Done! Electric fan speed control...I'm not an electrician in any way, shape, or form

[kancho]

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[workingonit]

When I ordered the fan, I had several options

• 1) Rockauto, where the fan was on sale, with a rebate, total shipped to me would have been $152, IIRC,
• 2) Walmart or Home Depot each had it on their websites, $194 (free shipping, but with taxes added),
• 3) several sub-contractors on Amazon had it listed at prices from the same as Walmart & HD to above $225 (but had low reliability ratings, so I passed on them), so I waited until the fan popped-up with Amazon itself as the seller, and I paid them $192.24 (with taxes added)

My two reasons not to buy from Rockauto were that last time I ordered from them, it took forever to be shipped, and primarily, they ship via FedEx, with no recourse. I've had so many problems with FedEx over the years, both at home, and as the manager of a large company's shipping receiving dept (I lobbied to use UPS as our favored shipper, after FedEx lost $$ thousands and tried to forge my name to the receipt...though I was out of town at the time). I'll willingly pay extra to avoid using FedEx.

Walmart and HD had free shipping, and were my choices until Amazon Prime (my favorite online store, mainly due to reliable , quick shipping) had the item in stock again, so I ordered from them, expecting the fan to be delivered by the normal Amazon van. However, as I was ordering it, the shipment date changed from 3 to 11 days out, so I attempted to get the earlier date reinstated. The customer service rep couldn't change it, as the fan was listed as already shipped (within 10 minutes of ordering it), so the customer service rep credited me with $25 against future purchases, since I had to wait. That $25 credit brought my out-of-pocket expense down to $167, only $15 more than the Rockauto deal, and I was avoiding FedEx!

The day after I ordered, the shipment was listed as 10 days out, coming via UPS, not Amazon. That was OK with me. But just yesterday, UPS messaged me that the package would be delivered on Friday the 9th, instead of next Tuesday the 13th. Even better. Then, guess what was delivered today, on Wednesday the 7th? Gotta love me some UPS!

And, upon opening the package, I noted how well it was packed with expanded foam (I hardly ever see that much care in packaging, anymore, speaking as a retired professional in that field), and when opened, I was immediately impressed with the fan itself. Taiwan-made vs mainland China-made...it shows!

It's a bit warm outside this week to tear down the X5 for installing the fan (105F today, 106-108F tomorrow), and I have to work out in the driveway in full sun (my wife made me replace the Dixon zero-turn's drive belts out there this A.M., before we mowed our tall-grass front 1/4 acre, before it hit 100F...she was on the zero-turn, and I pushed our Husqvarna mower, of course...damn near killed me).

I may recover enough to plug the TYC fan in, to test, when we get our next cold-front on Friday (expected high will be 96-98F, for a day or two). Even with two box fans aimed at me this morning, changing the damaged mower belts, I was overheating quickly, and push-mowing afterwards for an hour, wrecked my afternoon. It's heck to get old, and mt multiple heat-stroke history doesn't help.

Don't laugh at me EODguy , I could never live over there, on the face of the Sun.

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by workingonit

When I ordered the fan, I had several options

• 1) Rockauto, where the fan was on sale, with a rebate, total shipped to me would have been $152, IIRC,
• 2) Walmart or Home Depot each had it on their websites, $194 (free shipping, but with taxes added),
• 3) several sub-contractors on Amazon had it listed at prices from the same as Walmart & HD to above $225 (but had low reliability ratings, so I passed on them), so I waited until the fan popped-up with Amazon itself as the seller, and I paid them $192.24 (with taxes added)

My two reasons not to buy from Rockauto were that last time I ordered from them, it took forever to be shipped, and primarily, they ship via FedEx, with no recourse. I've had so many problems with FedEx over the years, both at home, and as the manager of a large company's shipping receiving dept (I lobbied to use UPS as our favored shipper, after FedEx lost $$ thousands and tried to forge my name to the receipt...though I was out of town at the time). I'll willingly pay extra to avoid using FedEx.



Walmart and HD had free shipping, and were my choices until Amazon Prime (my favorite online store, mainly due to reliable , quick shipping) had the item in stock again, so I ordered from them, expecting the fan to be delivered by the normal Amazon van. However, as I was ordering it, the shipment date changed from 3 to 11 days out, so I attempted to get the earlier date reinstated. The customer service rep couldn't change it, as the fan was listed as already shipped (within 10 minutes of ordering it), so the customer service rep credited me with $25 against future purchases, since I had to wait. That $25 credit brought my out-of-pocket expense down to $167, only $15 more than the Rockauto deal, and I was avoiding FedEx!



