[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Fan noise in CustomSeaLife ABS hoods



>Michael Rubin wrote:

>I recently purchased a 36" CustomSeaLife ABS hood with a pair of 24" PC
>6700K bulbs and an internal fan, and the plants in my 50gal really
>appreciate the 110w.  However, the hood produces a high-pitched whine >that
>is driving us nuts.  The fan itself is nearly silent, but there's some >sort
>of resonance occurring within the hood.  I've explored this with the LFS
>that sold me the hood, and they all do it - not just mine.  We tried
>dampening the reflector and mounting the fan on isolators, but so far
>nothing has helped.

>Has anyone faced this challenge before?

My hood makes the noise at startup, but once the fan is at full speed
the pitch is gone.  Mine is a 72 inch hood, with 4 bulbs, so the volume
of the fixture is bigger which affects resonance frequencies.
Anyway, last week I noticed that the fan made more noise than it used
to.
Cleaning the foam air filter at the other end of the hood cut the noise
dramatically.
You could try to reverse the fan, either electrically or physically, and
see what happens.  You would loose the benefit of the air filter and you
most probably void your warranty.
CustomSealife says that it is not absolutely neccessary to run the fan. 
It will, however affect the life of the bulbs and the temperature of the
water.  I notice a 2-3 degree increase, WITH the fan running.
For your information: my bulbs are 2 x 6700K and 2 x 7100K Blue (150
gallon tank)and, yes, the plants love the light.  But beware, algae like
it even more. It looks like I'm getting the overhand (only hair algae
left to cope with) but I've reduced the light cycle from 12h/day to a
mere 8h/day and I'm growing a whole bunch of floating plants to reduce
the light even further.  It's simply too bright for my tank.
Question: why did you put 24" bulbs in your 36" fixture?

Johan Henckens
johan at mmdg_org