Canopy Fans Cooling Devices

[gnashty]

I ran a quick search for this topic and came back with a little info I can act on but want to refresh to the topic as we are walking into the summer months.

I have been battling some heat issues with my new 180, particularly in the canopy section. I have a large sump fan, a 1/4 HP Chiller I just installed last week, and one canopy fan that I havent hooked up yet.

My temp is stable, more stable than it ever has been but my tank stays at 80 wether the house temp is 66 or 76 - even with a moderate light cycle the heat is just hanging out in the canopy. When I temp the fixture itself it can be up to 100 degrees+. I love that stable temp but also want to not want the chiller to kick on several times per hour either...

The canopy has an open back but it is only about 1" at best from the back wall - I cannot change this right now so I need to find ways to dissapate that heat. Am I better served by using cpu fans in abundance across the back openings or by cutting holes in the top of the canopy and installing fans to help the heat get out?

been checking out this site to get some ideas on possible new fans...thoughts?

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082910.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082910.html</a>

[IMG]http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082910.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082910.html</a>

 

[jcusmarine]

I have access to some quality 105cfm fans, I think 4"....

I installed one in my stand for the sump area. If you need, PM me and I will hook you up. These fans will move a TON of air. My company buy's them in the 1000's and has been using them for years.

 

[cr500_af]

Gary, FWIW I got great results with 2 4" fans in the sides of the canopy (blowing in to keep from pulling any more "salty air" through them than necessary). They exhaust through the open back.

With the fans set to come on 1 degree before the chiller, it cut my chiller run time approximately in half.

I'm interested by your comment that ambient temp doesn't change tank temp... where are they set, and have you verified with the RK that they aren't on too much? I once had a PC4 that had one outlet stick "on" even if the controller had it turned off.
The reason I'm puzzled is that I've noticed if I drop the house temp down even two degrees, it makes a lot of difference in my temp... so I am amazed that a huge change in room temperature doesn't do anything unless your heaters are fighting that change.

 

[crewdawg1981]

I considered cutting two holes in the top of my canopy for all of 2 seconds because that would be the easy way to remove heat... but then I'd have spotlights on my ceiling...

So far the 4" thermo controlled icecap fans I bought from Robb are doing the trick. My tank gets down to 77.5-9 at night, but hasnt been getting above 79 during the day since I added the fans (just two) and I'm running 3 250 watt MHs

 

[markl]

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=azoo+fans&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=1427350804543726775&sa=X&ei=d0STTem-AZKWtwem0blY&ved=0CCAQ8wIwAQ#">http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=azoo+fans&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=1427350804543726775&sa=X&ei=d0STTem-AZKWtwem0blY&ved=0CCAQ8wIwAQ#</a>

I had these before they work great.

 

[grouper therapy]

I would put vents(not holes with out covers) in the top of the canopy since the heat will rise any way on it's on. I'm not a big fan of blowing salty air over my lights and reflectors. I also don't understand mixing the hot air that has risen to the top of the canopy and mixing it with the cooler air at the surface of the water . For heat removal it is far more efficient to pull the already hot air in the top out than to mix it and try to force it out with positive pressure. Pull your attic stair down and take a look up for an example.
I prefer to use fans for evaporative cooling in the sump area away from my lights and reflectors. If salt on your fans is of concern like with Barry then I would forgo fans and just let the heat escape from the top to each their own.

these work well

 

[miami dolfan]

I actually had to install a heavy duty extractor to control the heat in my enclosed canopy. I opened a hole on the side of the house and installed a clothes dryer type vent and all the heat goes outside because before I installed it, my upstairs hallway would get very uncomfortable.

 

[tgriffin]

I'm planning on 2 105 cfm fans in the top of my canopy blowing out that will run with the MH. I cut three holes in the back of the enclosed canopy. I figured that would be my best way to get out my heat.