The day after I ordered, the shipment was listed as 10 days out, coming via UPS, not Amazon. That was OK with me. But just yesterday, UPS messaged me that the package would be delivered on Friday the 9th, instead of next Tuesday the 13th. Even better. Then, guess what was delivered today, on Wednesday the 7th? Gotta love me some UPS!



And, upon opening the package, I noted how well it was packed with expanded foam (I hardly ever see that much care in packaging, anymore, speaking as a retired professional in that field), and when opened, I was immediately impressed with the fan itself. Taiwan-made vs mainland China-made...it shows!



It's a bit warm outside this week to tear down the X5 for installing the fan (105F today, 106-108F tomorrow), and I have to work out in the driveway in full sun (my wife made me replace the Dixon zero-turn's drive belts out there this A.M., before we mowed our tall-grass front 1/4 acre, before it hit 100F...she was on the zero-turn, and I pushed our Husqvarna mower, of course...damn near killed me).



I may recover enough to plug the TYC fan in, to test, when we get our next cold-front on Friday (expected high will be 96-98F, for a day or two). Even with two box fans aimed at me this morning, changing the damaged mower belts, I was overheating quickly, and push-mowing afterwards for an hour, wrecked my afternoon. It's heck to get old, and mt multiple heat-stroke history doesn't help.



Don't laugh at me EODguy , I could never live over there, on the face of the Sun.

Laugh? Hell I'm jealous of the temperatures in other places, except winter (screw that!!)

Sent from Embassy network using Tapatalk

[workingonit]

First, the Good: the new TYC fan works, and therefore, so does the A/C compressor. Hooray! and, like X5chemist stated, the TYC fan runs very smoothly, quiet, and takes about 30 seconds to stop rotating (the old Aux fan would come to a halt immediately, when signalled to stop by the DME).

Second, the Bad: now I have to pull apart the front end to replace the old fan. It may be 8-10 degrees cooler today, but we expect thunderstorms this afternoon, so I can't begin the teardown, yet. Even if I was able to talk the wife into moving her precious Lexus outside for a day, two, or three days (however long the fan swap takes me...something unexpected always goes wrong), there's just not enough room in the single garage bay (there are actually three), but

• 1) my 4'x8' (12-foot long) camping trailer + compressor, two welders, a wheeled battery charger, generator, fuel jugs,etc., spare lumber, and misc. special tools fills one bay,
• 2) lawn and garden equipment, including a zero-turn mower + two push mowers, and automotive ramps and jack stands, plus my wife's collection of her "special" tools fills most of the middle bay, and
• 3) table saws, multiple ladders, antique furniture, long-storage supplies, a spare microwave/convection oven/ventahood we never installed, a 327 c.i. engine on a stand, a workbench covered with my racing trophies and misc. junk, and more spare lumber practically fills the third bay

My wife's Lexus squeezes into the space between bays 2 and 3, with just enough room to open doors & trunk. Working on the X5 in that space would be cramped, at best, so I have a platform just outside the garage door, where I do my automotive repairs...exposed to the weather. Once, I used a pop-up canopy to cover the platform (two sheets of 4'x8' pressure-treated 3/4" plywood, plus another 2'x8' piece in the center, making a work area of 8' wide by 10' long, to work on...it's better than laying atop sand & gravel), for three months during one summer, working on the wife's '08 Cobalt, predecessor to the Lexus, while I was replacing the braking system. The pop-up was destroyed by a wild thunderstorm, so I don't think I'll waste another pop-up doing that, in long-term use.

So, after starting late today (problems sleeping when you get older, you know), doing my animal care chores, and testing the new fan, I moved the X5 back, to make more room in front on the plywood platform, and used a leaf blower to clear-away accumulated sand, dirt, leaf debris that was under the X, so the coming rain wouldn't create a muddy surface.

Now I'm ready to undertake the replacement, starting tomorrow, if it doesn't rain then.

[workingonit]

I should've started the replacement job today. It sprinkled a bit between 2-3 pm (the afternoon's worth of thunderstorms never materialized), and the next-door neighbor came over to ask for my help in reconstructing/improving the fence (animal barrier, mainly) between our properties (he'd been promising repairs for two years). We're semi-rural, so his animals have freedom to invade my property at will (horses, a steer, goats, sheep, turkeys, chickens, cats, and dogs have all made many visits to my property, while mine are contained by a good fence). How could I say no?

