was unsure as to the video and content. I hope it helps folks out.
The real question is weather or not this device will hold up. It really feels rock solid but it has QUITE a job to do. Looooong hours and lots of power flowing thru this thing. The guy (Darrell) who makes them, I think OVER makes them. Meaning he adds components that are far more durable, or capable, than doing what they are designed to do. Kinda like putting an air conditioner that will cool 4000 square feet, in a 400 sq/ft room, if you know what I mean?
There are some things that are happening that I DID NOT mention in the video that could be a show stopper. That is electro magnetic interference which (I THINK) has gotten bad enough to make the car stall, sputter and run a little funny on a couple of occasions... The PWM pulses are close to the crank position sensor AND the ignition amps right there on the rad shelf and ignition amp wiring that comes close to the wiring for the fans...
I'm hoping someone will share some thoughts as I kinda doubt it would interfere with the amps but I am SURE it could interfere with the crank position sensor...
I have some copper shield sleeving on the way, and I have been looking into these things called "ferrites" that are ment to suppress interference,,, the ferrites (I believe) can be placed on the crank position sensor wire itself which would help suppress EMI...
Also, I'm wondering about the SPAL fans and how much discharge they put out, but what I hear is that fan manufacturers place shields on the insides of the fans, and it's the wiring that is not.
Maybe I WILL make more videos.
Maybe I'll git YouTube famous, lolTry and get some free parts, and tools, and tickets to STUFF, haha
we shall see!
I have been closely following your adventures with the Fan and really don't know how you manage to work this stuff out, as I'm pretty much totally hopeless at anything Auto Electrical, as when I was removing the immobilizer which happened to be the worst wiring job that I had ever seen, being a bit of a total Birds Nest and then some, for which the previous owner paid an extra £500!
All I could do was keep snipping Wires until the thing stopped Bleeping, which sometimes often happened either when it was raining or else in the middle of the night, sometimes having to toss a coin to decide as to whether to cut the Blue Wire or the Red Wire, though sometimes I'd cut both!
But somehow I still got there in the end!
Next Video Jay, how did you get those Intake Manifolds so Sparkly Clean, as mine just don't look anything like that!
Next Video Jay, how did you get those Intake Manifolds so Sparkly Clean, as mine just don't look anything like that!
I think there is something about these cameras that make things look nicer than they actually are. I do. Anyways, when I did my little top end refresh last year, and had the intakes off, I cleaned them the best I could, then hit the accessible areas with some ol silver spray paint. I say accessable because some stuff was still attached and I removed them (the two halves) as one piece.
But you know those Starter Charger 'Thingy's' for when you get a Flat Battery, why don't you wire one into your Electric Fan System, so if you're ever stuck in Traffic and the Fans are running your Battery Down, you can just flick a switch to get some back up Power from the Starter Charger
Also hoping you'll do a Video update on how the Electric Fans are Performing and are they very noisy
Also hoping you'll do a Video update on how the Electric Fans are Performing and are they very noisy
Hey OB... No noise. Really none. Nothing I can hear over the engine. So far, I'm pretty amazed. But I have 1000s of miles to go, before I'm confident... Everything relies on this controller - no way around that.
I drove the other day, usual bumper to bumper, and not for a long way. Temp came up just below N and held there, solid. Almost 80 degrees ambient temps. Fans running pretty good at that point. Voltages we're 13.5V. That's with brakes on a lot and what not. No lights, or blower fans.
Today and yesterday I rewired pretty much everything. Removed the two fan plugs you could see in the video, hard wired everything and put copper tinned shield over the negative cables to block EMI. I wired the negatives up a little differently. Voltages were better still, allowing the car to idle for almost 2hrs - no head on air thru radiator - fans going pretty strong. Good stuff. Temps well below N.
Still, all this relies on the durability and longevity of the controller, so I am in now way out of the woods. I don't think voltages are going to be my concern,,, but good idea!!!
Well see how it goes 😳
Definitely saved ALL the stuff for my mechanical fan set up, lol... O ye of little faith...
Sounds like you have done a really good job, JJJ, congratulations. A nice write up on exactly what you did in pdf format would be a useful addition to the forum. Including fan type and ID numbers, shround fixing methods, wiring diagrams etc etc. Something for the long winter evenings to keep you occupied.
As to controller reliability, having it in the cabin should be a real plus so you will be unlucky if it fails I think; and next time your birthday comes round, but another controller and pop it in the boot!
