Just in the nick of time!!!

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Just in the nick of time!!!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van Evera on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 06:39 pm:


I have this hanging in my garage.... just a sweet reminder. I found it (the cracks) when I was re-bushing the fan pulley. Not sure where I got the price of a new rad from, but that is beside the point!!! (Should have gone right out that day and bought a lottery ticket, hey?)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Stephen D Heatherly on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 06:44 pm:

I rebuilt a fan on a friends 13 recently. When I took it off I found that 3 of the blades and the bronze hub were cracked.

Stephen


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 06:59 pm:

The fan for mine will never crack, unless it falls from the nail on the wall...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Gruber- Spanaway, Wash. on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 07:03 pm:

I wasn't so lucky.
Last summer I tossed a blade on two different Ts.
One went down into the frame rail...no damage.
The other went into the top radiator tank.
Didn't hurt the core, just soldered up the slot in the bottom of the top tank.
That fan had two more cracked blades.
I'm doing more checking now.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Gruber- Spanaway, Wash. on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 07:06 pm:

I haven't replaced the fan on one car.
Good so far.
We'll see how the summer goes.
I avoid parades.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chester Leighton on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 07:52 pm:

I had a similar experience lately.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/285470.html?1336336634


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron Patterson-Nicholasville, Kentucky on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 08:20 pm:

EVERY original fan blade on EVERY Model T should be removed and carefully inspected for this problem. No exceptions!
Those fans are 80+ years old. Fortunately I caught mine early.
1
If it fails you might get lucky and then again you might get a new radiator bill. What are the odds you will be the lucky one?
Ron the Coilman


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Schedler, Sacramento on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 09:28 pm:

The blade that broke off my fan put a hole in the hood.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Doug - Braidwood (glow in the dark), IL on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 11:33 pm:

And you hope that it doesn't break when you are someone else is looking at the engine running.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Les VonNordheim on Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 11:40 pm:

The bronze hub on our 13 was cracked. Replaced it with a steel hub fan and hung the bronze hub/fan in the overhead.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker on Friday, May 18, 2012 - 08:05 am:

With a sample size of 2 it is not possible to accurately make predictions etc. But both of the two photos show the blade basically cracked along the edge of the fan blade it was mounted next to. In one of those cases it was the fan blade closest to the radiator as the one that cracked. The other one was not stated or shown.

"IF" most of them are also cracking at that location -- then first -- that is a good spot to inspect (a mirror and clean fan should reveal the crack(s)). And second -- there is a good chance some folks with an understanding of vibrations and crack propagation could figure out a reliable way to reduce the chances of cracking. Note on the 220 Continental powered Steerman Biplanes the McCauley steel blade metal propellers are checked every 100 hours of flight time for cracks and they have a placard that says “Avoid continuous operation at 1500 to 1650 rpm.” (ref: http://www.stearmanflyin.com/history.php?News_ID=40 ) Perhaps the model T fan needs to be checked thoroughly/restored and then checked every 50 years or 10 years or something like every engine overhaul? Or it may turn out the earlier fans have more issues than the later fans or vice versa. One style may need to be checked every touring season? Or even added to the safety inspection checklist for the tours. And is there an engine speed/road speed where we put extra stress on the fan? If so we could avoid prolonged driving at that speed.

Removing the fan was mentioned and clearly works. But is it possible that some sort of change -- perhaps as simple as adding a "cushion" like material between the blade and the hub possibly reduce the vibration and in turn reduce the chance of cracking? And yes, sometimes improvements in one area only cause the failure to occur in the next “weakest area.”

Respectfully pondering,

Hap l9l5 cut off


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