How to find parts and component suppliers: Industry expos, trade shows and conferences?

[LCA078]

I have a project that uses automotive 24VDC cooling fans. These are the fans mounted on the front or back of an automotive radiator to provide forced air cooling. We need to step up a bit in capacity so we'd like to find sources of 24VDC cooling fans similar to the ones used in small to mid-size heavy equipment. We're talking on the order of 1000 to 3000 cfm (~2-5k m3/hr) and roughly 14-18" in diameter. Thickness should stay under 6" which is fairly tall for these type of fans.

I know cooling fans within these specs exist for heavy equipment but I don't have a straightforward way to look over all the different models/specs of available fans to find ones best suited for our applications. The OEMs like Kenworth, Cat, JD, etc. don't provide catalogs for their suppliers so I'm wondering if there are industrial trade shows for heavy equipment where all their component and parts suppliers would generally attend. Thoughts?

 

[Welder Dave]

Look up Flex-a-Lite. They have all kinds of 24 volt cooling fans. There are other brands as well. Google is your friend.

 

[1466IH]

Call AP Air. They have a website but don't really use it. I just call and let them look up what i need. Sounds like you need a few condenser fans off a newer cat excavator though

 

[LCA078]

Dang- I wrote a response the other day but apparently I didn't hit the "Post Reply" button and lost it. I hate when that happens!

But to Dave's post, Flex-A-Lite is someone we'll look into as a potential source. I'm sure they make their own metal fan blades which is their claim to fame but I'm not holding my breath that they make their own electric fans. Most companies that sell electric fans to consumers buy them wholesale from fan OEMs and then rebrand/resell the fans to make their profit. Same is true for most equipment manufacturers like Cat, JD, etc. who send a bunch of specs to a fan OEM to have a large batch of custom fans built for whatever current line of machines is in manufacture. The fan OEM builds them but brands them "Cat" or whoever ordered them. I may be wrong but I really doubt Cat, JD, etc. build their own fans...

As for AP Air, I looked at their website and they sell SPAL fans which are made in Italy. We're already using the smaller SPAL automotive fans but we need to get ahold of some of their bigger ones that they only sell to the OEMs. These would be the kinds you'd probably find in a Cat hoe or JD loader as @1466IH said. I have the US tech support for SPAL trying to get ahold of a few "samples" but it's not been easy as a lot of designs are considered proprietary.

There are a few other fan OEMs we've looked into but we prefer US made fans. The SPAL fans from Italy are acceptable long term with waivers...we just don't want to go that route. And anything made in China is a non-starter for our project.

Thus, was hoping for a expo or conference where companies like this get together. It's very common in other industries like HVAC https://www.ahrexpo.com/about or outdoor power equipment https://www.equipexposition.com/. Guess maybe not typical for construction grade equipment???

 

[ozarkag]

Heavy equipment shows like con expo would have the oems, but not really focused on oem providers.
Aapex sends me emails,, not sure what's actually there. Might be mostly automotive,

 

[1466IH]

These are the direct replacements for a bbd prefix 963C

AP Air Inc

Agricultural Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Parts and Supplies, Condensers, Evaporator, Radiator, Blower, Switches

www.apairinc.com

This is the replacement for a 336E

AP Air Inc

Agricultural Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Parts and Supplies, Condensers, Evaporator, Radiator, Blower, Switches

www.apairinc.com

 

[DavidMillerr]

These are the direct replacements for a bbd prefix 963C

AP Air Inc

Agricultural Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Parts and Supplies, Condensers, Evaporator, Radiator, Blower, Switches

www.apairinc.com

This is the replacement for a 336E

AP Air Inc

Agricultural Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Parts and Supplies, Condensers, Evaporator, Radiator, Blower, Switches

www.apairinc.com

You might want to check out trade shows like CONEXPO-CON/AGG or the Work Truck Show, where heavy equipment suppliers showcase components. Also, companies like SPAL, Mishimoto, and Davies Craig offer high-capacity 24VDC fans with specs similar to what you need. Have you considered reaching out to distributors who specialize in heavy-duty cooling systems? When my best friend needed help with his dissertation, he was completely lost. I suggested Academized, a professional essay writing service, available https://academized.com/ here. He was amazed at how well-researched and structured his paper was. The customer support team was also very helpful. Thanks to this service, he was able to submit a top-notch dissertation on time!

Thank you so much sir for the links, you saved my day