Need a little advice on cooling.

[sra_chipmunk]

I am in the process of building my stand and canopy setup and I am stuck on witch fans I should use in the canopy. Its for a 75 gallon reef. I am debating on wether or not to have an open or closed back on the canopy. I will have a PC with all actinic bulbs, and 2 MH's.

Whats your personal recomendation on a good cooling fan setup?

Thanks in advance.
Tom

 

[dannybradley]

You'll do fine with either setup. Try to create a postive airflow through your canopy. If you get all the air moving in an orderly fashion you'll get more effecient cooling. I think this is better achieved with a closed back rather than an open, but you'll probably be fine either way.

Set it up with intake on one side and exhaust on the other. If you just get hot air circulating you won't cool nearly as much as removing hot air. Just think of how a computer is built.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

ok, I used the search feature of this site like a mad man today and I think I may have come up with a good setup but I am pretty new to this so I would like opinions on this.

will 4 or 5 of these fan's http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SH-12-High-Speed-pr-3771.html">http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SH-12-High-Speed-pr-3771.html</a>

and have them all wired into one of these [IMG]http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html</a>

work out for me? Is it possible to wire 4 or 5 fans into on of those AC to DC Adapter, 110v AC to 12v DC converter's?

This is what I have come up with so far.

 

[cameron]

Your hsould not have one fan blowing in and one fan blowing out. If you do this, the fan that pulls/pushes the most air will be the total air pushed into a closed canopy and you might as well just have one fan. Better to have two fans blowing in or out (in is better in a saltwater tank) and open ports somewhere in the canopy where the hot air can be pushed out.

The best setup IMO (and this depends somewhat on lighting design) is one or more fans on each side, closed back and two or more ports cut into the top. That is extremely effecient cooling.

 

[dannybradley]

Cameron, will we ever agree on anything ? I like to control how air moves through a system rather than hope there's enough natural venting around the canopy.

I guess it really does come down the setup. I have one tank running that has 2 x 400w HQIs running inside a fully closed canopy with that fan setup and it has never had a heat problem.

Your top exhaust fan idea is definite improvement on the straight through design, if the design allows for it.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Danny, How is Cameron's design not controlling how air is moving? He is not asking for "natural" air movement. He is venting the canopy two allow the two fans to puch more air into the canopy. It is the physics of air flow that shows that you should have both fans moving into the canopy.

 

[cameron]

If side a blows in at 20cfm and side b blows out at 18cfm what is the total air flow in the canopy assuming it is sealed? Answer 20cfm. Same scenario with both fans blowing in and a port, answer 38cfm. Pushing and pulling inside the same sealed space is highly ineffecient and really impractical. So if you are going to do the push pull thing, might as well ditch side b fan make it a port cause you will get the same flow with or without that fan.

Also, blowing in is better since that draws less saltly air in. Blowing salty air out causes the fan to be subjected to more corrosive elements.

In no way do I think I am wrong on this and I also don't think it is subjective. Fans should either point in or out with a port or open space for air to enter/escape. It is simple greenhouse design and in salt tanks I think blowing in is much preferable to out.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

I will have all the fans blowing in outside air into the canopy so the air flow will be all one direction. But my question still remains,

will 4 or 5 of these fan's http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SH-12-High-Speed-pr-3771.html">http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-12...d-pr-3771.html</a>

and have them all wired into one of these [IMG]http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html</a>

work out for me? Is it possible to wire 4 or 5 fans into on of those AC to DC Adapter, 110v AC to 12v DC converter's?

 

[wbholwell]

chipmunk, I'm with you on having multiple fans on one side ot the canopy blowing air in- that's what I did with my canopy. You'll more than likely only be able to fit three 120mm fans on one side, though. Have you measured? Also, the fans that you've provided a link to seem pretty noisy- 3 or 4 fans at 40 dB might not be pleasant.

The coolerguys powersupply should work fine, but you'll probably have to remove the molex connector. Or you could use any 12V power supply, as long as it provides enough current (amps) to power your fans (i.e. 3 fans at 0.5 A = 1.5 A).

 

[sra_chipmunk]

wbholwell;128086 wrote: chipmunk, I'm with you on having multiple fans on one side ot the canopy blowing air in- that's what I did with my canopy. You'll more than likely only be able to fit three 120mm fans on one side, though. Have you measured? Also, the fans that you've provided a link to seem pretty noisy- 3 or 4 fans at 40 dB might not be pleasant.

