fans

rossofozini

rossofozini

Senior Member
Anyone using an original fan?

I have a steel propeller looking one with some stress cracks, a welder friend at work said the best way to deal with this would be to drill a small hole at the end of the crack then V the crack and he can Tig it. The cracks are only on one side.
 
Buddy of mine threw a blade threw the hood of a freshly restored Phaeton. 300 dollars of repair for a 50 dollar fan blade. Not worth the risk.
 
There have been lots of horror stories on this board about the failure of original fans. Has anyone heard of a reproduction aluminum fan failing?
 
rossofozini said:
Anyone using an original fan?

I have a steel propeller looking one with some stress cracks, a welder friend at work said the best way to deal with this would be to drill a small hole at the end of the crack then V the crack and he can Tig it. The cracks are only on one side.
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Send it to the scrap yard (destroy it first).

Pluck
 
Here's what all the fuss is about.

2009FrankenmuthRoundup018.jpg


2010parts008.jpg
 
I am running one on my 29 coupe. I always forget that they are prone to breaking so I never get around to replacing it. Haven't had any problems so far. (fingers crossed)
 
Steve-These photos are a public service. Had the same event with the same results. At first you are scared as you try to kill the ignition. Then you get a sick feeling looking at the damage. IMO this is one of the two greatest hazards in working on an original A: the other could be not blocking a jacked-up A before crawling under it (I always jack and block for safety)
 
Years ago a man named Russell Batke wrote an article about basically welding a butterfly shaped patch over the hub. A reprint is in of the series of Model A Books. It is very difficult and expensive if you can find someone to do it. Years ago I paid more than $200 for each. Two of them have been on my cars for years and I have not had any problems. I believe that this is the correct solution for a show car. This was when the aluminum ones were junk. Now they are a lot better.
Vic
 
BudP said:
Steve-These photos are a public service. Had the same event with the same results. At first you are scared as you try to kill the ignition. Then you get a sick feeling looking at the damage. IMO this is one of the two greatest hazards in working on an original A: the other could be not blocking a jacked-up A before crawling under it (I always jack and block for safety)
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Thanks, Bud. Those were actually two separate incidents. The first happened to someone in our touring group. Luckily, the radiator was intact, and we could push on by just removing the fan belt. Here's a picture of where the rogue blade went--more heartbreak.

2009FrankenmuthRoundup004-1.jpg


The other tale of woe was layed out for display by an unhappy camper in another group.

I just can't fathom how some folks can deal with such data by just crossing their fingers, when there are perfectly fine alternatives available. The fellow who belongs to the first photo installed another original fan!

Steve
 
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Vic in E-TN said:
Years ago a man named Russell Batke wrote an article about basically welding a butterfly shaped patch over the hub. A reprint is in of the series of Model A Books. It is very difficult and expensive if you can find someone to do it. Years ago I paid more than $200 for each. Two of them have been on my cars for years and I have not had any problems. I believe that this is the correct solution for a show car. This was when the aluminum ones were junk. Now they are a lot better.
Vic
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I have modified more than a dozen of original fans following Mr. Batke's (He is an engineer) blueprints and directions. All of the modified fans are running without cracking. One even went through fine point judging on a MARC of Excellence car and "passed" inspection. At my aircraft repair shop rates, the cost would have exceeded the amount Vic was charged had I not done them gratis.

I agree about the recently manufactured aluminum fans and would buy one now rather than take the time to properly modify an original fan. I have had several of the "original" aluminum fans that I recycled due to a mismatch on the shaft taper.

Gar Williams
 
steve s said:
Here's what all the fuss is about.

2009FrankenmuthRoundup018.jpg


2010parts008.jpg
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The new low turbulence/ high efficiency single arm fan. They green power folks want to use single blade fans (counterbalanced) on wind turbines. I think you are onto something here?...
 
OK, so I've got an original fan, which was stripped down to bare metal using chemical cleaning. Surfaces all nice, smooth and squeeky clean metal, with hardly any sign of prior rust. Looked over the fan again and again with special attention to the hub area. Could not see any indication of cracks.

Are you saying that I should still throw my nice original fan in the bin ?
 
eystein said:
OK, so I've got an original fan, which was stripped down to bare metal using chemical cleaning. Surfaces all nice, smooth and squeeky clean metal, with hardly any sign of prior rust. Looked over the fan again and again with special attention to the hub area. Could not see any indication of cracks.

Are you saying that I should still throw my nice original fan in the bin ?
Click to expand...

I would worry about work hardening due to millions of vibrations. You know how when you bend a piece of metal back and forth repeatedly, there are no cracks in the metal until all of a sudden there are, and then a few more bends and it's in pieces.

I wouldn't toss it in the bin; hang it on your garage wall for style points.

but that's just me


Steve
 
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