Spal fans..

Hi Guys, popped over from the Wedge forum. I have the Griff / Chim ally radiator and Spal fans set-up on my 500 Griff powered Wedge. After 7 months light usage about 3.5k miles, one Spal fan has failed with what looks like bearing failure. Is this a common fault and should I consider another make of fan?

Chris

I replaced my original fan (spal) in my Graff after it started skretching after about 18 years old, given that I replaced it with another Spa, all is good and this one is now 4 years old

Hi Chris, One of my original Spal Fans failed a couple of years ago (date code of 1992), so had done well. I bought a replacement Spal from Racetech, it was only about £62, for my 4.3 Pre-Cat - http://www.racetechdirect.co.uk/tvr-car-part-k0072... - if you look at their website (link) the same fan is for the 500 also, now on offer at £65. Regards, Pete

I've always heard good things about Spal fan's, maybe it was just a defect, I'd speak to them I'm sure they will replace it, if it's less than a year old.

Lol, this is indeed a bit of a thread revival but I've been looking at this subject recently myself and here's what my research revealed, I hope it serves too help the TVR Griffith & Chimaera community?

According to TVR parts specialist Racetech Direct the fan size for our cars is 305mm (12"), they say the original Spal part number is VA10-AP70/LL-47A and that does seem to check out with a bit of separate Googling work, they charge a whopping £152.32 plus VAT & postage so buying just one fan from Racetech Direct is going to get very close to £200!!!!

On the other hand you could buy a VA01-AP70/LL-36A which is a Spal 12" curved blade pulling fan for a much more reasonable £138.37 from JJC Race & Rally on EBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Spal-Universal-12V-Sucti...

Or better still I discovered you could buy the very same thing from Pro Ally for just £94.20:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322217176227

The difference between the original part number VA10-AP70/LL-47A and VA01-AP70/LL-36A is just the last figure which seems to denote the amperage draw, 47 amps vs 36 amps for the newer version, this would make sense as the newer version is using the latest brushless motor technology.

Both fans are the same size and both used curved blade technology so I'm in no doubt the newer version will pull the same amount of air as the original if not more as the lower inertia brushless motor may very well permit a higher peak rotational speed and will certaily get to peak speed faster. The newer brushless fan will also spike on start up 10 amps or so less due again to the reduced motor weight (inertia) and Spal's integrated "Soft Start" circuitry.

Here's an airflow chart from Spal that demonstrates the VA01-AP70/LL-36A is their top performing fan in the 305mm size, unless you want to up the maximum amp spike considerably from a safe 36A to 66A which is something I wouldn't recommend without significantly uprating the original TVR wiring.



Bushless motors are smaller (thinner) so fitting it will be easier and ultimately would allow for a deeper rad core if that's something being considered, bushless motors also last longer and draw less amps so the newer VA01-AP70/LL-36A has some really nice advantages over the original VA10-AP70/LL-47A used by TVR in the 90's which itself was a quality fan choice that seem to last a good 20 years, it's just electric motor technology has moved on.

Choosing the new brushless motor VA01-AP70/LL-36A will therefore be an upgrade from the original and if you buy it from Pro Alloy rather than Racetech Direct it'll be half the price too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322217176227

Please note this is all just research at this point but it all cross checks (including interrogating Spal's own website) so I'm very confident its correct, do however make your own checks before committing so you can satisfy yourself you are definitely purchasing the right fan for your car.

Hope this helps?

Dave.

There is no way my fans, or anyone's ,draw 36 or 47 amps ,maybe 15 each of course.

If you are looking to replace go to Spal direct far far cheaper than all the usual suspects.

Tel:01905 613714

Ive just replaced mine with the most pwerful ones that will fit in the Griff nose (its limited depth due to the radiator angle and bottom chassis rail.
The ones i bought are VA10-AP70/LL-47A and i paid £71.46 (plus VAT) each for them

The brushless fans are a good upgrade and like you say technology has moved on since so it would seem a no brainer to upgrade to a later spec. Car manufacturers have all gone in the brushless direction for their OEM parts so that is normally a good indication for reliability.

For the record and not wanting to piss on anyones bonfire here but the VA01-AP70/LL-36A pulls 21.8A maximum according to Spal's website, max airflow is 1640 CFM

I cannot find the specs for the original VA10-AP70/LL-47A on their website to compare.

I am going to switch to brushless when I get my ECU fitted and also power the fans directly from the ECU. Modern ECUs can act as a fan controller and gradually ramp up the RPM as the temperature rises.

I want to improve the static cooling of my car Griff 4.3 pre cat.
Was thinking of alloy rad but cooling is ok when moving so am now thinking about fans!
Currently running 2 x SPAL VA10-AP9C-25A-12v fans. Question is there a higher flow replacement available?