Greg
Good work! I think you might have a difficulty wiring one of the starter battery packs in, as the ones that I have turned on by pressing a power button, so I'm not sure how you'd get it to turn on when needed?
Also, as you know, you can't really trust the voltmeter in the car for an accurate reading. If you want to know the voltage whilst driving, I would wire in a bluetooth battery monitor then you can just check it on your smartphone whilst driving. They are great devices, I've now fitted them on a number of cars and bikes. Very clever cheap pieces of kit.
I meant what I said in the video. Couldn't own this amazing machine with out this forum and you ALLz contributions to it, the guidance, the support. I will definitely be thinking about a write-up and a PDF. Imagine, me, a sticky, or something in the forum docs? Can't be, lol
We'll see how things go. So far so VERY good - but the whole counting chickens thing. The one unknown link (on which everything depends) is the controller.
This morning drove with lights on, heat on (low) and cooling fans running on what I would have to describe as medium speeds. Temps stayed steady just at below the N, and importantly, voltages never below (with my cheap reader) 13.7, 13.8 - which was a little surprising. Believe it or not, with this voltage meter mounted in the console, I have measured between ITs reading, and at multiple points in the system, including at the battery, and all lined up. But, the Bluetooth reader is a good and noted suggestion. Bought a doggone house so there ain't a lot of pennies laying around.
All relies on the longevity and durability of the controller.
On the controller and longevity front I don't know how averse you would be to keeping a spare. If it was me I would, keep it in the glove box until I forgot about it - aka no more failure anxiety.
I've not been following perhaps as close as I should (sorry), partly to ensure I don't confuse or complicate. I would ensure you have a fail safe option which is a normal requirement with any digital control system. There are two schools, one the aviation school where redundancy exists, the other is more general where a failure defaults to a known state - in your case that should be 'run' - such systems should always fail safe - or just keep a spare that is available (on a shelf 200 miles away is not available) - same way we carry spare fuses and bulbs in the car (well I do anyhow) - you can take the spares thing too far. My spares plan is now recovery insurance that will bring the car home - but I overmaintain (if such a thing is possible) to avoid its use, so far I have only used the recovery option once in a decade (fuel pump failed on the Passat in the middle of town). This 'recovery' option provides peace of mind that I'll get home, very little can eliminate the inconvenience of a mechanical failure no matter what you do, no amount of maintenance and planning will prevent them all.
Don't be discouraged or overly nervous using a controller, pretty much all modern vehicles use them now, modern components are generally pretty resilient and where you have sited yours is pretty sheltered. Industry learned a long time ago that 'hard starts' are both energy inefficient and also cause premature wear, soft starts via frequency management are the norm now, unfortunately this adds complexity. I can't even open the windows on my SV8 without a computer module - it is just how things are now.
I hear ya. I carry spare stuff around in the XJS and a few things in other cars. Then, small tool kits in each.
The Auto Cool Guy controller has a built in fail safe where a toggle switch is used to ground one of the pins off of the controller. In that, what IF the whole controller failed internally, catastrophic-ly, and disabled this function?
Cool Dude must have considered this.
Then, in the event of trouble, there is one 12mm bolt, the main fan ground on the face of the controller, that I could undo and GROUND This would literally be a closed loop directly off the battery positive terminal on the RH side in the engine bay, straight to fans, straight back to ground - running the fans full blast. Would take a few minutes on the side of the road to deal with, I think, but definitely doable... I could even have it set up and "ready" go ahead of time, so to speak...
I hope you bought a Garage with a House Attached! and not the other way round, as when you own an XJS the Garage could well be the place where you spend most of your time and so you have to get your priorities right from the start
As for the Fan, does the Fan Speed Controller have to be Manually operated and Constantly 'Tweaked' and Adjusted during your journey, according to the prevailing Ambient Temps or Conditions, or do you just set it and forget it?
If I went back to Electric, I definitely think I would keep a Power Pack Jump Start in the Boot/Trunk just in case I was Stuck in Traffic and my Battery ran Flat, where my biggest Nightmare would be not having enough Battery Power to restart the Car if I went somewhere, so that I couldn't get home
Have you considered a more Heavy Duty aftermarket Fan Controller, than supplied with the Kit as there seem to be plenty on Amazon that might do the Job
Carry on like this Jay and Never mind the 'Sticky' they will soon be sending you Free Stuff to try out
