Kirin1 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I had two issues with my Biocube 14. It always had a ton of condensation in the hood, which would force me to leave the feeding lid open all the time to allow all that moisture to escape into the room. Also one of the fans started making a horrendous noise. I solved both problems by replacing the stock fans with These Sunon Fans, and got a big temperature drop as well. I actually had to turn my heater up to get back to 78* I took apart the hood and removed the old fans, disconnecting their power leads from the little circuit board. You can see in this pic how I cut the reflector to open up the airflow behind the splashguard. I also cut the inside row of vent slots over the splashguard fans (no pic of that). The two new fans are mounted in the rear corners. The splashguard fans are arranged one blowing in, one blowing out, while the rear fans both blow in. The rear fans blowing in creates positive pressure inside the hood, forcing air out of every opening, which evacuates all of the humidity before it can condense inside the hood. Here's a shot of the rear vent slits that I opened up. Similar to the vents over the splashguard fans, I cut away the inside plastic, leaving the outside untouched. I drilled Intake holes for the fans (sorry for the blurry pic). To lay out the hole pattern I set a fan in place and marked it's screw hole positions, which I drilled first. I then drew an X between the corners and plotted my holes. The patterns could have come out better, but it's passable. The fans are wired parallel to this variable output DC power supply. Parallel wiring makes the power supply send the same voltage to each fan so they run all at the same speed. To wire parallel, connect all 5 Negative wires (4 fans + power) together, and all 5 Positive wires together, making sure to insulate them from each other and from moisture in the tank. I used heat shrink tubing (see 1st pic), but electrical tape will work ok too if it's done well. I do not recommend wire nuts. Another detail of parallel wiring, the current draw or Amps (milliamps in this case) is combined, so four 12V, 0.11A fans wired parallel will still be 12V, but will draw 0.44A. My power supply will do 800 milliamps, or 0.8A max, so it will be less taxed than a 500mA unit. The variable voltage output controls the speed of the fans. The 6V position keeps the fans quiet while still moving plenty of air. If it gets hot, turn up the speed. I do have a lot of evaporation with the new fans, but I also have an Auto Top Off from Aquahub. Float switches in Chamber3 Resivoir, Aqualifter pump, and Relay & On/Off Switch box. The end result is a BC14 that runs cooler and quieter than stock, and is more prepared to deal with the hot months. I've since upgraded to a Sunpod, but if it hadn't been a gift I probably would have stuck with the cleaner look of the hood. Link to comment
SigmaChris Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hey Kirin, Thanks for the reply on my thread...I asked you a follow up question on my thread but in case you don't visit it again I thought I would ask you here. Where do you get the variable power supply? Thanks, Chris Link to comment
Kirin1 Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Haha, thread tag! http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1533196 Link to comment
Fuzzy Cow Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Just curious, Would making exhaust fans rather than intake fans call for less evaporation? I'm not sure why it would but I heard that somewhere. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 It may, but the cooling capacity would be lower. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I had two issues with my Biocube 14. It always had a ton of condensation in the hood, which would force me to leave the feeding lid open all the time to allow all that moisture to escape into the room. Also one of the fans started making a horrendous noise. I solved both problems by replacing the stock fans with These Sunon Fans, and got a big temperature drop as well. I actually had to turn my heater up to get back to 78* I took apart the hood and removed the old fans, disconnecting their power leads from the little circuit board. You can see in this pic how I cut the reflector to open up the airflow behind the splashguard. I also cut the inside row of vent slots over the splashguard fans (no pic of that). The two new fans are mounted in the rear corners. The splashguard fans are arranged one blowing in, one blowing out, while the rear fans both blow in. The rear fans blowing in creates positive pressure inside the hood, forcing air out of every opening, which evacuates all of the humidity before it can condense inside the hood. Here's a shot of the rear vent slits that I opened up. Similar to the vents over the splashguard fans, I cut away the inside plastic, leaving the outside untouched. I drilled Intake holes for the fans (sorry for the blurry pic). To lay out the hole pattern I set a fan in place and marked it's screw hole positions, which I drilled first. I then drew an X between the corners and plotted my holes. The patterns could have come out better, but it's passable. The fans are wired parallel to this variable output DC power supply. Parallel wiring makes the power supply send the same voltage to each fan so they run all at the same speed. To wire parallel, connect all 5 Negative wires (4 fans + power) together, and all 5 Positive wires together, making sure to insulate them from each other and from moisture in the tank. I used heat shrink tubing (see 1st pic), but electrical tape will work ok too if it's done well. I do not recommend wire nuts. Another detail of parallel wiring, the current draw or Amps (milliamps in this case) is combined, so four 12V, 0.11A fans wired parallel will still be 12V, but will draw 0.44A. My power supply will do 800 milliamps, or 0.8A max, so it will be less taxed than a 500mA unit. The variable voltage output controls the speed of the fans. The 6V position keeps the fans quiet while still moving plenty of air. If it gets hot, turn up the speed. I do have a lot of evaporation with the new fans, but I also have an Auto Top Off from Aquahub. Float switches in Chamber3 Resivoir, Aqualifter pump, and Relay & On/Off Switch box. The end result is a BC14 that runs cooler and quieter than stock, and is more prepared to deal with the hot months. I've since upgraded to a Sunpod, but if it hadn't been a gift I probably would have stuck with the cleaner look of the hood. What size fans are you using? I want to order these ASAP so I can get this installed before the hot months of summer Link to comment
Bobyboy Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 What size fans are you using? I want to order these ASAP so I can get this installed before the hot months of summer You may not get a response from them. But I used These Link to comment
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