70W MH in stock Nano Cube!!

[artarmon42]

Just in case anyone missed it, I'm selling a bunch of left-over parts here.

 

Of particular interest to readers of this thread, are the 2 scroll fans that I'm selling.

[MadTownMax]

just wondering with respect to your cooling - do you have air passing directly over the bulb? most manufacturers don not recommend this, as it is said to shorten the life of the bulb - or that the rapid change in temperature can break the bulb - I think that's why CCjung is using his in an enclosed case of which the outside is cooled - if you do have this work for an extended period it would be good to know that it can be done without an enclosed case - much easier to retrofit

[artarmon42]

Nope, the bulb is enclosed in the reflector/glass of the kit.

The high CFM fans simply blow air around the MH reflector, to cool it.

[sterling18]

Originally posted by artarmon42

So do you have the MH up?

How's the Lexan working?

 

I'm still gathering everything, most of it is in the mail. I"ll let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks for everything.

[SaltCreep]

Your a pioneer! Props for not letting anything stand in your path. You had a goal and found a way to make it work. Bravo.

[Bobbozr2]

Well, I'm getting very close to completing this mod. I'm still awaiting the arrival of the retro kit from Aquabuys. I just got a confirmation today that it should arrive by Friday. I'm also waiting on my 13 watt Actinic setup from Hellolights.com. In the meantime, I've wired up my fans, my new R2 LED moonlight and my 13 watt fuge light. Due to size constraints, I had to keep one of the stock fans in the rear of the hood so I could fit the bulb over it. There just wasn't enough clearance with the upgraded fan in that location. I plan on running the front two fans at either 9 or 12 volts to compensate. If need be, with addition of the 13 watt actinic with ballast, I will run all the fans at 9 volts (possibly 12). I'll have to experiment to see what keeps the temps down most efficiently. Here are some pics of my work thusfar:

 

[Bobbozr2]

By the way, I was thinking of adding one more fan in the top right corner in order to compensate for the stock fan remaining by my fuge light. With that in mind, I have a question. Would adding an additional fan in the top right corner really help all that much? It wouldn't be sucking in air from a vent but it would essentially aid in moving more air around the inside of the hood. In my situation, would I benefit from the added air movement?

[artarmon42]

The stock fan isn't going to provide enough CFM.

Look for a low profile unit such as the 15 thick or the 10mm thick that Chronicles recommends.

(Disclosure: I've bought from nexfan, but haven't dealth with mycableshop... I provide the link for illustration purposes only)

You shouldn't need to compensate with another fan, as long as you get a higher CFM one to replace the stock.

 

I'm pretty certain that with you won't need significant voltage increase to compensate for the 13W.

 

Are you running the front fans separate from the rear fans (i.e. on two different variable voltage adapters)? Highly recommended for redudancy (i.e. if one adapter dies for whatever reason, at least you'll have some cooling for the MH).

 

BTW, nice handy work!

My only suggestion is to pull the front fan wires OUTWARDS abit more. You want to get the low gauge wire as far away from the hot MH reflector as possible. I don't think it's going to damage it, just that if you have some slack I'd use it up.

[Bobbozr2]

Originally posted by artarmon42

The stock fan isn't going to provide enough CFM.

Look for a low profile unit such as the 15 thick or the 10mm thick that Chronicles recommends.

(Disclosure: I've bought from nexfan, but haven't dealth with mycableshop... I provide the link for illustration purposes only)

You shouldn't need to compensate with another fan, as long as you get a higher CFM one to replace the stock.

 

I'm pretty certain that with you won't need significant voltage increase to compensate for the 13W.  

 

Are you running the front fans separate from the rear fans (i.e. on two different variable voltage adapters)? Highly recommended for redudancy (i.e. if one adapter dies for whatever reason, at least you'll have some cooling for the MH).

 

BTW, nice handy work!

My only suggestion is to pull the front fan wires OUTWARDS abit more. You want to get the low gauge wire as far away from the hot MH reflector as possible. I don't think it's going to damage it, just that if you have some slack I'd use it up.

