Electrical parts

[Black Betty]

So I am collecting the rest of the parts for my alternator upgrade and ford taurus fan swap on the Yj.

I have read lots about the fan install, and due to the high current of high speed on the electric fan, i want to use a solenoid rated for 80 amps.  I was originally going to go with a bosch 50 amp relay but have heard of people burning these out frequently.  Looking for a continuous duty, SPDT, 80 amp solenoid to be my high/low speed switch.  NC contacts will be low speed and it will be energized by a high/off/auto switch in the cab.

The switches and relays I have a handle on, but am having a hard time locating the solenoid.

Low speed will be controlled from the fan speed controller I got from Gearhead.  If anyone has any experience with this setup I would be all ears.  I do have my wiring diagram already, if anyone is interested in a copy of it let me know.  Also, I have heard it is wise to install a diode on the high speed circuit to prevent voltage buildup when the fan is freewheeling.

Thanks in advance.

[cLAY]

Use a Cole Herse relay as used on winch solenoid packs and RV dual battery systems.  Make sure its contionous duty, starter solenoids are more common but are intermittment duty.

I wired mine for high only, much simpler, less to go wrong, comes on when motor hot, goes off  when motor not.........

[cLAY]

Sorry just read you are looking for SPDT. Good luck with that, might be easier using two separate ones.

[Black Betty]

Yup, spdt as a failsafe.  I can always throw it in high to get home, and the solenoid will not be energized 99% of the time.

I did find one before, but for the life of me cannot find it again.  It was rated 80-85 amps on NO contacts and 40 or so on the NC.

[cLAY]

Not sure I follow you. What are you using the NC for?

For manual control I have an over ride switch that will manually power the solenoid on in case the controller fails or lock it out in case I want to do a deep water crossing.

In the case of solenoid failure my power wires are long enough that I can simply unbolt it from onside of the solenoid and move over so the wires are on the the same post giving continuous run. This would be an emergency measure as the fan isn't rated for 100% duty cycle and would burn out.

[CatSplat]

Have you considered using the Volvo relay pack that's designed to run that same two-speed fan motor? They're readily junkyard-available and pretty straightforward to wire up.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/volvo-fan-swap-1373350/
http://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/wiring-taurus-2-speed-fan-839089/

[Dingleberry]

Before I did the Taurus fan swap in my XJ, I had also read up on having to use a high-amp relay or solenoid, however I ended up using a regular 30-amp relay (same as the ones already under the hood inside the fuse box) and have never had any problems.

I did have a 30-amp relay die on me for the low-speed, but I have so many spares collected from junked XJs that its no problem.
I've still never had the 30-amp relay for the high-speed fail on me.