Radiator - Fan - Coolant ?

[GilsTR]

This post in NOT ment to talk down any product...but want to share our experience with all of you.
This past year we did a pretty complete facelift on the 62 TR3B. Good enough that it got a 3rd place in the VTR / Triumphest concourse / modified class. As part of that facelift a new Wizard alum radiator was installed. WOW...
beautiful! As part of our ongoing effort to keep the Triumph
cool in the 100+ degree temp of California sun...we added
the Evans Waterless Coolant. Added a nice electric fan. Drove
the car like this...and had no overheating problems. Then...
just before VTR / Triumphest...BINGO! The radiator sprung a leak...and another leak! Lucky for us...having another TR3A
in the restoration process...we had another Wizard Alum Radiator sitting on the shelf for car #2. So...pulled the apron...changed the radiators...and off to the show!
Now...start to find why the leaks! Check with Evans Waterless Coolant...and they checked our batch...and report no problems. Check with Wizard...they cannot imagine anything like this. Talked to the local Radiator guy...and he thinks the Ph is off in the coolant...checked it...and it was not.
Then...Wizard got to thinking...did we have a fan hooked up to
the Alum radiator? Yes. Bottom line...they think we had electrallys set in. When the fan is grounded to the radiator...and the fan is on...that is when the problem was created. We are not sure if that is the read deal...but we have already changed the ground in radiator #2.
And now...you know what we know. Your thoughts?

 

[TR3driver]

What fan actually grounds through it's mounting points? No doubt there are some, but all of mine have been isolated (so they can be mounted as either puller or pusher without worrying about ground polarity). Well, that and the frames are plastic

 

[philman]

if you went a little further with that theory you could say that the plastic components of the cooling fan were creating static electricity through friction with the air pulled through. I tend to doubt grounding points on the fan.

 

[70herald]

How was the fan mounted to the radiator? I would think that mechanical damage was far more likely than electrical / chemical damage.

 

[deadair]

What type of radiator cap are you using? How many lbs does it say?