RookieNano Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Well I searched for a while and didn't find exactly what I was looking for, so perhaps someone can point me in the right direction. I have a BC14 where the average temp stays about 81-82 during the day. I am looking for a DIY fan modification that keeps the AIO look to the BC but helps lower the temps to about 78. I was hoping there would be some type of tutorial on how to modify the BC hood and retrofit it with additional fans. I read some things about the Azoo fans but it appears you need to have some clearance between the hood and the water surface for those to work. Perhaps I missed it but I didn't see any threads where someone successfully added the Azoo to the BC and still preserved the stock look. Does anyone know of a way to add a fan to the BC14 and still keep the all-in-one stock look of the tank? I'm looking for an alternative to a chiller. Any help is appreciated. Link to comment
shrimphombre Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 How old are your lights/fans? You can drop the temp. by replacing old lights and getting more powerful fans to replace the stock ones in the hood. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 I purchased the tank March 1 this year. I had a 10 gallon originally and moved everything to the BC14 in March. I figured I was good on lights for at least another 2 months. And if I can replace the stock fans with upgraded ones, which do you suggest? I'm in Florida and the temps were fine up until about a month or two ago. Of course that's when it started getting to 90 degrees outside. I keep the AC at 73-74 but the tank still runs hot even when I prop the hood open about two inches or so. Link to comment
shrimphombre Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 hmm i'm not sure what size the fans are in the BC but im sure somebody else around here does.... you could also consider getting a complete kit from nanotuners, they claim their set ups run 2-3 degrees cooler due to upgraded fans and a better reflector. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 60mm fans fit quite well on the back wall of the hood. I added two to mine when I put the 70W MH in. I can keep temps steady at 79-80. Replacing the stock fans with different 50mm fans really only adds more noise with little added cooling. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Evil, Do you have any pictures of your mod? I was contemplating adding a fan, possibly two to the back of the hood that sits over chamber 2. I'm assuming that's where you put yours... I figure adding a fan or two would be better than changing out the stock ones. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I placed mine either side of the center rib on the hood. You have to trim the plastic from the vent to fit, but it's only a little bit. I'll try and snap a pic tonight for you. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 That would be great! I saw the plastic rib in the middle and figured I could mount one on each side of it. The part you trim...is that the tiny vents along the back of the hood? Do you have that completely open/cut out? And also, you said 60mm fans...which one of these 60mm fans would you suggest? Also, how did you mount them to the hood? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 You got it. You don't need to cut all of the vent off just to fit the fan. I would suggest the Vantec Stealth fan, but you can get it cheaper here. Link to comment
Tubefreek Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Glad we are all on the same page, just got my cube a little over a week ago, and that is my final frontier! Trying not to get a chiller, but it may come to that only I'm not sure where I would put it! Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 How did you mount it? I read a horrible thread recently of someone using double sided tape to mount LEDs that fell in the tank and electrocuted everything. I'm trying to avoid that route...Super glue perhaps? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 screws. The fan will come with some. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 You get a chance to snap a pic of your fan setup, Evil? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Oops! Give me a little while. (couple hours) Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Shot from the back. Hope this is usefull. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Looking at the pics, it appears you used a hole saw to drill holes the diameter of the fans (60mm) then mounted them with one blowing in and one blowing out. Is that correct? The pics certainly are useful. Originally I was thinking to mount them to the top of the hood, basically blowing down on the rear chambers when the hood is closed. But yours are blowing air out the back of the hood with the fans placed vertically, correct? Looks good. Thanks for the pics. I'm going to give this a try when I get some time in the next week. Two quick questions: What were your temps before and after this install and how did it affect your evaporation given everything is still enclosed under the hood? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I did this as I did the MH install. I have about the same temps now as I did before the MH and the extra fans. Temps sit around 81-82 degree. I am going to try a couple of different orientations of the fans to see if I can get the temps a little lower (all in, all out, etc...). Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 So assuming you were running PC, like I am, do you think it would drop the temps a couple of degrees? Im looking to go from 82 to about 78 or 79. Also, what about your evap rate? Sorry to keep asking questions. I just want to make sure I do this the right way the first time. Did you use a 60mm hole saw to drill your holes? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I'm sure it's possible to drop a few degrees by adding the fans. My evap did increase quite a bit though. I top off about 2-4 cups a day, from about 1-2 before. Oh, I had 3 bulbs in my hood before I switched to MH. Link to comment
Waterproof Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Depending on how sensitive you are to noise, I'd recommend the SilenX fans. It's ridiculous how quiet they are. I put them in my BC14 (as a replacement for the stock fans), and it really cut down on the noise. Getting the 60mm fans to fit in the 50mm openings took some work though! Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Waterproof, I'm looking to add additional fans to my BC14 hood just like Evil did. I'm going to keep the stock ones in place. But I'm guessing 50MM fans would be even easier to install given the space limitations versus the 60mm ones. I'm not too concerned about noise because the tank is downstairs and I only plan on running the additional fans when the PC lights are on. But nevertheless, the quieter, the better. Do you have link for the ones you think would fit best? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Go with the 60's. There is a much better selection of low noise fans in 60mm sizes than 50mm. Plus, they push more air at the same noise level. Here are the Vantec Stealth 60mm fans. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Sounds good evil. I'm going to take your advice and order the fans from that site. What size holes did you drill in the hood to accommodate the fans? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 No idea Home Depot/Lowes should have a cheap hole saw assortment that will have a size close to what is needed. Link to comment
RookieNano Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Do these Vantec fans come with an adapter to run off a power strip instead of the motherboard? And newegg is out of them until August. Any other link you recommend? I did some searching for other sites that have them but I'm not sure if they all come with a motherboard/powerstip conversion for power. Link to comment
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