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Another DIY project!
Thankx for sharing..!
Recently, I DIYed a small tank with an acrylic hood.
I have added 3 x 8W T5 Normal Output tubes to the hood, and also a small DC fan to pull hot air out. But I realised that the heat from the lights is very intense and it heats the water from 26C early morning to 28C late afternoon, even though I have an Iceprobe running on this tank.
Hence I was thinking of adding an AC fan (the type sold at Sim Lim Tower) to the hood, but I'm worried about the noise as this tank is now operating silently beside my study table.
Comments?
Another DIY project!
Thankx for sharing..!
It looks cool! Nice work with the switches on top of the hood.
How about some holes on top of your DIY hood? More DC fan?
cheers,
kolite
bro, maybe you can try to get those fan with ball bearings? Should be less nosier
Hi Bezz,
Good job! I've solicited the idea of an DIY thread/section few days ago, you've got great potential to be part of this special interest group (SIG).
A question/comment about your hood... does it have other inlet/outlet vents apart from the fan hole on the top? You need to look beyond just by adding more fans. Perhaps a few ventilation holes can improve it's overall air-flow which may in turn change the ambience temp inside.
since all of you seem so interested, here's some pics of my attempts at a DIY nano chiller for my marine tank
This design didn't work out as it wasn't powerful enough to cool the tank much... I have a problem with getting the suitable heat exchanger as the salt water in marine tanks corrode almost anything
So i decided to hook up my Iceprobe (that I'm using on another tank) on this tank. I tried the following design first
But its too bulky for placing behind my small tank on my study table so I redesigned it and came up with this
As it stands, my tank hood is currently in this shape
I still need to tidy up the wires and everything else (i know). But spare time is a commodity that I do not have the luxury of as I work long hours... So it'll be slow.
Hi Alan,Originally Posted by alanyeo99
Yes, I did consider cutting a few vent holes in the hood light compartment because I built the lights compartment to be air tight from the main tank to prevent salt from corroding the lights. But I think the problem lays with the current 12V DC fan I am using. I underpower it with only a 9V adaptor, as running it on a 12V adaptor would be too noisy for me (I'm very particular about noise when I am doing stuff at my computer), so it spins silently but also very slowly.
Hence, I think i'll try an AC fan first before making more holes. The advantages of using an AC fan is that I can power the fan and lights using the same power plug doing away with the 9V adaptor for my current fan. I just hope the AC fan is not noisy...
BTW I have lots of problems with DIY as I don't have the proper tools. I think if I have a DREMEL I could have cut the time of construction by at least 1/2. But a set of DREMEL cost a bomb (region of $300) in SG while they are only selling for about US$50 in US
I'm only using the fan to reduce the hotair built-up in the light compartment so as long as there is a exhaust fan its ok.
More fans will only serves the same function as that compartment is air tight and seperate from the main tank.
cool...thanks for sharing.
Hi bezz, Hmm.. just pluzzed, if your light compartment is air-tight and with your exhaust fan drawing hot air out, where's the in-flow of air. If there is an additional fan to fill in that post, that may reduce the heat with better air flow.
Wonder, does the tubes's lifespan gets shorten when constantly under high heat.
Agreed...DIY comes with some investment on tools (or better still, a friend who has it!
cheers,
kolite
Yeah, I guess next step will be to get some vent holes in the light compartment.Hi bezz, Hmm.. just pluzzed, if your light compartment is air-tight and with your exhaust fan drawing hot air out, where's the in-flow of air. If there is an additional fan to fill in that post, that may reduce the heat with better air flow.
Wonder, does the tubes's lifespan gets shorten when constantly under high heat.
Agreed...DIY comes with some investment on tools (or better still, a friend who has it!
why dont u put 2 fans? one blowing air in and one blowing air out? but ur design seems to only allow 2 fans to be placed side by side, wonder whether the air flow will be gd enough not.
Bezz, you are an engineering genius, great stuffs you sharing with us here.
Before you cut/drill those holes, you may want to try this first. Raise the hood...say 1cm above the tank top. Use a couple of erasers/wood/or anything that can temporarily hold the hood up. This is to allow air to flow into the hood area, while the fan continues to suck out (the warm) air. This experiment is to determine if the ambience temp will drop to your expectation. Use a thermometer to check before & after effect.
Cheers,
Have been busy past week.
But I managed to isolate the cause of the over heating. Its the micro 250L/H Ocean Free powerhead I was using to increase water flow. I have removed it and added another outlet for my return pump to compensate for the flow and temp now is a cool 25-26 (with my Iceprobe running)whole day.
I will post some pictures soon, when I have time off my busy work schedule
bezz, are you able to disclose the nano DIY chiller setup for non-salted??
I think you can find all info you need on this thread:
Click Here
great job
thanks bezz!
Artificial Intelligence
Impressive Bezz, really respect people who DIY their stuff. I'm always giving myself excuses like no time, not techical enough, very lazy blah, blah. Keep up the good work
Something about the water & the fishes that calms me down.
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