collingwood Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Has anyone wired up an override switch to manually turn cooling fan on . if so how did you wire it in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted February 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 1, 2015 Try this thread. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/71972-fan-switch-mod/ The wire leading to the fan thermo switch on the radiator is always powered - all the thermo switch does is ground the fan circuit. Just re-route that wire (or create an extension) to the center of your 3 position switch. That carries the power to the switch. The switch center position (of 3) does not send power anywhere (forces the fan off). That leaves the other 2 switch positions to send power to ground and activate the fan. Wire 1 of the 2 remaining switch positions directly to a ground - that forces the fan on. Wire the remaining pole of the switch to the theremo switch on the radiator and that lets the thermo switch control the fan as it does stock. So of the 3 possible switch positions, 1= "fan on", 2 (center) = "fan off" and 3 routes through the thermo switch = "normal operation". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer HighSideNZ Posted February 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 1, 2015 As far as I understand it the + power to the fan is always on as long as the ignition switch is on. The thermo switch in the radiator header is switching the ground (-). So a very simple way to override the thermo switch is to splice a wire on to the wire that comes from the thermo switch and incorporate a normally open switch in the line and ground the other side of the NO switch. See the attached PDF for a schematic. Fan Switch Mod.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collingwood Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks for your help , both posts were very good . will be adding a switch very soon . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted February 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thats correct, just run the wire going to the fan switch through another switch to earth. Switch on = fan runs, switch off = fan runs as normal. Why bother trying and switch fan off? On a side note, I've done the 6th gen rad on 5th gen, plus the VTR fan blade. This simple switch has made the greatest difference to runnig hot. No problems most days, but on our many over 35*c days in traffic, I just switch it on when moving very slow before it gets to over 90*c, and it has mostly taken away the times it gets to over 100*c. Not that I think its a problem when they get hot, mine has been over 112*c many times in traffic for long periods of time, specially on our over 40*c days, it hasn't killed it yet. I now just ignore it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer HighSideNZ Posted February 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 1, 2015 Yep, I agree. Why would you want to disable the fan totally? Make it run when you want, or automatically as standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyRedRC46 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 If you pull on to the highway and the bike is hot and fan is running, the bike will not cool down. The fan is fighting with the natural flow of air. When moving at highway speed you need to ensure that the fan is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Candyred is right. And not only is the fan not effective in cooling the bike Down but the fan Remains on Uselessly for much much Longer putting the alternator and the Entire charging system Under Lots of extra stress and Heat as well and you Fry your stator... battery fails... etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allyance Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I had to do this on my '03 because of the long traffic light cycles with all the left turn lanes at most intersections. Bike would get hot waiting, I also got a VF1000 fan to reverse air flow so that it didn't fight the venturi effect. Managed to keep it under 200 degrees all the time. Not a problem so far with the '14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted February 1, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 1, 2015 I don't force the fan off nearly as often as I do on, but the option is nice. The switch has one more position is all so it's no big deal. It does prevent running down the road for miles with the temp around 225. Actually the bigger deal with either type of switch is remembering what position it's in. Forgetting and leaving it either off or on can be bad. If I were a better electrician I'd figure out some sort of LED indicator light(s) to show what it's doing - red=off, green=normal, etc. You'll only forget a time or two before learning the lesson of keeping track of it. btw - thanks for the correction - the fan circuit is powered only when the key on. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allyance Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Forgot to mention that I did have an red LED as well, easy to install, plus I used a relay because of the high current the fan motor draws rather than using a big heavy switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyRedRC46 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 There is a fan relay on the bike already. If you wire it up right, there isn't much load in the switch. Also I don't have an indicator on the switch, but I do have a voltmeter and I have my voltages memorized. 