Kessil

Best place to mount fans

I added 2 more bulbs to my T5 retrofit. The canopy is a lil warmer and the temp went up 1.5 degrees. I plan on getting some case fans and hooking it up to a AC controller

Where's the best place to mount fans? I have a slim canopy and only have enough room for 80mm fans for the sides. On one side to pull in air and the other side to push it out. OR I can get some 120mm and put 2 of them in the top to pull the warm air out.

I'll have them turn on when my lights go on and turn off a lil bit after lights are off. Thanks for your suggestions! :)
 
When I was faced with the same question most people did not put 1 in and 1 out, you essentially waste a fan. if you create postive pressure, the air will go out without assistance from a fan. Without seeing you canopy, if you can have a fan or two fans blow air across the bulbs/ reflectors that would be idea, but the main thing is to get enough circulation so cool air is always coming in.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if I'd want 2 fans on the sides. If I have 2 fans on the top pushing air in would that work? I have an 2" opening slit in the back of my canopy where air can escape.
 
I think pushing air across the bulbs would be better; hot air tends to go up so if you plan on placing them on top, they should pull
 
after reviewing many forums, the consensus was that fans pulling air out were no good. the evaporation and stuff with it would make the fans pulling that out would make those fans fail sooner.

it is good to use natural air pressure and heat rising to vent the canopy. so always have fans blowing in, and have the same surface area vent holes/slits on the top of canopy if you have a closed canopy. if you have an open back, than just have all fans blowing in across the bulbs. (i have also heard that you could just blow air across the end caps instead of the entire bulb, so people have used eggcrate on the open back, and mounted the fans with zip ties to those, plus, the eggcrate keeps jumpers in)
 
I disagree and have used fans pulling for over 10 years. One tank still has it's original fan. I prefer to have the air pulled over the water rather then across the bulbs. Cooling bulbs too much changes color and shortens the life of the bulbs. They need a certain level of heat to work properly, MH especially.
 
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out. The same as Jimmy says in his post.

I found this post from the IceCap sponsor in RC. This seems the same placement as what Gresham suggested.
 
GreshamH said:
I disagree and have used fans pulling for over 10 years. One tank still has it's original fan. I prefer to have the air pulled over the water rather then across the bulbs. Cooling bulbs too much changes color and shortens the life of the bulbs. They need a certain level of heat to work properly, MH especially.
+1
I would place the fan to push out as well. Also to add to what Gresham said about over cooling. T5s when cooled to much will produce much less par then if they are cooled correctly. The cold end of the bulb (side with the label) from what I remember should be about 110-120 degrees F. When I tested with a par meter I got about a 30 percent increase from over cooled bulbs to correctly cooled bulbs.
 
sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out. The same as Jimmy says in his post.

I found this post from the IceCap sponsor in RC. This seems the same placement as what Gresham suggested.


RC = take with grain of salt IME/IMO. I usually look at the posters post history (not count) to see if they're talking out the *ahem* :)

Just giving my opinion and experience. Others millage may vary but nothing changes that fact about cooling bulbs too much.

I also prefer to get evaporative cooling from my tank by allowing the air to get pulled over it. twofer ;)
 
GreshamH said:
sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out. The same as Jimmy says in his post.

I found this post from the IceCap sponsor in RC. This seems the same placement as what Gresham suggested.


RC = take with grain of salt IME/IMO. I usually look at the posters post history (not count) to see if they're talking out the *ahem* :)

Just giving my opinion and experience. Others millage may vary but nothing changes that fact about cooling bulbs too much.

I also prefer to get evaporative cooling from my tank by allowing the air to get pulled over it. twofer ;)

Hehe, I think a sponsor would know what works best for their product. :p I'll stick with 1 fan on the top pulling air out and see if it cools tank/canopy down.
 
sfboarders said:
GreshamH said:
sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out. The same as Jimmy says in his post.

I found this post from the IceCap sponsor in RC. This seems the same placement as what Gresham suggested.


RC = take with grain of salt IME/IMO. I usually look at the posters post history (not count) to see if they're talking out the *ahem* :)

Just giving my opinion and experience. Others millage may vary but nothing changes that fact about cooling bulbs too much.

I also prefer to get evaporative cooling from my tank by allowing the air to get pulled over it. twofer ;)

Hehe, I think a sponsor would know what works best for their product. :p I'll stick with 1 fan on the top pulling air out and see if it cools tank/canopy down.

Sorry but I was not talking about Icecap but rather this first part of your quote (or course the vendor knows their product best)

sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out.
;)
 
GreshamH said:
sfboarders said:
GreshamH said:
sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out. The same as Jimmy says in his post.

I found this post from the IceCap sponsor in RC. This seems the same placement as what Gresham suggested.


RC = take with grain of salt IME/IMO. I usually look at the posters post history (not count) to see if they're talking out the *ahem* :)

Just giving my opinion and experience. Others millage may vary but nothing changes that fact about cooling bulbs too much.

I also prefer to get evaporative cooling from my tank by allowing the air to get pulled over it. twofer ;)

Hehe, I think a sponsor would know what works best for their product. :p I'll stick with 1 fan on the top pulling air out and see if it cools tank/canopy down.

Sorry but I was not talking about Icecap but rather this first part of your quote (or course the vendor knows their product best)

sfboarders said:
Well I just went to a bunch of RC archives regarding fan placement, a good amount of the people who post say to have the fans push the air instead of pulling air out.
;)

I was just playing with you since you are also a sponsor. Thats why I stuck my tongue out. :D
 
But I don't know their products all that well... but one of my long running fans that is pulling out is one of theirs :)
 
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