How much amperage can an alternator support? no really...

[cody at 5000tq.com]

Quoting John Larson <westcoast at mypowerpipe.com>:

> On 2/4/08, Vittorio Bares <Vittorio.Bares at nuance.com> wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Thanks - this is good info, and encouraging.
>>>
>>> My cooling fan is on a manual switch and I typically run it always-on
>>> (eliminates one more point of failure in the temp-switch). Any idea what
>>> amperage that draws?
>>
>
> Running the fan all the time is a less-than-good idea.  The engine will
> never get up to correct operating temperature and tend to burn
> substantially more fuel over any given period of time than an engine
> running at the prescribed engine temperature.


Um... no. The coolant thermostat will keep the engine at the stats  
design temp if it's in proper working order. Granted the engine should  
be allowed to run 10 or so degrees above stat temp, but with a 190  
degree stat the engine should run roughly at 190 degrees with the fan  
full on.

Now if it were my car the fan would be on an automatic fan switch with  
a manual over-ride. That way if it ever starts getting warm you can  
assume a switch failure and flick on the over-ride, voila good to go.  
Saying that a manual switch is removing a failure mode is very very  
faulty logic...the toggle switch used sure as hell isn't impervious to  
failure (in many cases it may be MORE likely to fail), which means you  
have deleted one failure point and added another, plus added  
additional wiring that could fail.

-Cody Forbes