70W MH in stock Nano Cube!!

[artarmon42]

EDIT: This mod went through a couple of changes to find the best cooling techniques. A summary of the "final version" can be found here.

 

I'm going to journal the installation of a 70W MH into the 12DX hood. Not sure how the story will end... hopefully not with my house burning down :-*

 

Kudos go out to ccjung for blazing the path on MH in Nano Cube.

 

After taking off the hood, I starting gutting it...

I couldn't figure out how to get the cables that come in through the back, and ended up cutting the wires and ripping it out with brute force. The hood's plastic is pretty tough and was not damaged in the process.

 

I've seen a variety of fans being used in mods, but from my PC overclocking days I know that "scroll fans" are the most powerful at pushing air (that's the design that leaf-blowers use). I bought 2 from my local Fry's for $14.95 each! They are 60mm, so exactly the same size as the original Nano Cube fans. I forgot to put my camera on macro mode, so the picture is a little blurry...

 

The amazing thing (I didn't realize until I tried it) is that the screw holes in the stock reflector (that is used by the PC bulb clips) are a perfect 60mm size. When I screwed the scroll-fan in place, it was a double-winner because the low profile fan is perfectly in line with the vent's height.

The theory behind this placement is to suck the air (circulating around the MH housing) and exhaust it out the side.

 

While at Fry's I also bought a standard 60mm fan to cool my fuge light. More on the fuge lighting later...

 

Here's a full shot with all the fans in place...

To explain: the standard 60mm fan replaces one of the original Nano Cube fans and sucks air into the hood. I replaced the original because I heard that doesn't handle a full 12V and I wanted one with a faster RPM (this one's 4500RPM). I previously had my fuge light using the original fan and found that it wasn't cooling the system enough.

As explained above, a scroll fan is screwed to the reflector to exhaust the hot air out of the system.

And replacing the other original fan is another scroll fan (upper right of picture). This scroll fan sucks air in (which is why it looks "upside down") and blows directly at main lighitng chamber (through those slits in the reflector).

[artarmon42]

I bought a DIY 70W kit off eBay from AquaBuys (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWN:IT). Pretty simple to connect up using the provided instructions. The hardest work of this whole project was to drill the Nano Cube reflector so that I could screw the MH reflector on. And no, it really wasn't that hard!

Here is a picture of the MH reflector screwed it...

Because there's only one screw holding it in place, I cheated and used electrical tape to stop it from wobbling if I open/close the hood. I only used one screw because the screws that came with the kit aren't long enough to use the other mounting holes in the MH reflector.

 

Here is another shot of everything wired in place.

You'll see the 7W 6500K PC bulb on the lower left of the picture. I got it by ripping apart one of those Red Seas clip-on lights. It's velcro'd to the standard 60mm fan.

 

The 2 scroll fans are wired together to a variable voltage adapter. It's set to 7.5V right now. I can crank it up to 12V which speeds up the fans for more cooling. I'll play around with the correct speed setting over the few days (more cooling = louder, so finding the best compromise makes sense). Even at the max 12V setting, the noise is less than my AquaC Remora. The scroll fans are plugged into my timer along with the MH power, so they're synchronized.

 

The fuge fan is connected to it's own variable voltage adapter. That and the fuge light's adapter runs 24 hours.

 

With the splash guard back on...

It's a little hard to tell, but I've got strips of black electrical tape on the inside of the splash guard, surrounding the fuge light. I found that the fuge light has alot of spill over into my main tank. Even with all that tape, I'm still getting enough spill over that I don't need a moonlight.

[afiser]

nice work so far hope it works out in the lon-run:P

[artarmon42]

So let there be light! :woot:

The Ushio 10k bulb burns a little yellow at first (when I took the picture, but evens out pretty quickly).

Not obvious in the picture, but my GSP retracted instantly and my metallic frogspawn clearly was unhappy.

 

I had been working on the hood for half the day, so everything in the tank was adjusted to the ambient lighting. When I turned on the MH, my Onyx pair quickly retreated to the shade...

 

Here's a full shot of the tank...

 

Lifting up the hood, let's see how bright it really is...

 

After 5 minutes, I checked the hood... didn't detect any heat at all! Obviously much cooler than with the stock PCs, which by now would have heated up the hood. The scroll fan exhaust was noticebly warmer... not like a hair dryer but you can tell it's not just a fan blowing room temperature air on your hand.

You can't read the temperatures, but my stick-on-LCD read 79.

My crappy remote-probe thermometer said the fuge temperature to be 73.1. Like I said, that thermometer is rubbish, but I mention it as a relative reading.