This time, he's using recycled metal roofing, placed sideways, and screwed to upright 4x4's in concrete, which we'll paint later (if not real soon by him, then I'll do it). Hopefully it will last longer than the recycled wood fencing he put up before (after the fence I put up last was knocked down by his horses). He didn't have good tools, so I furnished them, nor water for the concrete, nor proper help (his 28 year-old son was not much help). At least he had the posts, concrete in bags, a few screws (he ran out), and the metal roofing panels.

So, instead of working on the X5, I got to work on the fence/barrier for three hours. I'm going to start on the X5 tomorrow, and when he comes back over in the afternoon, I guess I'll drop what I'm doing and resume his project, instead.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by workingonit

...So, instead of working on the X5, I got to work on the fence/barrier for three hours. I'm going to start on the X5 tomorrow, and when he comes back over in the afternoon, I guess I'll drop what I'm doing and resume his project, instead.

More of the same, today. However, I started tearing down the X5 at 9:30am. and had the bumper cover off, the bumper loose, the old fan out, and the new fan in, all before 11:30am. I was amazed at the mismatched screws and bolts that were used by previous owner #1 (perhaps he had a damaged bumper cover, since the inside had "salvage-yard" type markings); I'm owner #3, and I know that previous owner #2 never took off the front cover.

The neighbor needing my help with the fence/barrier came over at 11:30, just as I had put the new fan in, and was bolting it in place. I sorta wished he'd have shown up at 3, as he said he would, so I could've remembered better the order I followed in disassebly, so re-assembly would've gone smoother.

We worked on the fence/barrier until he had to go to a sisters' event, and I got back to the X5, after putting away fencing tools, first. That was about 3:30 or 4pm.
I was already sore from yesterday's fence building, and after four more hours of it today (plus the work on the X5), I'm done in.

But, I finished the Aux fan project by 6:30 this evening, with only a few problems:

• 1) 3 extra small bolts were left over,
• 2) there were several broken plastic items...that I didn't break...which I put back as good as I could, and
• 3) after I had bolted up the bumper, I had to undo it twice, to get ALL the bolts lined up better.

Wow, I don't think BMW complicated the design too much (haha, I'm lying). I've never worn myself out just to replace a fan, before.Certainly, fence building concurrently, didn't help. I sure wish I had a mid-lift to bring the X5 up to a better working height, but there's no chance of me getting one.

The old aux fan was marked as BMW, and also SIEMENS, so I presume it was original, or maybe a recycled salvaged original, if PO #1 had damaged the fan, as well. In any case, the old fan was old, the new fan is new, and it works. I'm exhausted.

[X5chemist]

Enjoy the drive! For minor lifting, I made some ramps. Two 4"X4" posts screwed together. The ramps are trimmed 4X4 posts too. They serve well for changing oil.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Enjoy the drive! For minor lifting, I made some ramps. Two 4"X4" posts screwed together. The ramps are trimmed 4X4 posts too. They serve well for changing oil.

I have two sets of ramps: some heavy-duty steel ramps that are rated for 6k lbs (I use thease for my trucks, incluging the X5), and a set of light-duty Rhino Ramps, made of some sort of glass-impregnated plastic composite, that I use on my cars (specifically for oil changes) with low front-end clearance.

Normally, the steel ramps are always in place on the plywood work platform I use outside, but I thought I might need room for a box under the bumper, to hold the bumper cover when I was man-handling the bumper cover by myself, so I removed the ramps. That was a good idea, since the fog lights needed to be removed from the bumper cover (I tried to unplug them for 30 minutes, and gave up...I considered cutting and reconnecting the wires, but I didn't want to introduce a possible point of failure). I used a "Maker's Mark Puppy Pads" box from Sam's Club (we go thru a box a week, so I always have empty and full boxes on hand), which worked perfectly. I guess I could've used the ramps, then used two puppy pad boxes to hold the bumper cover in place.
the ramps shown were removed from the plywood work space

I've made several sets of wooden ramps, over many years, always made from 10" wide treated lumber. Low ones and high sets, too. I angled one end of each board 45 degrees, to ease the angle of attack, for easier climbing up to the highest point. Some ramps were 18" high (with a 22" high vertical board on the end, as a stop plate), but those ramps were given to a friend for use in his shop, where he worked on pickups and Jeeps, daily...they weighed tons). The ramps I kept were eventually given away, sold, or converted to blocks that keep trailer jacks from sinking into soft ground, but I gave most of those away, and onlyhave three left. The problemwith my wooden ramps was that they were impossible heavy, an as my back & knees got worse as I aged, I hated using them, so I bought the ramps I use today.