[TR] does the fan pull off the battery when the car's off?

[Hdefer]

Ann.
Are you in a humid / cold climate? Is the inside  connector contact  
surface to the battery terminal (shiny) clean? Make sure the connector  
is good and tight. If these conditions are not met, a common symptom  
is that the car will start just fine when cold but doesn't when hot. I  
highly recommend those chemically treated felt rings that go on the  
bat. terminals to prevent resistance build-up from the battery fumes,  
to keep them clean. The other possibility is that your starter needs  
work.
A quick and dirty way to check if your electical system is still  
sneaking battery current, when ignition and all lights are off, is  
removing the battery cable connector from the battery and see if it  
sparks when you touch or strike it against the battery terminal. There  
should be absolutely no sparking. If you are handy  with a voltmeter,  
there  are better ways. Let me know.
I bought an electric fan with thermostat from Pep Boys for $79. A  
real  lifesaver for those old English cars! Not that hard to install.  
Al I had to do was remove the grill to mount it on the radiator.

Hans

On Sep 5, 2011, at 12:45 PM, Ann Carletta wrote:

> Hi Hans,
>
> heater fan.  I don't have a radiator fan installed, which might have  
> saved me a lot of money this summer.  The tube to the overflow tank  
> actually melted when I got stuck in traffic on the hottest day in  
> history.  I wound up replacing the thermostat, water pump (which I  
> think was the real problem), radiator duct, temperature guage and a  
> few other things.   She was still running a little warm and I  
> realized I had the license plate blocking the radiator grill, so  
> lowered it and now she seems fine, as far as temperature goes.  I  
> know the heater fan goes off when I stop the engine, but wasn't sure  
> if it could still pull from the battery if the switch was left on.
>
> I charged the battery yesterday and she started and ran fine today.   
> I was worried it might be the starter.  I guess it was just not  
> using it for a few weeks. (hopefully).
>
> Ann
>
> --- On Sun, 9/4/11, Hdefer <tr3 at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
> From: Hdefer <tr3 at roadrunner.com>
> Subject: Re: [TR] does the fan pull off the battery when the car's  
> off?
> To: "Ann Carletta" <anncarletta at yahoo.com>
> Date: Sunday, September 4, 2011, 11:23 PM
>
> Hi Ann,
> Are you referring to the heater fan (blower) or radiator fan?
> Your car does not come with an electric radiator cooling fan from  
> the factory. If it has one, someone (wisely) installed one.
> Some systems are:
> a)     only thermostatically controlled or
> b)     only manually controlled  with an added switch or
> c)    a thermostatically controlled fan that can be overridden with  
> a manual switch.
>
> In some installations, the fan may be connected directly to the  
> battery, in which case the fan continues to run until the rad. is  
> cooled off below 180 degrees, unless the thermostat is faulty and  
> fails to shut it off, resulting in your battery being drained. The  
> radiator fan is quite noisy and you should hear it if it is still  
> running after the engine is shut off.
> Mine is the c) configuration so it never runs after the ignition is  
> off.
> The heater fan should turn off with the ignition switch.
> Hans
> TR3A
>
>
>
> On Sep 4, 2011, at 3:43 PM, Ann Carletta wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > I went to start the TR3A today and she was slow to turn over.  I  
> got her
> > started and was driving around.  Later in the day I went to go out  
> again and
> > she didn't want to turn over.  Does leaving the fan/blower in the  
> on position
> > pull from the battery when the car is off?  The battery is only a  
> year old.
> > What other things should I check?
> >
> > Ann
> >
> > TR3A
> >
> >
> > triumphs at autox.team.net
> >
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