Air/oil cooled camhead oil cooler fan

[brownie0486]

Last year while sitting in a 4 mile long backed up mess trying to get into the Valley of Fire state park, the motor was getting too hot for my liking and I'd have to pull off to the side, shut down and give it 20 minutes to cool down some. Then move through the line to where my brother with his GT was sitting which didn't make a lot of cagers all that happy [ nor I for that matter ].

So yesterday talking with my brother I wondered out loud if I could find an oil cooler for the camhead, they came with the same RTP's as standard equipment. I called my local independent and he came back a few minutes later that the motherland still has them in stock, 400.00 for the cooler and 50 for the bracket. They'd installed a few including onr of their mechanics putting one in his own machine a few years back.

Ordered and should take about 3 weeks from Germany. When it arrives I'll order the new set of Dunlop RS4's for it and a week later drop the bike off for the work. I told him to just put a switch up near my dash switch for the Denalis, I didn't need it wired into the motor itself. That way I can decide when I want to turn the fan on which won't be that often.

 

[omega man]

Let us know how you make out, perhaps a picture of the installation.
OM

 

[brownie0486]

Let us know how you make out, perhaps a picture of the installation.
OM

I'll be dropping the bike to the mechanic and not there when the work is performed.

 

[oldcamper]

?
I thought they all had that small radiator just above the beak, and that the police bikes had an additional fan just behind it. I’ve been stuck in traffic too, but mine never seems to overheat.

 

[brownie0486]

?
I thought they all had that small radiator just above the beak, and that the police bikes had an additional fan just behind it. I’ve been stuck in traffic too, but mine never seems to overheat.

Correct, that's what I'm having installed, the oil cooler fan which is 400 and the bracket to attach it to the motor which is 50. I live in the Sonoran desert where temps can be over 110F for weeks in the summer. I've not had issues here but I don't get into 4 miles traffic back ups either.

Now if I run into a situation like last years experience getting into a national/state park with miles of lines of slow moving to stationary cages, turn the fan on and relax instead of the PITA of pulling off and letting the motor cool down.

I edited the title to reflect same, thanks

 

[brownie0486]

Update, the 11RT is in the shop for the RTP fan install and new tires for the trip coming up first week of July. We thought it might need a new rear bearing but upon inspecting it yesterday, the head mechanic stated it's fine.

I'm not having the fan tied into the canbus, it'll have it's own switch so I can decide when I want it to work/turn on which won't be all that often. But it'll be there for me should I find another 4 mile line of traffic trying to get into a national or state park.

 

[brownie0486]

Question for the hive after researching this and not finding an answer.

Anyone know if the rtp oil cooler fan draw air into the oil cooler or pushes air through it to the front of the bike. I'm going to take a WAG that it draw air into the cooler instead of blowing air out toward the front of the bike.

BTW, I had it installed with a waterproof switch. The fan is loud, lots of volume apparently, so it'll be difficult to not hear it's on when you shut the bike off. If you did leave it on, it would kill the battery in time. I turned it on at the mechanics [ to make sure it worked ] and it's quite a lout whirring, not something likely to be overlooked when the motor is shut off.

Thanks

 

[omega man]

Should be able to dangle a piece of something like toilet paper and get a read on direction of air flow.
OM

 

[brownie0486]

Should be able to dangle a piece of something like toilet paper and get a read on direction of air flow.
OM

I didn't think of the obvious, duh on me hey?

 

[brownie0486]

Should be able to dangle a piece of something like toilet paper and get a read on direction of air flow.
OM

Draws air into the oil cooler, same direction air would pass through it while motoring. Thanks for the obvious way to check it lol. Thanks

 

[gregp3]

Last year while sitting in a 4 mile long backed up mess trying to get into the Valley of Fire state park, the motor was getting too hot for my liking and I'd have to pull off to the side, shut down and give it 20 minutes to cool down some. Then move through the line to where my brother with his GT was sitting which didn't make a lot of cagers all that happy [ nor I for that matter ].

So yesterday talking with my brother I wondered out loud if I could find an oil cooler for the camhead, they came with the same RTP's as standard equipment. I called my local independent and he came back a few minutes later that the motherland still has them in stock, 400.00 for the cooler and 50 for the bracket. They'd installed a few including onr of their mechanics putting one in his own machine a few years back.

Ordered and should take about 3 weeks from Germany. When it arrives I'll order the new set of Dunlop RS4's for it and a week later drop the bike off for the work. I told him to just put a switch up near my dash switch for the Denalis, I didn't need it wired into the motor itself. That way I can decide when I want to turn the fan on which won't be that often.

A friend found a guy parting out police bikes. He got one and installed it on his bike. He says it works!

 

[100rider]

Would that setup work on 1200ST?

Ive had those long waits in backed up traffic, watching the temp gauge go up. Thus either shut down or ride in the emergency lane with the flashers on at a very slow pace

 

[zekeq]

Today I did a test with two 12V 52.4 cubic feet per minute fans pulling air through my stationary 2002 R1150GS Adventure oil radiator. I took data with my GS911. I idled without the fans until the oil temperature was 100C and then engaged the fans. I let it idle about 35 minutes. This was in my open garage bay, which warmed up during the test. Then I turned the fans off (they were running on two AC/DC 12V converters with 2A capacity each, each fan is 17W).

The fans are 60x60x25mm box fans and were fit flush to the radiator face pulling air through the radiator.

I plotted the data: ambient, engine, and engine-ambient as well as the engine RPM. The temperature rise over ambient was stable while the fans were on, and shot up after they were shut off. During my idle test the display moved from five to six bars.

