PDA

View Full Version : Forced Induction w/Computer Fan



Jet Black
06-17-2003, 10:50 AM
I had to release this question, no matter how many laughs manybrews or any other car tech this question brings.

Ok my question is, does a normal computer fan spinning at about 5k RPM, and is around 2x2x.5, displace enough air to make any differance in the engine.

I mean if I stuck this fan right in front of the intake manifold (forget the heat), and reset the ECU.

Thanks https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif

BGR
06-17-2003, 01:11 PM
I've done that about 5 years ago on my Sentra. It seemed to work pretty good, I shit you not. The freeway acceleration was much faster. I had to hook a switch to the fan so that I could kill it when I came to a stop, otherwise, the intake was taking in too much air and the engine would stall out.

Jet Black
06-17-2003, 02:52 PM
NO SHIT https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif HAHAHA, I now have proof that this can actually work. THANKS

Can you give me the details on how you went about setting it up?

Im thinking about purshasing one of those d/c to a/c converters for the car. The ones that plug into the cig lighter, and from their just wiring it to fan.

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif THANKS SO MUCH!!!

pinoyesv6
06-17-2003, 03:06 PM
many computer parts run on 12vdc so u wouldn't have to worry about all those adaptors and such. i just ordered some cold cathode tubes for my friends car and they run on 12v so they shouldn't be that much of a problem but yea make sure its12vdc

Jet Black
06-17-2003, 03:20 PM
^ Nice. Now the tough part is figuring out how to wire the damn thing.
Also with the information provided:
https://www.vbd.com/shop/products_detail.as...=13&ProductID=7 ('https://www.vbd.com/shop/products_detail.asp?CategoryID=13&ProductID=7')

Is their anyway to figure out psi? Their must be :
With a size of 60 x 60 x 15, and 13 cubic feet/minute of air passing, lets see: brb

cruznnus
06-17-2003, 06:48 PM
Spins at 3,200 rpms and moves air at 13 cfm. That doesn' sound like much. Is there anything that u have found that blows more air than that.

Jet Black
06-17-2003, 09:37 PM
Ok, I hooked up one of my computer fans in front of the intake. Even as I was strapping on the first strips of electrical tape, I noticed that the enginge might choke. After I was finished strapping the fan in place, I unhooked the negative wire from the battery for 20 minutes, to clear the adabtives.

Finally I started the car, and the RPM immediatly shot up to 2000, made a wierd noise, and dropped to 1500, made another 2 wierd noises. And finally died.

I was choking my baby to death. Even with the fan on, the engine wasn't getting enough oxygen to start. So I unhooked the whole setup. I now will continue to purshase a large "bathroom fan". I will harness it directly under the air filter.

I will successed, And include all of your names to my patent.

Auto-9
06-17-2003, 10:48 PM
I forgot where I read this but I think I read somewhere that an engine needs about 640 cfm to flow properly, variable depending on an engine's displacement of course. 13 doesn't sound like much...

BGR
06-18-2003, 02:40 PM
NO SHIT https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif HAHAHA, I now have proof that this can actually work. THANKS

Can you give me the details on how you went about setting it up?

Im thinking about purshasing one of those d/c to a/c converters for the car. The ones that plug into the cig lighter, and from their just wiring it to fan.

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif THANKS SO MUCH!!!

I used my stock air box and flipped it upside down, then used a hot glue gun to glue the computer fan at the opening of the intake, inside the box. Yeah, it is wise to only turn the fan on when driving, not when idling, otherwise the engine will conk out.

This thing was by no mean a supercharger but with the extra push of air into the engine, it did increase performance where it was noticeable but my car was governed at 109, so it was sort of pointless having extra power.

You may be better off getting an electric supercharger. I've heard pros and cons of this device but I've never talked to someone that had one, you know what I'm saying. I'm a show me type of person.

http://www.electricsupercharger.com/ ('http://www.electricsupercharger.com/')

DETHTOLL
06-18-2003, 03:16 PM
it would seem to me that you would want to put the fan as close to the throttle body as possible to minimize the area that you would need to have compressed air in. (the larger the area, the less compressed the air would be). You could still run a cold air intake but it would draw the air up thru the tube to the fan, instead of the fan trying to compress the extra volume of the tube. Make sense? Cause it doesn't to me, why are we talking about hooking up electrical fans with duct tape and electrical wire!?!? :smileysex:

BGR
06-18-2003, 04:25 PM
Jet BLaK wanted to know if it was possible. I just happened to have done this project years ago on my other car.

The fan isn't going to compress anything, just push a little more air. That's all it does and you will feel a noticeable difference, at least on the Sentra I did.

PharmEcis
06-18-2003, 04:52 PM
that is absolutely pointless. If you place a 12v PC fan anywhere in the intake area, you are doing nothing for your car. Even the most powerful PC fans you can get, 120mm sunon's that flow 138 CFM are a hinderance for our cars. There is a reason that real forced induction costs so much, probably the fact that a blower can push out THOUSANDS of CFM.

If you placed the fan inline w/ your intake all you would do is cause a restriction. The engine will suck more air in than that little fan could ever hope to push out and that fan will be blocking the passage of the air.

Granted what you are trying to do is the cheap ghetto mod, why don't you just convert to a WAI instead? Those things you see on ebay advertised as cheap electric superchargers are nothing but a scam to get your money. They use cheap PC fans that create more of a restriction and hurt performance more than anything else.

I'm pretty well versed in thermo and atmospheric dynamics because of the cooling and airflow stuff I've learned OC'ing PCs for the last 10 years.

Even having a fan blowing onto the intake filter in a cai or wai setup really won't help you. The fan doesn't generate enough pressure to actually get the air to enter the element. Air is SUCKED in by the engine. Unless the fan or blower can put out MORE than what the engine sucks in, it's pointless.

Auto-9
06-18-2003, 05:51 PM
Air is SUCKED in by the engine. Unless the fan or blower can put out MORE than what the engine sucks in, it's pointless.

Aye that's why the Mustang and Civic we dynoed with the Tornado system lost power, about 7 hp 7 tq.

Fishboy55
06-19-2003, 05:53 AM
Well said Pharmecis. You're absolutely right, of course. Our intakes on the Galants flow really well and a little computer fan is going to do nothing more than block the air. It's always been about the number of CFM that any fan can push. Even the reconverted bilge pumps they sell on Ebay won't push more air than your engine is taking in at WOT.

Rich, I have no doubt it worked on your Sentra, but because the Galant intake has little or no restrictions from the factory, I doubt you'd see the same result on the Galant.