 

 

Yeah, I was thinking about getting the same profile fan but with a higher CFM. I just didn't want to go through the whole ordering process again. If I must, I must I guess. Perhaps I'll run it as is for a while just to see how it goes. I have nothing but LR in the tank at the moment (cycling) so what do I have to lose?

 

Yes, I'm running the front two fans independenly of the rear fans on two different variable voltage adapters like you recommended.

 

As far as the wires go, there really isn't any slack at all to allow me to wrap the wires around the hood. I could always connect additional wire to give me the slack, but I'd rather avoid making too many connections (more opportunities for the circuit to fail). I used electrical tape and I secured the wiring down snuggly. I'll snap a pic of what it looks like now once I get to work on the MH retro. So far, so good.

 

BTW, I just love my new moonlight.

[artarmon42]

I'm not 100% sure about the stock fan, but I suspect that it might be insufficient to cool the 13W PC (being so close). If it cannot sufficient cool that, the PC light will become an undissipated heat source, further contributing to the overall heating of the hood (with the MH on). That'll force you to run the remaining fans faster (and thus generating more noise). It's not fatal (not like the 13W PC will warp your splashguard ) so you can decide whether to live with the noise later on...

 

I notice you haven't got the rear vent/fan yet ???

Sorry for nagging, but it's a critical part of the overall mod and you might as well do it while you're waiting for the MH.

 

I suspect that if you run the fuge lights 24 hours, it'll provide MORE than enough spill over light into the main chamber. If you look at my pics, I've got crazy weather stripping on the splashguard to try to block the fuge light...

[Bobbozr2]

I didn't do the rear vents yet because I had other things to do yesterday. I was planning on doing them (I even measured and marked the areas I needed to cut for the fan/vents) but I got busy. I'll do them tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, the rest of the mod really isn't all that difficult. I may stop by Staples/Comp USA tonight after work and see what I can pick up as far as 60x60x15 fans are concerned. If I don't find anything good, I'll pick up the fan you recommended.

 

Oh, and I came up with an idea for the wires by the MH reflector. I'm going to wrap some shrink tubing around them and then secure them to the hood with electrical tape. If the heat does get to the wires, then the shrink tubing will react and seal/insulate the wires.

[artarmon42]

That shrink wrap is a great idea! I might just have to try that myself :angel:

[MadTownMax]

Do use the shrink wrap. I use it on all my aquarim wiring projects - it works well and looks very professional. you can get a pack of various size tubes at radioshack for just a few bucks.

[Bobbozr2]

Well, I got my MH retro kit today as well as my 13 watt actinic kit. I mounted everything and I'm currently waiting for the epoxy to set for both the MH sockets and the rear vent scroll fan. I'll post pictures of everything tomorrow.

 

Oh, and as an added bonus I got a free 10k bulb from Aquabuys. I had emailed Aquabuys and worked out a deal to pay for just the kit without the bulb (I already purchased a 20k) for $100. I only paid $100, but they still sent the 10k MH bulb by accident. Free bulb for me.

 

This mod is almost done!

[artarmon42]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the pics of the hood and the cube!

[Bobbozr2]

Well, the mod is finally complete. Here are some pictures along with some commentary on the mod:

 

The Kit:

Here you can see everything that came with the kit. As I mentioned above, I paid only $94 for the kit minus the bulb (originally $144 with 10k bulb). They only charged me $94 plus shipping but ended up sending me the bulb anyway.

 

 

Fans:

Here are the 3 fans and the one stock fan (rear left). I wired them to variable voltage adapters as specified by artarmon.

 

Epoxying Metal Halide Sockets:

I used an epoxy called JB Weld. I got it at Home Depot for $5. It has a temperature rating of over 500 degrees F and a tensile strength of 3960 psi. As an added bonus, it just about matches perfectly with the color of the nano cube's dark grey plastic.

