"New" current orbit - fixed up and works great

[johnd651]

I got this 24inch Current Orbit from sg1838, and went through and replaced the fan and ballast. I also modded the moon lights so that they are blue, and there is 5 of them. I also installed two eyehooks in the top, so I can hang it over the 29 gallon.

thanks to sg1838 for the light

i took the picture of the light on the tank on my FW breeder, but i didnt realize that the lid was covering one of the bulbs so the color is a little off.

they are all cell phone pics...sorry about the quality

 

[johnd651]

and i threw in a picture of the outlets/power center i made

 

[superkat]

sweet!

 

[ggdowski]

I was wondering if you put one of those super quiet fans in there.
There are a number of them out there that are a lot quieter than the ones installed in those fixtures. I've thought about doing it myself...

 

[johnd651]

i actually had a hard time finding a 120vac 80mm x 25 mm fan to put in there. when i did find one, i was not really looking at noise level. i just wanted to put in one that works, with out pulling 12vdc power to it

the ones that you have seen, are they 120Vac, or 12vdc?

as far as noise goes, it is really powerful, and always running full blast. you can here it, but the tank will be sitting in a bar area, so noise was not an issue

 

[ggdowski]

Good question.
Most of the quiet fans are 12VDC.
I'll look into it.

 

[johnd651]

if you are up for it, you might be able to find a 12vdc plug in transformer, like the one that powers the LED moon lights (this one is 6vdc i think) and run it into the light.

that would work. You can also add a controller then, and have the fan speed adjustable

 

[ggdowski]

I'm going to have to look at my fixture.
My fixture has LED moonlights in it... which can only be DC.
I thought for sure the fan was DC.
I got the idea from reading a web page a while back where someone called current usa... the feedback from current usa was that they didnt put in the quiet fans because they were expensive. Current USA told the person to replace it with a specific DC fan that could be obtained from newegg.

But to be honest... when I had mine apart to clean out all of the dust, I didnt think to look at how the LEDs and fans were wired. BTW I recommend that everyone do this occasionally. I was amazed at how much dust builds up in the transformer and ballast section of the light.

In a bar area it might not matter. Our fishtank is in part of the kitchen area. I'd like it to be nearly silent.

 

[sg1838]

John,

The light looks great. I'm glad that you were able to make use of it and give it a new life. I hope it serves you well (but, given your electrical handiness, I'm guessing it will last you as long as you want it to!)

Nice work!