My next step will be to secure the fans in place behind the radiator for a test drive to see if they have any noticeable impact of engine oil temperature when not engaged (ie: how much will the fans reduce airflow when not 'on'). If that goes well I'll wire them on a latching switch, or consider using a thermostatic relay, but I'm thinking that's likely overkill and just more wires than I need. They're loud enough to notice when running so it's unlikely they'd be left switched on (famous last words...).

Attached are the plot and raw data .xlsx file in case anyone wanted to look.

Plot:



Google Drive link to Excel Data File. (I suggest downloading and opening in Excel, Google Drive Sheets butchers the chart).
Fans used - Digikey link.

CUI p/n CFM-6025BG68-1120-587​

 

[zekeq]

Today I did a test with two 12V 52.4 cubic feet per minute fans pulling air through my stationary 2002 R1150GS Adventure oil radiator. It took data with my GS911. I idled without the fans until the old temperature was 100C and then engaged the fans. I let it idle about 35 minutes. This was in my open garage bay, which warmed up during the test. Then I turned the fans off (they were running on two AC/DC 12V converters with 2A capacity each, each fan is 17W).

The fans are 60x60x25mm box fans and were fit flush to the radiator face pulling air through the radiator.

I plotted the data: ambient, engine, and engine-ambient as well as the engine RPM. The temperature rise over ambient was stable while the fans were on, and shot up after they were shut off. During my idle test the display moved from five to six bars.

My next step will be to secure the fans in place behind the radiator for a test drive to see if they have any noticeable impact of engine oil temperature when not engaged (ie: how much will the fans reduce airflow when not 'on'). If that goes well I'll wire them on a latching switch, or consider using a thermostatic relay, but I'm thinking that's likely overkill and just more wires than I need. They're loud enough to notice when running so it's unlikely they'd be left switched on (famous last words...).

Attached are the plot and raw data .xlsx file in case anyone wanted to look.

Plot:
View attachment 98863


Google Drive link to Excel Data File.
Fans used - Digikey link.

Admins - if you want this over in Oilheads instead, let me know and I'll repost there. This thread seemed on-topic and relatively recent so I jumped on. Apologies if this is poor etiquette.

 

[omega man]

Admins - if you want this over in Oilheads instead, let me know and I'll repost there. This thread seemed on-topic and relatively recent so I jumped on. Apologies if this is poor etiquette.

Seems like a relevant piece of test information for anyone wondering how much help a fan would be.
OM

 

[lkchris]

Police bikes have these because they need to drive warning lights and radios while stationery for extended periods. This requires a fast idle to keep the voltage up. It's the fast idle that creates the heat ,,, simply because more fuel is being burned.

Many of us are used to old cars with radiator fan bolted to water pump ... idling would create overheating.

Hexheads/Camheads are basically air cooled and air cooling is different than water cooling. Full synthetic motor oil is different than the dino oil in those old cars, too.

The auxiliary fan will be nice to have but those traffic jams will be about the only time it's needed. Don't think the thermostat control will be automatic like it is on the Police bikes ... additional manual switch required, powered by battery and not via the CAN bus.

 

[brownie0486]

Police bikes have these because they need to drive warning lights and radios while stationery for extended periods. This requires a fast idle to keep the voltage up. It's the fast idle that creates the heat ,,, simply because more fuel is being burned.

Many of us are used to old cars with radiator fan bolted to water pump ... idling would create overheating.

Hexheads/Camheads are basically air cooled and air cooling is different than water cooling. Full synthetic motor oil is different than the dino oil in those old cars, too.

The auxiliary fan will be nice to have but those traffic jams will be about the only time it's needed. Don't think the thermostat control will be automatic like it is on the Police bikes ... additional manual switch required, powered by battery and not via the CAN bus.

That's the exact reason mine was installed. Traffic jam getting into valley of fire state park last winter. I don't expect to use it much, if at all. But now I don't have to pull off the road, shut the motor off and let it cool some only to get back in line and repeat that multiple times in the next 4 miles of bumper to bumper.

Mine was hooked into the battery with a toggle switch placed on the left dash panel of the 11RT. My bike [ and I suspect most camheads ] doesn't fast idle creating more heat [ idle remains the same ], nor does the voltage move below 14.1 and hovers at 14.2 to 14.3 idling or motoring down the road.

 

[paul_f]

Is there a way to easily remove bugs from an oil cooler radiator (if that is the correct term)? I used a soft brush on my Oilhead's recently but I can't say it was as effective as I would have liked. I also carefully used a small pick and was careful to not disturb the fins.

 

[brownie0486]

Is there a way to easily remove bugs from an oil cooler radiator (if that is the correct term)? I used a soft brush on my Oilhead's recently but I can't say it was as effective as I would have liked. I also carefully used a small pick and was careful to not disturb the fins.

I use two old toothbrushes that I've bent the handle near 90 degrees. One stays on the motor the other in the garage. I mist the oil cooler fins till fully saturated and water is dripping, scrub very gently in the same direction of the fins. Sometimes it takes a few soakings and lightly scrubbing. Does it get everything? No, but then it really doesn't have to to work properly.

The standard response is use a hose from behind the cooler [ like a back flush ]. I've never found that necessary if one keeps up with keep their maintenance. I wipe the bike down when I get home [ or at the room for the night if on the road ]. If the oil cooler fins have bugs showing, I use the small misting water bottle I keep in a pannier and that dedicated toothbrush.

Others have suggested using hydrogen peroxide, water soaking the bugs works just fine for me.

 

[PGlaves]

A good pre-soak with hydrogen peroxide and then gentle use of a hose helps a lot. A normal hose nozzle is OK. Do NOT use a pressure washer. I tried that once and literally blew a hole in the radiator core. I was on the road a couple of thousand miles from home so fixed it stuffing JB weld in the fins at the location of the leak.