coralife fan repair

Frankie

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
I would open it up and start to inspect it. Post some pictures as you go if you can.
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
chrome91 said:
i was thinking, would something like this work if i aimed it into the hole of the broken fan? not this exact fan, but i have to go to big als anyway for legs for the light (light only came with 2 and i need 4) and they probably have something like it

JEBO Aquarium Fish Tank Multi Fan Cooling System New @@ - eBay (item 310076620701 end time Aug-24-08 12:18:47 PDT)
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Do not expect to find much more than a small computer box fan in the hood. It is not uncommon for the manafacturers to use the small fans used for cooling computer CPU's for cooling fans. They are available online for about $5 or less, and for about $10 anywhere computers are repaired. They are typically only 1.5" to 3" in diameter and use 12 or 24 volts.

If you happen to have a small box fan laying around, for a temporary fix, just lay it on top of the fan hole with it blowing away from the hole not into the hole.
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
i emailed the guy i order stuff from and he said he has a small Torin fan (resembles a PC fan) with a 10ft power cord he built himself for $7 (i believe its in a small box). i have a order for him coming wednesday (live rock and a peacock mantis) so i figure blowing the fan at a angle should cool it pretty good. he said he could order me a replacement coralife fan but knowing me i would bugger up the light somehow replacing the fan and i was hoping to throw some corals in by thursday and i dont want to risk the light catching fire or melting by running it with only half the fans running, so rather than waiting for a replacement and risk buggering the light im going with the Toran fan route

thanks for the imput!
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
The fan should be used to pull cool air over the bulb and reflector, that is why the fan should pull air out of the fan hole not blow into the hole. You need to work with the natural convection flow, not against it. The natural process of nature is for the cool air to come up from the bottom to replace the air that is heated and rising up and out of the hole. It is best to work with the laws of nature and physics not try to fight them by trying to cool by blowing the air against the natural air currents. Or simply put, hot air rises, so help the process with a fan, do not try to fight the natural process, but supplement it instead.
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
fatman said:
The fan should be used to pull cool air over the bulb and reflector, that is why the fan should pull air out of the fan hole not blow into the hole. You need to work with the natural convection flow, not against it. The natural process of nature is for the cool air to come up from the bottom to replace the air that is heated and rising up and out of the hole. It is best to work with the laws of nature and physics not try to fight them by trying to cool by blowing the air against the natural air currents. Or simply put, hot air rises, so help the process with a fan, do not try to fight the natural process, but supplement it instead.
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ahhh k. someone else told me its a easy fix too so i put a local ad up to see if someone could repair the current fan/replace it
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
lucked out, a guy called me and said he would do it. all its costing is about $30-$40. 2 40mm fans are $20, and he said if the light requires alot of work (saudering, etc) $20 max. if its minimal work, $5-$10 for labor
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
chrome91 said:
lucked out, a guy called me and said he would do it. all its costing is about $30-$40. 2 40mm fans are $20, and he said if the light requires alot of work (saudering, etc) $20 max. if its minimal work, $5-$10 for labor
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Not a bad price. I would have figured on paying parts and a half rack of beer. :apint:
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
he fixed it. turns out the one side had no fans or even wiring. he tapped into the previous fans wiring, and hooked up the new fans. new fans blow more air than the old ones
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
You are going to talk to BigAlCa about that aren't you? Sounds like some one has found a very unsafe way to increase profit through lowering of production costs. Unless it was used and repaired previously by a very lame aquarist or an unethical repairman.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Before you get too carried away make sure there is a FAN in that side. I have that fan as well and even though it's wired and designed for fans on that side it doesn't have them.

I have a direct contact with coralife if you need the information PM me.

Allen
 
chrome91

chrome91

Member
fatman said:
You are going to talk to BigAlCa about that aren't you? Sounds like some one has found a very unsafe way to increase profit through lowering of production costs. Unless it was used and repaired previously by a very lame aquarist or an unethical repairman.
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not sure, theres a chance someone had the light before me. but the opened the light and said there is absolutely no wiring or anything. before, the light got so hot it could easily have melted the contents. light was $75 as is, but it doesnt make sense that the wiring and broken fans would have been removed
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Like I posted above.. I have that unit (cost considerably more though) and it has the "Fan Covers" (grills that snap onto the fans themselves) but this one comes without the right hand fans. There is an upgraded one with more lights that has all 4 fans.

I also had one of the fans fail early on and ran my unit with one fan only for at least 2 months. Coralife replaced BOTH fans for free.
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
I knew a lot of corallifes equipment was not top shelf material, but one fan? That is stupid when you consider at their volume it would only be a matetter of maybe $2 or $3 in production cost. I can buy fans that size on line for three dollars. And that is buying one at a time.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
There are (2) fans but they are both on same side. Check out his original link and you can see there are room/openings for (4) fans. With that said they are small fans indeed but I did operate my unit with only one fan for an extended period of time (at the suggestion of the less than trust-worthy vendor "SeaCorals"). Even in that case you're still right in that it was be very inexpensive to go ahead and have all the openings filled with fans. Not a good short-cut at all.

I monitored fixture temps and even though there was a slight increase in the unit temps it never really got "Hot" to the point I couldn't hold my hand on it. It was much warmer than I would have liked but it never got to the point I felt like it was dangerous.
 
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fatman

Has been struck by the ban stick
Not likely so much a safety issue (fires) as an issue of reduced life span of the electronic ballasts. A lot of electronic ballasts get replaced every year even with better circulation. Outer orbit had a problem with their T-5 units burning up ballasts, and there fixtures are considered equal or better than the Coralife lights at that level. I do believe they used a minimum of two fans.
Some times no matter what we pay I wonder if we get what we pay for. The aquarium industry puts out a lot of substandard products.

If I remember right the last thread on a burnt out ballast posted on this forum said the ballast was pretty much melted. Yeah I think it is a safety issue for all high intensity lights with electronic ballasts located in the fixtures themselves. However, I have never heard of the consumers protection group or Ralph Nader getting involved with the aquarium trade products. And people trashed the cheap Chinese made Odyssey lighting as catching fire. Actually I am planning on buying a few dozen. Rewire them and add another fan or two and they will e as good as as good as American labeled lighting such as Aqualight Pro, or Outer Orbit.

Do we even make any Aquarium lighting any more. Oh thats right we buy Chinese component/parts and have them assembled in Mexico and label them as American products. I just read even our major plastic industries are nearly all moving over seas.
 
Varga

Varga

Well-Known Member
BigAl is right, there are no fans on the right side. the holes on the right suck the air into the fixture, while the 2 fans on the left push it out. I have the same light. it just stopped working while my cheap Chinese light live on :D
 
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