[artarmon42]

Here's the tank after the MH had been on for 1 hour...

My GSP is back out and the clam and dusters seem much happier than before. Onyxs still haven't adjusted. My Coco hardly comes out at all, but I know he doesn't like bright lights so I'm sure he's not happy right now.

 

After 1 hour, the hood was still cool to touch (I didn't feel any difference from when the MH was first turned on). The scroll fan exhaust temperature felt the same as before.

The stick-on-LCD still read 79, and my crappy remote-probe said 72.5.

Basically didn't seem like there was any change in temperature, which I take it to mean that I have enough air flow to keep the system cool.

 

The AquaBuys MH kit came with pretty good instructions, including accliminatization by reducing the photo period. I only ran the MH for 1 hour, and will be increasing it by 30 minutes each day.

 

When the light was off, I took a picture of the fuge area...

You'll see the light, the chaeto, the Ebo heater and that stupid thermometer remote-probe

 

Here's the "moonlight" effect from my fuge light's spill over.

[artarmon42]

When I opened the hood, I noticed that my splash guard had warped slightly. About a 3 inches in diameter, centered over the bulb and warps inwards (towards the bulb). Here are some pictures from different angles.

 

Would appreciate any advice people can give me on why it's warping.

I didn't notice any warping when I checked the splashguard after it was on 15 minutes (I felt it with my hand and could have missed it).

If it was hot enough to warp/melt, wouldn't it have done more damage?

I wonder if it's warping because I turned off the light and fans at the same time. Thus I'm not giving the MH enclosure time to cool down before shutting down the scroll fans. Could the MH enclosure still be so hot as to warp the splashguard after it was turned off?

[kappa]

This is the best light mod from PC to MH, fuge light, and fan DIY I have seen done to a NC yet, great job!

 

IMO, I Like to take the suction cup off the digital thermometer sensor, and leave the sensor dangling in there. The next time you clean the back compartment, the suction cup is one less thing to clean.

[afiser]

i know this has nothing to do wit the thread but how much were the clowns since they are onyx

[embryoguy]

great great thread. love your willingness to push the hobby further. can you take some more pics of your onxy>? also where did you get yoru small fuge light? thanks in advance.

[artarmon42]

After considering the warping of the splashguard and the potential risk of different timers (running the MH and scroll fans) going out of sync, I decided it would be better to run the scroll fans 24 hours.

 

Just for laughs (I imagine the Fire Marshall would have a fit :angel: ), here's how the electricals are all hooked up.

 

Everything is fed into the power strip at the back. The yellow 1-to-3 drives the timer for the MH and the DC adapter that drives the scroll fans. I'm keeping them as closely connected as possible to ensure if one goes out, they both go.

 

Off the back power strip, is the middle power strip. This drives the 3 power heads, heater and something unrelated to the aquarium. This is the power strip I turn off when I do water changes.

 

Also off the back power strip, is the front power strip. This drives the fuge light and fan.

[afiser]

how much were your onyx percs???

[artarmon42]

Thanks for everyone's kind words and encouragement.

 

afiser: I got my Onyx pair from Rod Beuhler (you can PM him on reefcentral.com). I got them when they were juvis (2 stripes) and have had them for about 9 months now. Don't recall how much I paid for the pair, but I think it was around $150 shipped.

 

Here's a picture a few weeks after I got them.

 

Here's a picture when I transplanted them to the new Nano Cube around 1 month ago.

During the day, they hang out with the Torch. At night, they sleep with the Frogspawn.

 

embryoguy: I ripped the fuge light from a Deco Art VaseLight. You can see a picture of it here: http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/produc...id1=1843;pcid2=

I bought it for $12 at the LFS and was surprisingly easy to dismantle. The bulb says 7W 6500K (which I understand is a good spectrum for fuges). The part I like is that the ballast is integrated with the power adapter. If you look at the picture of my power strips, it looks just like an ordinary adapter.

[ccjung]

Looks good, I like the way the bulb fits in the reflector.

 

Its generally a good idea to let the fans run all the time to keep the temps stable in the hood. If the warping is occurring during normal operation, then the glass is getting too hot and you should add extra cooling to keep the temps of the glass down.

 

Looking good! Im sure summer will be the ultimate test for you as well..

 

Chris

[pos_user]

any update on the warping buddy?

 

I'm interested to see if the hood will get affected by it, and also interested to see how your temps range with the mh being so close to the water..

 

let us know ..peace

[ccjung]

I havent had any warping problems on my cube, its been running strong since late 2004.

