Greetings, after looking at two or three forklifts I noticed that these all had mechanical cooling fans. Is there a reason that electric fans arent used for this application? The one I use has a tendency to foul the radiator on a regular basis and I thought that if the cooling fan was only running "on demand" that it would lessen my fouling problems. Thanks & take care!
Forklifts & mechanical vs. electric cooling
- Thread starter EW57
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What do you mean by fouling? I had a couple of Hysters, one propane and one gas with a flathead six. Both had mechanical fans and never ever gave me a bit of trouble.
I don't see why an electric fan wouldn't work.
I don't see why an electric fan wouldn't work.
It's part of keep it stone ax reliable and simple.
A piece of window screen over your radiator air inlet that you brushed off as needed would help.
What is fouling them? Ag products?
A piece of window screen over your radiator air inlet that you brushed off as needed would help.
What is fouling them? Ag products?
Thanks for the replies guys, this particular lift is used in an environment with alot of fine dust, which clogged the radiator fairly easily. I'm in the process of switching the OEM radiator out due to a bad core and was just curious of there were any negative aspects of going electric besides additional complexity.
Forklifts suck up dirt like a vacumn cleaner , before the rad clogs up get on a schedual to blow out the dirt with compressed air and the rest of the dirt thar gets on the motor and insides of the forklifts as the "dirt" is a fire hazard. Fit a piece of brake line to a non pressure regulated blow gun "what ever the thing is called" I worked at an independent shop for 5 years and a Dealer for 17.5 years.
Water would work .The pressure out of a hose from a hose bib would not be too high to hurt anything and a nozzle probably would be needed but air pressure would avoid getting something wet that would cause a no start problem. Air pressure is what the forklift companies use to blow off "out" the dirt. Remember the air is sucked from the engine compartment out through the back of the counterweight.
I would guess it is to keep the engine compartment cool as the driver is sitting on the engine cover.
And space. There were some with mufflers in the engine compartment.
Re: mechanical vs. electrical cooling fans on a forktruck.
The electric fan on an automobile only saves money when you're going fast enough to cause adequate air to be forced through the radiator. No fan is needed then, and it's sort of pointless to have a mechanical fan flailing away.
But an electric fan, at a constant slow vehicle speed would be less efficient than a proper mechanical fan because you'd have to convert the energy that would turn a mechanical fan into electricty, then convert it back at the electric fan.
lp
The electric fan on an automobile only saves money when you're going fast enough to cause adequate air to be forced through the radiator. No fan is needed then, and it's sort of pointless to have a mechanical fan flailing away.
But an electric fan, at a constant slow vehicle speed would be less efficient than a proper mechanical fan because you'd have to convert the energy that would turn a mechanical fan into electricty, then convert it back at the electric fan.
lp
Originally Posted By: EW57
Greetings, after looking at two or three forklifts I noticed that these all had mechanical cooling fans. Is there a reason that electric fans arent used for this application?
I worked as a forklift tech years ago. This was in an area that was extremely dusty. We had a couple of trucks that used electric fans for cooling and it was too dusty for them. They simply wouldn't hold up. The failure rate was probably less than a year.
I think a fan would be okay in a clean warehouse, but if you want simplicity, stay with the mechanical fan.
Greetings, after looking at two or three forklifts I noticed that these all had mechanical cooling fans. Is there a reason that electric fans arent used for this application?
I worked as a forklift tech years ago. This was in an area that was extremely dusty. We had a couple of trucks that used electric fans for cooling and it was too dusty for them. They simply wouldn't hold up. The failure rate was probably less than a year.
I think a fan would be okay in a clean warehouse, but if you want simplicity, stay with the mechanical fan.
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