14.2v no fan/highbeams, 14.1 when I turn on one of them and 14.0 with both on. Works good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted February 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 2, 2015 Fit VTR1000 fan blade or complete motor, with a stone guard, to exclude stones bigger than 5-6mm that may be flicked up by the front wheel or other road users. That will stop the blade forcing them onto the inside of the rad & flattening the vanes. Stones <6mm will fall out of the fan shield gap. This allows forward motion airflow to combine with the fan to increase the cooling effect, as opposed to the standard setup, that has the fan fight the airflow ! You can also add an additional fan to the right rad, again there are various threads on this, some of the slim CBR600RR or CBR1000RR fans may fit, I used a high volume PC fan (120x38mm 250cfm) that works a treat & has been there for 3 years :) Then fit a lower temp fan switch, as documented on various threads. This will bring the fans on sooner than the standard one. Mine comes on at 95c & off at 78c. This stops the engine getting too hot to begin with & as the fan kicks in sooner then the engine cools down faster, as there is not as much heat to remove. I have had this setup for 3 years & even in 32c ambient air the fan never comes on unless riding slow or stopped. Even then it still cools down quite quickly. last year we did 2500 miles all around europe, from cold torrential rain in Blegium, to -2 on top of an alp then down to Italy in 30c ambient temps, across south of France to Spain all in similar temps, so don't worry about water ingress of other silly things, just do it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 The only trouble with the VTR fan blades is that when the bike is stoped (at the lights or for whatever other reason), the fan is not effective enough on it's own to cool the bike down... only when it is in motion and combines with the naturally incoming airflow. Especially if you live in an área with high ambient temperatures. Using a thermoswitch with a lower activation temp one also has to consider the fact this will have your fan coming on more often and thus put the charging and electrical system under greater periods of load which may (or may not) find you in the same basket I mentioned earlier with premature stator failure. The ideal situation is to have the fan come on less often but be more effective when it does and at least to avoid it entering that viscious cycle of being on but totally ineffective for prolonged periods of time because it fights with the natural airlfow. I live in an área where summers are 35-45ºC... I tried the VTR blades and around town it was definitely worse... on the highway it was obviously better... so it will depend on local weather conditions and the type of use the bike tends to see. If you get somewhat lower ambient temps and tend only to use the bike for trips with average speeds above 80 km/h then the VTR blades would be a good mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted February 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 3, 2015 I picked up a VTR blade but did not get around to putting it on prior to installing the switch. After using the switch over a couple of summers, it's been working well enough that I'm happy with it without changing out the stock fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted February 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted February 3, 2015 I picked up a VTR blade but did not get around to putting it on prior to installing the switch. After using the switch over a couple of summers, it's been working well enough that I'm happy with it without changing out the stock fan. Here here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogman Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 It will be interesting to see if Honda bring out any more bikes with side mounted radiators. IMO it goes into the "what were they thinking" category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandyRedRC46 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I ran a vtr fan blade setup for a little while. Great while the bike is in motion. Terrible with the bike stuck in traffic. Swapped the stock fan back on after a few weeks and haven't looked back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsparky Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 So, here is the wiring for the 8 gen fan. Sorry so blurry. I'd like to tap in before the relay. Can anyone confirm that the ecm simply grounds the signal of the relay? If so, it wouldn't hurt for me to add my override there, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zs6af Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Hi ALL , What is the color of that earth wire on fan please , my VFR gets very hot in the South African weather , fan switch on at 105 C which is way to late , I would like a manual switch for slow traffic. pity u can turn the blades around to force air out to the side ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcegie Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 On 1 February 2015 at 6:02 AM, Cogswell said: Try this thread. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/71972-fan-switch-mod/ The wire leading to the fan thermo switch on the radiator is always powered - all the thermo switch does is ground the fan circuit. Just re-route that wire (or create an extension) to the center of your 3 position switch. That carries the power to the switch. The switch center position (of 3) does not send power anywhere (forces the fan off). That leaves the other 2 switch positions to send power to ground and activate the fan. Wire 1 of the 2 remaining switch positions directly to a ground - that forces the fan on. Wire the remaining pole of the switch to the theremo switch on the radiator and that lets the thermo switch control the fan as it does stock. So of the 3 possible switch positions, 1= "fan on", 2 (center) = "fan off" and 3 routes through the thermo switch = "normal operation". Hi I have a problem with the cooling fan fuse on my vfr 2002 vtec blowing if riding in slow traffic or if I've been out a while could this mean my fan motor is on its way out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcegie Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Hi I have a problem with my cooling fan fuse blowing if caught in slow moving traffic or if I've been out for a while could this mean the motor is on its way out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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