The coolerguys powersupply should work fine, but you'll probably have to remove the molex connector. Or you could use any 12V power supply, as long as it provides enough current (amps) to power your fans (i.e. 3 fans at 0.5 A = 1.5 A).

Well I just said 4 or 5 at the max. I dont think it will take that many to cool my canopy.

As far as removing the molex connector, once I cut that, how will I be able to attach it to a plug so that I can plug it into the wall? Im not any good with wiring but if I have direction and some pictures, I can manage to make it work.

 

[skriz]

Cameron is right here. Have both fans on the same "side"

 

[wbholwell]

sra_chipmunk;128209 wrote:
As far as removing the molex connector, once I cut that, how will I be able to attach it to a plug so that I can plug it into the wall?

No, leave the plug alone. The molex connector is your output, and will be wired to the fans. Take a look at the image below. Wire all positive terminals of the fans to the +12V terminal, and wire all negative terminals of the fans to the GND terminal. Leave the +5V terminal alone.

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[sra_chipmunk]

I think I see now. Will I be able to wire up 3 fans on the "ONE" http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html</a> ?

I think if I splice all the fans together, I would be able to get them into one plug.

Also, would 3 fans a 40dB be to loud? Or would I be better off getting this fan [IMG]http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12BL-12-Low-Speed-Ball-Bearing-pr-3772.html">http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12BL-12-Low-Speed-Ball-Bearing-pr-3772.html</a> ? If flows only 45CFM but is only 24dB

 

[wbholwell]

sra_chipmunk;128225 wrote: I think I see now. Will I be able to wire up 3 fans on the "ONE" http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html">http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html</a> ?

I think if I splice all the fans together, I would be able to get them into one plug.

Also, would 3 fans a 40dB be to loud? Or would I be better off getting this fan [IMG]http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12BL-12-Low-Speed-Ball-Bearing-pr-3772.html">http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12BL-12-Low-Speed-Ball-Bearing-pr-3772.html</a> ? If flows only 45CFM but is only 24dB[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I would definitely get the more quiet fans. And you won't have any problem using that power supply. The fans draw 0.3 A each, and the power supply provides up to 2 A, so it could theoretically power up to six of those fans.

 

[wbholwell]

FWIW, I bought two of these when they were on sale;
http://www.alliedelec.com/Search/ProductDetail.asp?SKU=592-0260&SEARCH=&MPN=OA109AP%2D11%2D1TB&DESC=OA109AP%2D11%2D1TB&R=592%2D0260&sid=479D1B001BBCE17F&tab=reviews#tab">http://www.alliedelec.com/Search/ProductDetail.asp?SKU=592-0260&SEARCH=&MPN=OA109AP%2D11%2D1TB&DESC=OA109AP%2D11%2D1TB&R=592%2D0260&sid=479D1B001BBCE17F&tab=reviews#tab</a>

I thought 37 dB wasn't too loud, but they're much louder than I would like. Also, I had to add a dimmer switch to them to slow them down a bit- they were actually producing more airflow than I needed. I've got them reduced to approximately 60% flow, and that's more than enough to keep my 72 bowfront with T5's cool.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Thanks Bryan, you have been a big help.

 

[cameron]

I love my Vantechs and you can also get one of these for more noise/fan control:

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

Keep in mind cheap fans usually mean cheap bearings. The higher quality the fan the longer it will run and more importantly the longer it will run quiet. Cheap fans often are fine for a while but will usually wear out faster and get noiser long before the wear out.

 

[cameron]

Oh and as someone pointed out, you simply add up the number of amps a fan runs and you multiply by the number of fans. This number should be less than the amps of your power source by a 20% or so. You can also use a lower power supply on a fan to get more life and queiter operation, but it will spin slower. Some people opt for a 9V power supply on a 12V rated fan. It will decrease the speed by about 25%, but will also increase the usual life of the fan. Lastly larger fans generally do more with less electricity to some degree.

As for placement... IMO not as important as getting even flow into the canopy. Good news is, you blast air in from the outside and thermaldynamics does a lot of work for you. Just keep in mind heat rises so pulling into the canopy low and exhausting high is the best design.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Cameron;128282 wrote:
As for placement... IMO not as important as getting even flow into the canopy. Good news is, you blast air in from the outside and thermaldynamics does a lot of work for you. Just keep in mind heat rises so pulling into the canopy low and exhausting high is the best design.

Thats the design I had planned on doing. I was going to have one fan on both sides blowing outside air into the canopy and have vents on the top of the hood for the exhaust.

 

[navyreefer]

Rather than getting a controller I went with the IceCap fans. A high on the price but it works very well and a lot less to mess with.

Link: