Has anyone had a Cyclone Power Fan from U.S. Gear, www.usgear.com, installed on their V10? If so, does it actually produce the results they advertise?

Sounds like a quality product that offers some good results.

Thanks, Gary S.

 

Hey Gary, I asked the same question a few months back. Check here...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/DCForumID43/32.html

I put it on the back burner for now. Guys that run them on their PSD's seem to really like it.

 

Thanks Monsta. I did a search on "Cyclone Power Fan" and it came back with nadda....must only search the Subject line. I still haven't made up my mind. My mechanic thats done a ton of work on my other vehicles just raves about this fan. We'll see...I just might give it a try. Thanks again.

Gary S.

 

Gary if you do try it, would you be willing to write up a short article on your "findings"? It would be really good info for the others here, as well as, for myself.

Thanks!

Ken

 

Yes I have the power fan. Best investment I have made on this truck. The ad says its worth 40hp. It is, actually 40.3 on a dyno. Before I changed the fan out I had to have alot of room to pass because once the engine hit 3000 rpm it slowed down. I tested it right after I installed it and could not believe the change.
One thing I did find out later was, don't run their wiring harness parallel to the engine harness. The injector field in the harness will drive the ecm for the fan nuts. I was towing a trailer and the fan came on for no reason. After 2 hours of putting up with it and trying to find the problem it dawned on me while I was in the middle of no where. I stopped and put the harness perpindicular to the engine harness and it qiut acting up. I have notified tech services at U.S. Gear, but don't know whether they did anything with it.
I also gained 1 mile to the gallon.







2001 F250SD Ext cab V10 Auto

 

I am really confused - you have dyno numbers that show you
gain *40* hp from turning off the electric fan in front
of the motor?? If you compute how many amps a fan would have
to draw at 12 V to take 40 hp from your engine, I think you'd
find out you'd need a huge cable just to power it. There is no
way I can see the engine fan could draw 40 hp from the engine.

Their web site says:
"The Cyclone is designed to automatically disengage the fan when outside temperatures and normal ram air is sufficient to cool the drivetrain. Remember, most of the time there is sufficient air created from normal acceleration to keep the engine cool without running the fan."

What kind of nonsense is that? Ram air? Ram air puts air into your intake. Air created from normal acceleration? 99% of the time your vehicle is not accelerating or decelerating, but driving at a pretty
steady speed. Velocity creates airflow across the engine.

Maybe I am missing something, can someone explain how this product could ad 5 hp, much less 40?

-Jim

 

>>What kind of nonsense is that? Ram air? Ram air puts air
>into your intake. Air created from normal acceleration? 99%
>of the time your vehicle is not accelerating or
>decelerating, but driving at a pretty
>steady speed. Velocity creates airflow across the engine.


I believe symantics are clouding you're thinking. What they are saying is that a vehicle travelling at normal highway speeds creates enough airflow through the heat exchangers to sufficiently cool the drivetrain. Having a fan on the front of the engine (to them) is somewhat redundant when moving and robs power that could otherwise be sent to the wheels. How much power? Well, they claim up to 40HP. As does the "other" hightech.

I am not so quick to disbelieve but harbor some doubts simply because I have not seen it with my own eyes.

"Ram Air" is more of a marketing term. Although, today's motorcycle manufacturers do use the term to signify that the motorcycles have pressurized airboxes at speed. (A very high speed at that!)

Why they chose to use that term is somewhat odd (but understandable). I guess they felt that was the easiest way to explain it.

 

One thing needs to be clarified, it is not an "Electric Fan". It is your factory fan but the fan clutch has been changed to an electric clutch. The clutch is very similar to an A/C Clutch which draws relatively low current.
It has a control panel and control module. In the normal mode the fan engages when you let off the throttle. There is a throttle switch which comes with the kit.
If you are pulling a grade with a trailer and the engine temp comes up to a preset point the fan comes on long enough to cool the engine. This usually last 10 seconds but is like slamming on the brakes.
It also has an overide swith so that you can have it on all the time, or you can use it to come on only with temp.
They say it is a good engine brake, it does help but the factory belt tensioner can't keep the belt from squelling above 3000 RPM.
I know it is confusing, I was confused when I first heard about it and I am a 23 year Master Certified Auto Tech. I was on the phone several times with US Gear before I bought.
I am very impressed with the unit. Let me know if I can explain better.

 

Good catch hightech. For some reason that completely slipped past me when I read his post.

When you use the override does the fan move 1 to 1 with the engine or does it move slower like the stock set-up?

Does it get annoying when it comes on and off in traffic? The mode in which it comes on when you let off throttle sounds like it would be.

What temp is it set for? And can it be adjusted?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 04-May-02 AT 11:30 PM (EST)]Cool ID, hightech. I can change mine here if it causes you any concern - did not realize someone had a similar one.

