05-29-2016, 04:42 PM
Very interesting . . .
Here's an update to twist this subject into the extreme opposite direction. Yesterday, I was in my garage with a box full of various sizes of fans and the idea of mounting one to the front of the oil cooler entered my mind. It would be easy to do, although a pusher fan would not be as beneficial as a puller (mounted "behind" the cooler). With the elongated rectangular shape of the cooler it might even be feasible to mount TWO fans side by side.
First, I'm planning to install a thermocouple sensor with a handlebar mounted temperature meter to measure the EOT at the stock cooler. The delta T across the cooler also would be of value to measure, but more complicated in favor of just the temperature at a single fixed point. Then, repeat the same measurement, under identical test conditions, with a fan mounted. This answers the question, would there be any benefit with the addition of the in lowering EOT?
I suspect there would be especially at relatively high OAT, stop and go riding conditions, or making the engine work harder riding continuously uphill for several miles at a relatively slow speed.
A good candidate for a fan - one with an integrated finger guard for added personal safety - is one made by the Italian automotive grade fan manufacturer, SPAL. They have a relatively low cost, 5.2" diameter pusher fan suitable for this application. (They have smaller sizes, but their CFM ratings are much less than the 5.2" fan.) It's a bit oversize, but should do good a job helping to further air cool the oil flowing thru the cooler on the CB1100, without causing the 12V battery and alternator to be overloaded.
I'm going to take on this project mainly to gain a better understanding of the OEM oil cooler and how it can be made to look even uglier, but more efficient, without major modifications, at the same time.
P.S. There is another recently started thread on the subject of measuring EOT, so I will resume posting my findings over there since I think we have already established the importance of keeping the oil cooler, so this thread should be considered closed.
Here's an update to twist this subject into the extreme opposite direction. Yesterday, I was in my garage with a box full of various sizes of fans and the idea of mounting one to the front of the oil cooler entered my mind. It would be easy to do, although a pusher fan would not be as beneficial as a puller (mounted "behind" the cooler). With the elongated rectangular shape of the cooler it might even be feasible to mount TWO fans side by side.
First, I'm planning to install a thermocouple sensor with a handlebar mounted temperature meter to measure the EOT at the stock cooler. The delta T across the cooler also would be of value to measure, but more complicated in favor of just the temperature at a single fixed point. Then, repeat the same measurement, under identical test conditions, with a fan mounted. This answers the question, would there be any benefit with the addition of the in lowering EOT?
I suspect there would be especially at relatively high OAT, stop and go riding conditions, or making the engine work harder riding continuously uphill for several miles at a relatively slow speed.
A good candidate for a fan - one with an integrated finger guard for added personal safety - is one made by the Italian automotive grade fan manufacturer, SPAL. They have a relatively low cost, 5.2" diameter pusher fan suitable for this application. (They have smaller sizes, but their CFM ratings are much less than the 5.2" fan.) It's a bit oversize, but should do good a job helping to further air cool the oil flowing thru the cooler on the CB1100, without causing the 12V battery and alternator to be overloaded.
I'm going to take on this project mainly to gain a better understanding of the OEM oil cooler and how it can be made to look even uglier, but more efficient, without major modifications, at the same time.
P.S. There is another recently started thread on the subject of measuring EOT, so I will resume posting my findings over there since I think we have already established the importance of keeping the oil cooler, so this thread should be considered closed.
