Improve the Cooling In Your Hot Rod By Running Higher Voltage Through Your Electric Fan

Here at Power & Performance News we are very excited about a new opportunity to work with one of the premiere engine cooling specialists in the industry, Flex-a-Lite, to bring you regular tech articles on how to improve your ride so you can enjoy it hassle-free on even the hottest days. Flex-a-Lite manufactures everything from aluminum radiators, to electric fans, to the adaptors and fittings required to make everything work, and they are allowing us full access to their technical know-how to help bring you better info that you can use to build a better hot rod or race car and enjoy it more.

To kick things off we wanted to bring you this great tip that the folks at Flex-a-Lite shared with us on how you can improve the airflow through your radiator simply by increasing the voltage through your electric fan. It seems like a simple idea at first, but nobody wants to cause an electrical fire and burn down the engine compartment by doing it wrong. The key is to switch to a 16 volt battery (and other components such as the alternator, if necessary) to help provide the extra juice safely.

Racers and audio enthusiasts were the first to use 16-volt batteries for better ignition and audio performance, and they are becoming more popular. An electrical-system expert will tell you that a small variation in operating voltage will raise or lower the speed of an electric fan, which increases or decreases the airflow. For example, Flex-a-lite’s part number 398 electric fan (16-inch Syclone S-blade fan) moves 2,500CFM in a 12-volt system, but increases to 2,700CFM in a 16-volt system.

The additional airflow from the fan does have a cost to the fan’s motor, however. The increase in fan speed and heat caused by running in a 16-volt system will result in a slight reduction in fan-motor life. Flex-a-lite motors are rated for over 5,000 continuous hours, so most applications will not be affected by this slight reduction in motor life. You can visit Flex-a-lite.com to learn more about the company’s wide range of electric radiator fans.