Who Makes quite hood fans. Mine are too noisy. Update-Pics

[Anonymous]

I have two of the 3" (or maybe 4", can't remember, not at home to check) computer fans that I bought at radio shack. They make a fairly loud high pitched whining noise. I believe they are louder now than when first installed, though I could be imagining this.

Are the IceCap fans really as quite as claimed, or any other brand?

Thanks in advance for your replies! :wink:

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I have the 4" Icecap fan with sensor. Normally it is not loud but when it gets hot it whines as well. I would just get some of those cheap clip on fans. They are quiet and can be plugged in with your light timers so they only run when the lights are on. You could get four or five clip ons for the price of one Icecap. Plus they are easier to direct.

 

[danmhippo]

Are those fans you have ball bearing or sleeve bearing? Ball bearings usually are much quieter then the sleeve bearings. And more stainless steel balls the better.

 

[Enkidu]

I've heard that ball bearing fans aren't necessarily quieter than sleeve bearing fans. I've also heard that they tend to get much louder with age.

Generally speaking, you want to get larger fans, as they don't have to rotate as fast to push the same amount of air as a smaller fan. The icecap fans are nice and big which is why they are probably quieter. They also have the speed sensing capability, which adds to that quiet effect. IceCap fans also have titanium parts which resist corosion in our harsh salty environments. Its really hard to justify the price though. If you want to go with computer fans, I'd recommend Panaflo 120mm fans. They are larger than a 4" icecap, and quite a bit cheaper, though you have to provide a 12V DC line to power them.

BTW, most panaflo fans use some sort of hydro-bearing technology, and are probably the quietest fans you can get.

 

[Anonymous]

Anemone said:

I would just get some of those cheap clip on fans.

Do they make a clip on fan that would fit behind by hood? The hood is 6" tall. The ones I have seen, and the one I have over my sump are to large to go behind the hood. My tank sets about 4-6" off the wall. The current computor fans are in the hood, flush with the back.

Are those fans you have ball bearing or sleeve bearing?

I dunno. I'll look at the closely tonight and see if I can determine which they are.

Louey

 

[SPC]

I have tried 3 different brands of fans and currently have the Ice Cap. It is quieter than the radio shack, but not by much IMO. The major selling point for them is they are built for a marine environements and I have not had a problem with mine in 1.5 years (and have spilled Bi-onic and salt water in it :wink: ). But as mentioned above, if you are looking for a real quiet fan I sure haven't found one yet.
Steve

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
A quiet fan is a dead fan. For $20 a pop, you don't expect them to balance the fan blade etc. to make it as quiet as possible.

The noise can get worst if you mount it directly on the canopy that acts like a sounding board. Some people use rubber gamets to "suspend" the mounting screw in addition to making sure the fan is not touching the wood directly.

 

[Marcosreef]

I have tried 3 different brands of fans and currently have the Ice Cap. It is quieter than the radio shack, but not by much IMO. The major selling point for them is they are built for a marine environements and I have not had a problem with mine in 1.5 years (and have spilled Bi-onic and salt water in it :wink: ).

I too have the IceCap fan. Did some research and found that www.comairrotron.com is indeed the manufacturer of them. The are the Muffin DC series, and use their ThermaPro-V temp control system.

The trick to using fans with high cfm's (IMO) is to purchase/make a fan speed controller and adjust the speed to a more tolerable level.

Marco

http://www.comairrotron.com/dcfans/MuffinDC.htm

http://info.digikey.com/T023/V5/0924.pdf

 

[rikacarl]

Louey,
You said... " I have two of the 3" (or maybe 4", can't remember, not at home to check) computer fans"

Did you check? I have used both of the radioshack 3 & 4 inch fans, and the 3" is much, much louder than the 4". Righ now I have three 4" fans on the back of my hood and I can't really hear them at all.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you check? I have used both of the radioshack 3 & 4 inch fans, and the 3" is much, much louder than the 4".

They measure 3-1/4" including the casing. So I guess they are 3"


I can't tell if they have ball bearings or sleeve bearings?

Marcrosreef- How do you make such a controller?

 

[Anonymous]

Those clip on fans can be found in places like Staples, Walmart, and stores like them. They sell for around 10 bucks and are made in 3-6(maybe 8) inch diameters. The clips usually have rubber on the ends of the clips to protect what they are clipped to and to lessen the vibration.

 

[Fishbreath]

I'm a big fan of this thread.
I have a very quiet fan for my lights but it took a little work. I got one of those personal fans like you see in people's office at work. They're about 8 inches in diameter, ususally too big to fit under the canopy, but they are very quiet. I put this fan under the tank and directed the air up the back of the tank using the wall as an air deflector. I then placed a rectangular piece of plexiglass up high on the wall just below the top of the canopy to deflect the air (which is rising up the wall) away from the wall and into the back of the canopy. I used wide masking tape to hold the base of the plaxiglass deflector to the wall while the top of the deflector leans away from the wall to contact the canopy. It makes a 45 degree deflector. Simple, quiet, lots of air flow.

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Fishbreath Posted: 26 Oct 2002 09:34 Post subject:

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I'm a big fan of this thread.
I have a very quiet fan for my lights but it took a little work. I got one of those personal fans like you see in people's office at work. They're about 8 inches in diameter, ususally too big to fit under the canopy, but they are very quiet.

I didn't give this much thought at first. Then decided to try it and viola, one $6.97 clip-on working just fine and it is quite!

Take a look:

 

[Anonymous]

The large blades move more air than the two computer fans combined. I think the temperature dropped a 1/2 degree too! The two computer fans are still in there now. They are blocking some of the flow. So it should be even better once I remove them. And I have done nothing to try to direct all of the airflow into the hood.

Lesson learned here today "keep it simple, stupid".

Thanks Fishbreath!

Louey

 

[wildbill]

Give us a close up of your tank please.

Bill

 

[Anonymous]

wildbill Posted: 26 Oct 2002 22:56 Post subject:

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Give us a close up of your tank please.

Bill

Well, allrighty then:

 

[Anonymous]

Bonus picture:

 

[Anonymous]

That was the exact fan I was thinking of.

 

[Anonymous]

ANEMONEBUFF Posted: 27 Oct 2002 09:10 Post subject:

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That was the exact fan I was thinking of.

And a special thanks to Dan for being the original poster of this idea.

Louey

 

[SPC]

Tank looks real nice Louey! I cringe however when I see those mushrooms 8O :wink:
Steve