[Bobbozr2]

Actinic & Fuge Light:

I had gutted a 13 watt fluorescent worklight that I had gotten for free and purchased a Helios combination 7100k/8000k bulb from my LFS for the fuge light. As you can see, I had to keep one of the low profile stock fans in order for the bulb to fit over the fuge area.I purchased a 13 watt Actinic bulb/ballast kit from Hellolights.com. I used an existing screw hole in the hood to mount the ballast and bulb. I had to dremel off a piece of the switch that had previously controlled the stock LED lights since the ballast wouldn't fit without cutting a piece of it off. Since the switch was now non-functional and since I purchased an R2 Solutions Moonlight, I didn't have a problem with this. From the outside, the switch still appears as stock.

 

 

Blocking Fuge Light From Main Tank Area:

I used rubber mastic tape from Home Depot to tape off inside the splashguard in order to block the fuge light spillover into the main tank area. The mastic tape is great. It is very adhesive and since it's rubber I can stick it to the part of the splashguard that touches the water if need be. For now I have it sticking to the inside of the splasguard.

[Bobbozr2]

Completed Hood:

Here is the completed hood with and without the splashguard reinstalled. Everything fits nicely and is not at all cramped.

 

 

R2 Solutions Moonlights:

Here are a couple of shots with only the moonlights on.

[Bobbozr2]

Actinic 03:

Here are a couple of shots with only the 13 watt actinic bulb on.

 

 

 

70 Watt Metal Halide:

Here are a couple of shots with the 20k Aqualine MH bulb on.

 

 

 

My Eyes! The Goggles...They Do Na-Sing!

 

 

This mod thusfar has been easy and spot on. Before I turned on the MH, my digital thermometer was reading 79.4. Once I turned the MH bulb on, it jumped to 79.9 within less than 10 minutes. I only had the rear fan at 5v however. Once I turned the scroll fan to 7.5v, the temperature steadily dropped to 79.2 and stabilized at 79.5 during the 2 hour photo period.

 

It appears that this mod is a complete success. My hat off to you once again artarmon for paving the way and making this mod such a painless one to pull off, even for the most novice of DIY'ers.

 

My overall goal for this tank (which happens to be my first SW tank) is to run SPS and perhaps a clam. The leap to MH will make this goal possible to achieve. Thanks again artarmon and everyone else who gave their advice in making this mod possible.

[artarmon42]

Awesome Bobbozr2!

That actinic will add a nice dusk-to-dawn effect.

 

How's the fuge light spill over?

 

That rear scroll fan rocks for cooling the tank eh?

Never thought the solution would be so simple

[artarmon42]

Oh and the aquascaping looks great!

An active fish (like a small wrasse) will be great swimming in and out of those caves/tunnels.

[shao-lin nano]

I used RamSinks purchased at Fry's and attached it using thermal epoxy to both sides of the 70W MH reflector...I will use the scroll fans I got from you artarmon to blow on them.

 

The black heat sinks are super low profile and attaches to the underneath side of the reflector next to the MH with a small scroll fan blowing across them.

 

[Bobbozr2]

The fuge light still spills over some light. I see where the problem is. I'll apply more rubber mastic tape to the splashguard tonight after work.

 

Again, I must say I am really impressed with just how efficient that little rear scroll fan is as far as cooling the tank.

 

Evaporative Cooling

[artarmon42]

Originally posted by shao-lin nano

I used RamSinks purchased at Fry's and attached it using thermal epoxy to both sides of the 70W MH reflector...

 

I tried that with the same heatsinks (they came with the IceBerq ). I found that the thermal adhesive wouldn't hold and the hot copper pieces would fall off. Hope you have better luck

[artarmon42]

Originally posted by Bobbozr2

The fuge light still spills over some light. I see where the problem is. I'll apply more rubber mastic tape to the splashguard tonight after work.

 

I found that no amount of tape would work sufficiently.

Rather than taping up more, I found that buying "thicker" tape halped alot more. Ultimately I went with weather striping.

 

 

 

With what you've done so far, do you have any feedback on the instructions I posted? Anything I left out or should be especially commented upon?