a valve thereby allowing more fluid to flow in between plates 30 and 32 which in turn causes the fan to rotate at a higher speed the current is provided through slip rings 4 rotating electrical connecting devices and wires 40 which connect to heating element 38 engine control unit 60 is connected directly to the slip rings 34 to provide a controlled current supply to the heating element 38 alternatively engine control unit 60 supplies a signal to an intermediary device to control the current supplied to the heating element 38 in an alternative embodiment the current flow to the heating element 38 is supplied inductively as shown in fig4 coil 44 is the stationary coil mounted to a nonrotating element 46 or mounting surface element 46 is a water pump housing a surface of the engine or other nonrotating part in fig4 rotating coil 42 is mounted to pulley 14 alternatively coil 42 is mounted to any element rotating at the same speed as and concentrically with shaft 16 which is the input shaft to viscous clutch 18 by causing current to flow through stationary coil 44 an alternating current is induced in rotating coil 42 coil 42 is electrically connected to heating element 38 along shaft 16 electrical connection not shown electronic.