Update!!! Please read if you have an E-Fan!!!
 

The investigator got left my driveway. The cause of the fire was due to a manufacturer's defect on the controller. (Mostly)Not the fact that mine was malfunctioning, it was due to the fact that the fuse within inches from the controller should be within inches of the battery. Somehow it shorted in the wire right off the battery. If the fuse were closer this would not have happened. The investigator told me that my installation and connections were flawless and that I followed the directions given to a "T".

My insurance company is now going after TorqFlo(the controller company) as of a few minutes ago.

Hey good news! At least you know now. That's a major hurdle you've finally gotten over. Congrats!

definately congrats on getting an answer.........i will have to look into that!

good to hear but still sucks

What controller? Im guessing its a part attached to your efan? anyways that sucks

I feel so much better!!! At least I know that I'm not to blame! He told me that the 12v wire in question may have rubbed on something eating the shielding away to cause the short but it should not have did that much damage. He said it was definitely a design flaw on TorqFlo's part. He said if anything, they should give you the inline fuse separatly to install a few inches before the positive battery terminal. He told me that I seemed like a very honest and knowledgeable person and said except the fact that the wire may have been rubbing on something, the installation was flawless. That's the point of having the in-line fuse though. He said it was too far away from the battery to kill the power, making it ineffective to stop the "short" in it's tracks.

sooo my efan could be a timebomb in my truck....

the funny thing about that is i ran a new 4 gauge power wire to my alternator, and put the fuse about 6" from my battery........i forgot to zip tire the wire up off the exhaust manafold and it burned in-2........i drove it like that for prolly 12 miles......sparking on the exhaust manafold........glad it wasn't in an area that had alot of flamables in the area!.........

hmmmmmmmm

Great...I have the same fan. I'm going to check over my wiring, I know I used the wiring given with the fan. I'm going to put a fuse close to the battery.
Like you said; the wire may have rubbed on something stripping off the insulation thus letting it short on something; but if it didn't, and the fuse was the main problem some how, why is the supplied fuse larger than what the wire can handle? If that's the problem that's the manufacturer's problem also. So they definately should be the culprit.

so to clarify? what came first chicken or the egg? obviously( now lol) a short in the controller, but then a fire that killed the batt, or a battery that started the fire?

this change anyones fear of Optima huh huh?

As mentioned it wouldn't have gotten out of hand if the fuse was right off the battery instead of three feet away, right off the controller. Adding a fuse or moving it closer towards the battery is what the investigator recommended. It's a lil late for me though =[

The short occured closer to the battery than the fuse by the controller.

Sounds like a lot of people need to make calls to TorqFlo to complain and demand action.

or save yourself the hassel of waiting for something new and just your own inline fuse 6" from that batter. I'd rather spend a few bucks now and protect myself than drive around like that waiting for a new controller set up

If you're not proficient with wiring I wouldn't suggest moving the fuse. I'm not telling anyone to do anything here. I'm just giving forewarning.

The investigator was a pretty established guy. He said that he nailed Pep Boys to the wall one time and after that Pep Boys contracted him to do all their work. He is based out of D.C. but he said he flies all over th country to investigate claims. He was a very helpul and knowledageable gentleman. He told me exactly what I need to do to go from here =]

Well if you move the fuse then you're not following the directions and they can nail you on that. I guess you could add a fuse in the proper location :shrug:
I was suggesting people call and complain because if not enough of a stink is made this could happen to someone else. In that situation they could be driving...with kids in the vehicle. Who knows?

After the big stink over Optima I got results, quick. I'd suggest contacting TorqFlo to voice your concern.

I've tryed locating TorqFlo's contact info. Apparently, their parent company is CompressorWorks. I found lots of products and distributors, but no direct site or contact info.

Thats awesome news!!!

I'm not touching mine though, if my truck blows up...it blows up :)

I have gap insurrance and alll, I kinda want a new truck...haha, I'm not asking for it at all though, I'm just joking!!!

Compressorworks Inc.

Private Company, Headquarters Location
3609 Pipestone Rd.
Dallas TX 75212-6110
PH(214)688-1066
Fax(214)678-9779

Thank you very much shalafi!

When i installed my e-fan i cut the battery wire on the controller and put the fuse right next to the battery. It was very stupid of the manufacture to put the fuse next to the controller. ALWAYS make sure any mods you do are fused and fused close to the battery!!!

Lesson learned, via my trucks devastation. Get on the phone with these ppl and express your concerns! It's the only way this is going to get taken care.

Shalalfi posted the contact info, start calling!

Wait a minute here. Before everyone freaks about, here is some general facts about electricity and fusing it. First of all, any inline fuse should be within a foot of the source (battery in this case). You want the shortest amount of unprotected wire as possible. Making the inline fuse holder the first thing hooked up to the battery is the best way to do this.

With that said, there is still, and always will be, some length of unprotected wire leading up to the fuse. If you put the fuse holder first, it might only be 6" of wire, but there will still be 6" of wire unprotected and there is nothing you can do about that. If something chaffes that 6" of wire, it will burn up and that is more than enough to start a fire.

So, before I go off on the manufacturer, I would want to know what chaffed this wire and where it occured. If the chaffing occured at the battery or within a foot of the battery, than this probably would have happened anyway. It wouldn't have mattered where the fuse was located because it still woudln't have gone any further than the spot where the chaffing occured.

If the chaffing occured further along in the wiring, than the fuse definately would have saved the day. And all of that aside, their instructions are definately flawed. It may or may not have made a difference in this case, but they are wrong none the less.

The location of the "short" was in the middle of the wire between the posi terminal and the fuse. about 1 1/2' from either connection. The investigator told me for a fact that if the fuse was within a foot of the battery this would not have happened.

It was around the inside of the fender where it had been zip tied to something.

And I thought that's why the urge to call and complain was made?

me too!