Spyerx

Hey guys - so, the original fans (and housing?) are mag. My fan, no cracks, but, the leading edges had started some corrosion and the paint was flaking. So we coated the fan, but the coating just won't stick to the corrosion and looks like crap and fan well, it needs to be replaced.

Are the new fans 96410601531 mag or aluminum??

Thanks

Goughary

New fans are aluminum- and not very expensive through sunset...

Deserion

I sanded the blade tips on mine and applied So-Sure Type I to close it off from air exposure. Holding for now, but a new fan is in the future.

Rocket Rob

By the way, new fans also come with a new bearing. I've replaced both of mine. One was getting flaky at the tips and the other had some cracks in the fan base.

Spyerx

Yeah, around $500 or so. I don't need the bearing as I use the rothsport hub.

But, is the aluminum 'better' than the mag? I guess maybe more durable, but a lot heavier?

Are the new housings also aluminum?

Thanks

Goughary

New housings are aluminum

New fans are way more durable- maybe not more durable as new...but the mag fans over time develop issues as we have seen. Not having 20-30 years yet w the aluminum fans, we can only guess, but my educated guess is they will last longer.

Fan explosions are brutal, so if you have cracks, out it goes. Just sell the bearing that comes w the new fan or donate it to a friend that has a bearing- they will eventually thank you when their bearing inevitably fails...

JasonAndreas

Have you ordered one recently? The last I saw they were still Magnesium.

Goughary

I have- but now you have me wondering if I'm wrong. Could have sworn it was cast aluminum. The last one we ordered was maybe two years ago...

Anyone have a new fan they want to show us? We should verify.

Top-Gun

I've got a fan I purchased in 2015 which has a 2009 manufacturing date code, and I can confirm its still a Magnesium alloy.

I can also confirm that the coating on the new fans is still junk, perhaps even worse than older ones (I presume due to the phasing out of hexavalent chromium conversion coatings). After a couple thousand miles the coating flaked completely off one of the blades. I can scratch the remainder off with my fingernail, theres next to zero adhesion to the substrate. The coating failure allowed me to confirm the alloy via the Vinegar test (reacts on mag but wont on aluminum).

I now get to refinish my practically brand new fan.

Top-Gun

For the OP, getting adhesion on Magnesium requires special measures. Hexavalent chromium conversion coatings used to be the standard, but hex is nasty stuff and has been mostly phased out.

There are non-chromium coatings available for Magnesium now that are pretty easy to use and mostly safe. Look into products like Alodine 5700, Prekote, or Sanchem 3200. The fan should be completely striped via media blast (ideally plastic media as it wont embed into the soft mag). Clean and etch with white vinegar, then apply one of the above coatings.

After that, most topcoats should stick well. I'd consider epoxy prime and paint, powdercoat, or a product called Cerakote to topcoat. I tested this process on my original fan and used the Prekote product, along with an epoxy primer. It passed the duct tape test for adhesion.

Spyerx