[pos_user]

also, what kind of glass is protecting the MH bulb?

 

UV Sheilded? How thick?

[embryoguy]

art! again, thank you very much for all your efforts and willing to take this hobby to a new level with the potential risks involved.

 

great thread. great onyx. i have a pair from rod also. great little clowns. quality is better than other clowns ive gotten.

[artarmon42]

I'll post results later tonight, but I'm going to check on the following today:

1) Scroll fans are usually quieter that standard fans. So I'm going open up the hood again and see if something might be loose in there.

2) I've de-tuned the scroll fans down to 4.5V, running 24 hours. Will see if it can sustain 1.5 hours of MH operational as well as yesterday.

3) Water evaporation during a normal day (with the stock PCs I was putting in maybe half a cup per week).

 

One observation this morning is that I got more water on my splashguard than I normally would overnight. I presume the condensation is caused by the water body being hotter than the hood/splashguard. My heater setting hasn't changed, so I suspect that the 3 fans in the hood is keeping the hood/splashguard cooler than usual. Not sure if I could/should do anything to fix that, but the positive note is that the water beaded up on the splashguard and didn't "leave" the system (and thus I don't need to worry about top off).

[phergus_25]

not shure if you said I could haev missed it, but you want to have some UV glass.

[phergus_25]

Ok I see it neer mind, it looks really clean, did you not want to add in some PC for an actinic supplement?

[afiser]

man you got you clowns cheap those things run for like $200 bucks a piece on Live Aquaria. Any warping issues still???

[gatohoser]

I warped my hood with 88w of PC lighting. It happened because my fan (i had one at that time, now i have 2, another reason to wire parallel) rusted over. Be careful that your fans are looking good and dont be afraid to replace them early.

 

Any1 know where you can buy the plastic cover?

[rickjg]

Great job on setting up the MH lighting. I have (1) scroll fan &

(1) standard fan running on 3.5 volts in the hood of my 3.27 ALIFE 7

and they keep the temps at a steady 79/80 all day long. I also run my

fans 24/7 because it eliminates all condensation on the lens. I think you

are right that residual heat from the light melted your lens. It takes a while

for every thing to cool down.

Keep us posted on progress and don’t burn down the house.

Rick

[ParaDiddle]

Originally posted by gatohoser

Any1 know where you can buy the plastic cover? [/b]

 

try www.nanocustoms.com <-- Chris can probably get you a new one.

[artarmon42]

Just to address some questions so far...

1) The MH kit comes with UV glass. It's maybe a quarter/third of an inch thick. The kit comes with clips and everything to hold it in place.

2) I'm definitely looking for some actinic supplementation. I'm looking to get 1 or 2 T5s (the Helios ones that nanocustoms sell). When I get them in hand, I'll figure how many I can put where. I'm pretty apprehensive of blocking air circulation.

 

I've just completed the next photo period (of 1.5 hours). Here's the latest data:

1) I detuned the scroll fans from 7.5V to 4.5V (2 notches lower). After 5 minutes, I noted that the air was hotter that yesterday and obviously the flow was less. It might have been the right setting, but because I wanted to find out what warped the splashguard yesterday, I increased the voltage back to 6V. This increased the flow and made the exhaust cooler.

2) There was no change in temperature through the 1.5 hour photo period. My two thermometers read 79 and 73.4 before, and was 79 and 73.6 after. I feel confident that the system is cool enough to not affect the water body (whether it affects the splashguard is another matter ).

2) Doesn't look like there was anymore warping, but obviously hard to tell for sure.

3) No noticeable evaporation.

4) The female Onyx was freely swimming around with the lights on, but the male was still hiding in the shade.

5) My metallic frogspawn was definitely not happy this morning (well before I turned on the MH today). One head is clearly deflated and the "mouth" is receding. But the other head (which got maybe a little less direct light) looks fine. I suspect that the clowns had been rough on that receding head, rather than the MH. Anyway, I've moved the frogspawn to the bottom of the tank and will see if it recovers.

6) Moving my frogspawn down has given more direct light to the clam. There was no obvious change with the clam ("normal" mantle extension). I suspect my clam is still too small (requiring phyto) to fully appreciate the light.

7) My torch, which is the closest thing to the MH, seems unchanged.

8 ) No noticeable change to my coralline. From my reading, I expect it to recede from the more intense light. I suspect that 2 short photo periods is insufficient to notice the "long term" differences between PC and MH.

 

I did not get time to take the hood off and check for rattles. Will do that tomorrow.