 

[grouper therapy]

blakejohn;630735 wrote: I have 4 120mm pc cooling fans on the rear of my canopy. I enclosed the backside for the purpose of mounting the ballasts. In the canopy I have 6 60" T-5's overdriven. The canopy with out the fans gets burning hot. I have 2 of the fans blowing in and the other two blowing out. You can feel the air flow even when the top is opened. This has kept the tank cool (83) even when the A/C was not working and the temp reached near 95 in the house with no chiller.

As for salty air, The air above our tanks is not salty. The vapor that is released is of freshwater only. The only way it would be salty is if you splashed the water really bad.

The problem is that the air contains some moisture that has salt in it. I can assure that most of the salt does not evaporate but some does leave with the moisture , enough to corrode or leave deposits.
I can testify to this as my boat in Florida 1/2 a mile from water has plenty of salt and corrosion to deal with
Most of this is probably from wind picking up the saltwater instead of actual evaporation.

 

[cr500_af]

grouper therapy;630738 wrote: The problem is that the air contains some moisture that has salt in it. I can assure that most of the salt does not evaporate but some does leave with the moisture , enough to corrode or leave deposits.
I can testify to this as my boat in Florida 1/2 a mile from water has plenty of salt and corrosion to deal with
Most of this is probably from wind picking up the saltwater instead of actual evaporation.

+1. Leave a screwdriver in your stand and tell me there isn't salt in the air.

 

[gnashty]

Wow guys - this thread got alot more traffic thatn I expected for such a re-curring topic! I dont have time to comment on everyones answer but Ill try to hit a few..

cr500_af;630696 wrote: Gary, FWIW I got great results with 2 4" fans in the sides of the canopy (blowing in to keep from pulling any more "salty air" through them than necessary). They exhaust through the open back.

With the fans set to come on 1 degree before the chiller, it cut my chiller run time approximately in half.

I'm interested by your comment that ambient temp doesn't change tank temp... where are they set, and have you verified with the RK that they aren't on too much? I once had a PC4 that had one outlet stick "on" even if the controller had it turned off.
The reason I'm puzzled is that I've noticed if I drop the house temp down even two degrees, it makes a lot of difference in my temp... so I am amazed that a huge change in room temperature doesn't do anything unless your heaters are fighting that change.

It is wierd Barry - with my 210 my temp was driven by room temp, any change would show with my tank temp. I unplugged the 500w heater "just in case" but may unplug the other tonight as a little test.

When I open my canopy when I come home I can feel the heat come wafting out. I have a large fan on the sump that comes on a full degree before the chiller kicks in but shows no change in the 1 week since I hooked it back up. looking at the temp graphs I can see that the chiller is coming on each hour for approx 10 minutes, more when the daylights are on. It isnt hot enough outside for the chiller to come on that often so I want to try to "help it out" all I can without just relying on it.

Crewdawg1981;630704 wrote: I considered cutting two holes in the top of my canopy for all of 2 seconds because that would be the easy way to remove heat... but then I'd have spotlights on my ceiling...

So far the 4" thermo controlled icecap fans I bought from Robb are doing the trick. My tank gets down to 77.5-9 at night, but hasnt been getting above 79 during the day since I added the fans (just two) and I'm running 3 250 watt MHs

I thought about the light show on the ceiling as well and want to avoid that.

I looked for the icecap fans but they show as a discontinued item

Edit:

grouper therapy;630722 wrote: I would put vents(not holes with out covers) in the top of the canopy since the heat will rise any way on it's on. I'm not a big fan of blowing salty air over my lights and reflectors. I also don't understand mixing the hot air that has risen to the top of the canopy and mixing it with the cooler air at the surface of the water . For heat removal it is far more efficient to pull the already hot air in the top out than to mix it and try to force it out with positive pressure. Pull your attic stair down and take a look up for an example.
I prefer to use fans for evaporative cooling in the sump area away from my lights and reflectors. If salt on your fans is of concern like with Barry then I would forgo fans and just let the heat escape from the top to each their own.

these work well
http://www.bestlouver.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=33&osCsid=nnvpnpa48djh4vnj2psbfh0u02">http://www.bestlouver.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=33&osCsid=nnvpnpa48djh4vnj2psbfh0u02</a>[/QUOTE]

This is a perfect suggestion Dave and I think I am going to go this route and am going to order these later today - it is a 6 ft x 2 ft tank - go with 4 or 6?

