Re: What would cause a fan blade to fail?
Posted by:
JimmieD
(66.81.121.---)
Posts: 1,090
Date: July 06, 2009 12:49AM
I didn't mean to insult with my comment regarding 'Made in China', just as an observation. I know in today's world the old saw, 'Buy American' or 'Buy Canadian' simply isn't always possible. So many American/Canadian mfgr's gone now, in some, even many cases the only choice is foreign goods. Add to that, many imply American/Canadian mfg when in fact stuff's made overseas.
Typically 1" to 1-1/2" is ideal for fan blade clearance, with a shroud increasing blade's ability to move air. To me it sounds like you did your part right and just got a humbug on that one in 100,000 fan failure. Stuff happens, yeah, but it just gets real frustrating when it always happens to you!
If it was me I'd get a top quality American made flex-fan, with mfgr documentation of genuine 'Made in U.S.A'. Install per their recommendations, get a photographic record of install, possibly use a shroud. The fan is only for very low speed use, otherwise aerodynamics provides radiator cooling, so a flex-fan is an economical, reliable, dependable & simple solution to parasytic losses.