Question regarding Windstar fans

[ryanstrucking]

Hey Guys.
Yet another question for you.
I'm going to be hooking up my windstar fans very shortly and was looking at the diagram someone had posted earlyer in regards to these and my concern is the relays. are 30 amp relays big enough? does anyone know what these pull for amps at start-up and once they are running?
Heres a diagram of the set-up I'm refering to.

Thanks in advance
Ryan

 

[HarryH3]

You'll want to use at least 40 amp relays with the Windstar fans. Those things draw some serious juice at startup!

 

[ryanstrucking]

You'll want to use at least 40 amp relays with the Windstar fans. Those things draw some serious juice at startup!

I apreciate your reply but can you narrow down the serious juice a little more for me. Just wondering if I should use a solinoid rather than a relay.

 

[afroman006]

I used two 30 amp relays wired in parallel for each fan . Ghetto but it was cheap and I used the waterproof relays from a mid 90s cadi.

 

[dyeager535]

A good idea would be to go get a Ford Windstar wiring manual (autozone has them online?) and see how they wired them. However they did it is likely going to be a bit overkill, but safe.

 

[88Silverado]

On my 71 ElCamino I ran a pair of 30A like you have shown and had no problems.

 

[afroman006]

I have a single relay for each fan on my burban but one day they just wouldnt come on so I wired the fans straight to the battery for the trip to my shop where I tore the burban up. I never tested the relays once I got them out but I'm almost positive they were dead.

 

[NoReGrEtS]

dont mean to hijack but what year windstar fans did/do you use?
thanks Shawn

 

[Russell]

Those Ford fans draw up to 90 amps on startup. You'll definitely kill a 30 amp relay pretty quickly. Might be worth it to go with a couple of Ford remote starter solenoids or something instead

 

[dyeager535]

Can't find the wiring at autozone (not up yet apparently) but from what I could find, Ford used two different relays, because of the high speed and low speed fans.

Would obviously make sense to use the same one for both, whichever was the highest rated.

 

[ryanstrucking]

dont mean to hijack but what year windstar fans did/do you use?
thanks Shawn

these ones
http://users.adelphia.net/~bcnelson/truck/electricfans.html

 

[88Silverado]

OOps, I errored. I used 50A Bosch relays (0-332-209-138, one for each fan) and they worked fine. Relays are rated at max full load. They can take a higher load (within reason) for short durations.