Now, to find someone qualified to come and put the holes in my canopy (hink, hint...wink wink) - I dont have the tools, dont trust myself (already screwed up my light rails inside the canopy), and I spent a great deal of money on my stand/canopy and would be absolutely sickened if it got screwed up.....I have money though

 

[rjrgroup]

Hola Gary, what time ya getting home? Have drill, will work for $...

 

[crewdawg1981]

If you do end up having Louvered vents installed in your canopy let me know. I'm digging the ones that Dave posted the link to, just want to avoid having grill marks from the vents on the wall or ceiling.

 

[rjrgroup]

I just remembered that I have some awesome small 12v "hamster wheel/ squirrel cage" style fans with flexible ducting. The are super quiet and low cfm so they should be perfect to simply vent air out. What do you think? I'm thinking that the super low cfm would be just enough to force the hot air out without cooling the surface temp tooooo much. The flex duct is at most 1" dia. It even has pretty black anodized end caps...

 

[gnashty]

Crewdawg1981;630789 wrote: If you do end up having Louvered vents installed in your canopy let me know. I'm digging the ones that Dave posted the link to, just want to avoid having grill marks from the vents on the wall or ceiling.

I ordered 6 of them today so ill let you know how it goes Grant.

Sorry Randy - I already have Dave coming over for the install. Gonna be a little bit of time for shipping.

I have a 14" hamster style fan now (took it out of a 50" plasma) and it is also low cfm but has a nice wide sweep it. It is sitting in the floor next to my tank..lol, might be part of my problem haha. I might try to incorporate it into the louver project. I like the idea of not having to plug in another peice of equip....Im maxed out at 28 plugs spots all being fully used, 20 of them controllable. Although I still have 2 more PC4's you traded me but 32 running plugs off one outlet is scary to me..I did upgrade the breaker to a 20 amp but thats all I did.

 

[rjrgroup]

gnashty;630900 wrote: ..I did upgrade the breaker to a 20 amp but thats all I did.

 

[rbredding]

I have two fans from coolerguys on my canopy... they're less than silent..

 

[gnashty]

rjrgroup;630905 wrote:

I doubt I know what Im talking about, my neighbor did it...

That face makes me nervous!!

 

[rbredding]

gnashty;630940 wrote: I doubt I know what Im talking about, my neighbor did it...

That face makes me nervous!!

<span style="font-size: 16px">yeah.. um... put the 15A back.. (RIGHT NOW!!)</span>

you can't upgrade a breaker, it's the wire that would have to be upgraded..

too much current on that wire (like an extra 5A) could cause it to overheat and melt the shielding, causing it to arc, trip a breaker, start a fire (probably somewhere in the wall or an outlet box somewhere)...

that's the kinda stuff that burns houses down.. (LIKE A LOT!!)

 

[rjrgroup]

Hold on, don't worry yet. Check the wire size...if it's 12/2 you should be fine. If it's 14/2, do you have insurance? :unsure: Have you figured your amperage? The odds are you should be fine...either way. I'm a little worried about the chiller though. What size again? Can you not run a line under your stairs to the garage?

Rbredding;630942 wrote: <span style="font-size: 16px">yeah.. um... put the 15A back.. (RIGHT NOW!!)</span>

you can't upgrade a breaker, it's the wire that would have to be upgraded..

too much current on that wire (like an extra 5A) could cause it to overheat and melt the shielding, causing it to arc, trip a breaker, start a fire (probably somewhere in the wall or an outlet box somewhere)...

that's the kinda stuff that burns houses down.. (LIKE A LOT!!)