Ok, so belt slippage at 3000 means that we can't save 40 (accourding
to their own charts), but 35 hp at 3000 rpm is still a lot.

So this is a mechanical system, engine driven, with basically
an AC clutch. And they spin it faster than stock when on, but
let it disengage most of the time.

So if this system spins the fan faster, it creates more hp loss
then the stock fan - possibly a lot more - when it is on. It is
sounding just possible that there are 10's of hp involved in the
system the way they have it set up from on to off condition.

What I'd like to see is dyno numbers for the stock fan's hp draw
from the engine at the stock speed. It still is hard for me to believe it takes a lot of HP to drive the engine fan. Interestingly, dyno numbers should be the best case for the product. At speed the "ram air" :P should help the fan turn, causing it to draw even less hp. So this product should gain you more power off the dime than it does moving.

Not entierly convinced, but at least I get the concept - a little like under drive pulleys, but in the extreme. And I'm sure the product does save whatever energy it would take, since the fan is now disconnected. The question is,

How much energy to turn the stock fan? Heck, if it is enough, I'm almost curious enough to try it...

-Jim
E450

P.S. Couple more questions - Is it still $595 and what is involved in the install? A shade tree job?

 

To answer Monsta's questions first, It is 1 to 1 when engaged, and in traffic I just put it in overide. The chirping does get annoying.
I installed a on -off switch to shut it completely down in the winter. Where I live we don't have traffic, except for a occasional train.
The install was easy, no special tools needed except for a fan clutch tool, which can be had at most parts stores.
The temp setting is preset, a little low for my liking. You actually don't see a change in the temp gauge. The kit comes with evrything you need for install. I paid just under $500 for mine but I am an RV dealership. You should be able to find it for the same or less from a stocking dealer. I wasn't going to stock 5 of them to get the better break.
I know that describing it hard to believe, imagine hitting a 60mph head wind pulling a trailer. Thats what it feels like when it comes on. I have a G-Tech and will try and get some numbers on 0-60 times with and without and also HP with and without.
I installed a Superchip a year later and now have a very snappy truck. A new chevy with a 6.0 can't begin to keep up, not saying much, but they had me before. Empty weight on my truck is 7k, so I am happy with the fan and chip.
Hightech is a cool handle, I have no problem with it if you don't?
Let me know if I can help some more.

 

You are a MH dealer? How cool. If you are beating a
6.0l truck you are beating either a 345 (Caddy) or
320 hp truck and doing well.

I have a g-tech as well - if you run it in hp mode it should
give an approximate power increase between the fast fan (1:1)
and fan off. Any idea what the gearing is on the stock fan?
2:1?

I am really looking for something like a Banks intake for my
e450 motor home - without the rest of the kit. Carry anything?

-Jim

 

Hey Jim,
The stock fan will go 1 to 1 when it gets hot enough, other then that it slips but is still a horsepower waister.
As for your ram air, I always fabricate what I need. I sell performance enhancments for motor homes and my kits installed are less then what I can buy a banks system. I have used banks before, not impress. There system is WAY overpriced. Why pay twice the price for Stainless when Aluminized will last as long. Ch... need lots of help. I can't remember what I did for the V10 class C. I will look monday and let you know.
Yea its real nice to have one of those other makes come up beside me with there load exhaust no cats and 20 inch wheels, then this 7700 lbs truck leaves them in the dust. Whats really funny is they usually don't believe it and come back for more.
Tim

 

Very Nice. I need to buy the helms manual. Tell me if you find something you have done for E-450 intake.

I am thinking about just putting in an "off" and "on" switch for
the stock fan to simulate the Cyclone gain - would it work with the stock clutch? Add a third mode that is "Stock", controlled by the normal stock air temp sensor.

-Jim

 

Sorry Jim, the factory fan clutch is a viscous coupling. You can not change or control what it does. It is not electrical, it has a hub that is driven by the engine builts inside the hub the fan bolts to. As the engine turns it moves a fluid that intern moves the fan. The amount of transfer is controled by a Bimetal spring on the front of the clutch.
The cyclone fan replaces that with a electric clutch which is either on or off, no in between. I recommend using the control module that comes with the power fan.
I remember what I did for the E450 ram air, I have an exhaust bender and bent a piece of pipe that duplicated the rubber hose bends. Any good exhaust shop can do it. Then just cut the ends off your excisting hose to couple the pipe. Use the pipe size that matches the intake and air filter housing.
Banks uses a corrugated hose that will slow down air flow, and they put it where it will pick up rain. Use a smooth hose and put it into a fresh air path. You don't need Ram air, just access to cool free air. The ones I did just pickup clean air, if you really want ram air, build a scoop on your hood. Even a nice smooth hole with the hose behind it will work. I used to do that on f250's with the old diesels.
Once you increase the "size" of the intake, you will see a difference, then replace that corked up muffler with a dynomax or magnaflow.
Good Luck. Tim