Installing new fans.

[venom00viper]

Ok so I just got my new fans for my canopy. They are 120mm to match the 5"holes in my canopy. I have 4 holes. 2 in the back and one on each side. I was wondering if I should have to intake and 2 exhaust or all 4 exhaust? They flow 105 cfm. Pretty strong. Not I just hove to figure out how to wire them up to run from the wall outlet. I fried the last set by not wiring them up properly. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

-ben

 

[WingnutSr]

That's a lot of air flow. How big is your tank, and how much and what kind of lighting do you have?
My opinion, for what it's worth, I would try using only 2 of them first, both exhausting out the back. And use the side holes to allow for free air flow in. Just MHO.

 

[venom00viper]

ok this is what I was wondering. I would rather put the just 2 on the sides. I have seen where the evap water coming from the exhaust fans wil stain the walls. I have 2x250 MH lighting and it gets hot. they are about 13" from water.

 

[WingnutSr]

Good point about staining the back side wall. I did not think of that. Mine blows out the top of the canopy, air comes in from the sides. I only use 1 fan, but I have 492 w. of PC lighting and 60 w. of T-5 actinics. So I do not have the heat load you do. Try 2 fans. You can always add the other 2 if you need them.

 

[TheGrog]

When I built canopies and stands, I always put the fans on the sides, both blowing in. Here are my reasons for this.

First is that they always will get the least humid air and lengthen their life as the salt mist does not get on and in them and erode the circuitry.

Next, rather than having one in and one out, have both going in. That way you get twice the air flow. For example, if both fans move 50 cf/h, and both are blowing in, you will have 100 cf/h (cubic feet/hour) whereas if one is in and one out you will only have 50 cf/h of air movement.

Last is that the air flow will go across your hot lights which, I assume, are mounted midline in the tank. This provides optimal cooling.

So, I would start by mounting both on the sides blowing in and see how your temps do. If you still want to go lower, add the other two blowing in.....assuming you have some outlet for all that air movement.

Hope this helps.

 

[venom00viper]

Thanks. so would any of you know the best way to wire these. They have a red wire and a black wire that I need to splice into a power supply. I have tried an old cell phone charge that worked last time. But then I got a 24v one cause my fans added up to 24v being that they were 6v each. They got fried. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[WingnutSr]

Do not add the volts together. Even if you have 10 fans that are 6 volt, they still need a 6 volt power supply. What ever the rated voltage is, that is what you need.

 

[Fuzzy]

If the fans are 6 volt you only need a 6 volt transformer.
The thing to look for is the current draw of the fans.
If you have 4 - 6 volt fans at 20ma each - you will need a 6 volt power supply rated to at least 80ma.

I'm having a heat issue on my canopy too. Currently I have 2 - 200cfm fans pulling in from the back blowing across the MH's.
I am going to add 2 - 100cfm Ice Cap fans mounted in the top of the lid the pull the air out of the canopy.
Mine are all 120v and will be wired to a Cinch/Jones multi pin connector that will break out into the timers that run the lights. This should help get the heat out of the canopy - cause i really don't want to break out the chiller....

Hope this helps....

Fuzz

 

[ben&bobbi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10236394#post10236394 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheGrog
When I built canopies and stands, I always put the fans on the sides, both blowing in. Here are my reasons for this.

First is that they always will get the least humid air and lengthen their life as the salt mist does not get on and in them and erode the circuitry.

Next, rather than having one in and one out, have both going in. That way you get twice the air flow. For example, if both fans move 50 cf/h, and both are blowing in, you will have 100 cf/h (cubic feet/hour) whereas if one is in and one out you will only have 50 cf/h of air movement.

Last is that the air flow will go across your hot lights which, I assume, are mounted midline in the tank. This provides optimal cooling.

So, I would start by mounting both on the sides blowing in and see how your temps do. If you still want to go lower, add the other two blowing in.....assuming you have some outlet for all that air movement.

Hope this helps.

this is exactly how our fans are too. they blow in through pfo parrallel reflectors, one on each end, covering 3-250w MH and 2 160w VHO's. tank stays around 80-81 during day and 79 at night, fans on/off with actinincs.

also tried the blowing out the back on our old tank, wall got 2 soft spots, drywall bubbled up from moisture and fansa didn't last long!

also ditto on the voltage. connect all the reds together, then all the blacks together, the connect to the charger.

 

[venom00viper]

Here are the specs on the fans. Help me with this electrical hook up stuff. Thanks!
Specifications:

· 120mm Plastic DC Double Ball Bearing Cooling Fan
· Airflow: 105 CFM
· Acoustic Noise: 44 dBA
· Size: 120 x 120 x 38.5 mm
· Weight: 244g
· Speed: 2600 RPM
· Voltage: 12V / 0.52 A
· Static Pressure: 0.23 Inch-H2O

 

[WingnutSr]

You will need a transformer that has a 115 volt primary, and a 12 volt secondary. (115V from wall plug, 12 volt output). For 2 fans, it will need a minimum of a 1.04 amp rating. Double that if you use all 4 fans.
Your primary (115V) side of the transformer will plug into the wall outlet, lighting switch or temp controller. The secondary side, (12V) will have all the red wires from your fans connected to the + side. All the black wires will connect together at the - side.
Fans may have different colored wires, no matter. Just keep all the same colors together, one color to +, and the other to -.

 

[venom00viper]

WEll, I got 2 12v 1000Ma power adapters. Couldn't find a 2000ma adapter. So this works fine. Thanks everyone for your help!

-ben

 

[ZooZ]

I want to get some fans for my tank...its getting pretty hot in toronto. Where is a good place to buy a small fan to cool my aquarium? Online or Locally Any other ways to cool? I got 130w PC

 

[jsl6v8]

just get a good ol fashion computer fan they do the trick pretty well. Then find an Ac/Dc adapter will most likely need to be a 12volt, don't know that I've run across computer fans that didn't need a 12 volt splice the lines red to red black to black and you are good to go, I got a 5 pack of fans 100cfm on ebay for like 12 bucks, there is also a guy on ebay who sells molex power adapter/converters that have the computer connection on them so you don't have to splice the lines and use wire nuts.

 

[venom00viper]

Wow I would have loved some of those molex adapters. I just soldered mine together. But I also got mine on ebay. The 120mm fans are little expensive. You should need no larger than 80mm fans. Check out ebay! Good luck!

-ben

 

[jsl6v8]

http://cgi.ebay.com/500mA-Transform...4261209QQihZ003QQcategoryZ88758QQcmdZViewItem