light fan

[hillk]

I have a Nova Extreme T5 HO and the fan runs 24/7 even when the light is off and cool. It has it's own plug in as well. Is that normal? Should not the fan cycle off when it is cool?

 

[scsinet]

I'm not familiar with this fixture, but if it has moon lights, then what you are seeing is probably normal.
Moonlights and fans both run off a 12 volt power supply in the unit, and since it has dedicated plugs (to allow you to use timers), they manufacturer just runs the fans all the time because it's cheaper than building a separate power supply.

 

[hillk]

Okay thanks

 

[daninct]

You make sense. But has anyone successfully rewired this unit to have the fan run only when the lights are on? I don't want to run the fan 24/7 and unplugging the fan separately each nigh is a pain compared to just turing off the switch.

 

[scsinet]

Almost all of the time, these fixtures use one power supply to run both the lights and the fans, with the switches between the power supply and the lights/fans.
The only way to make this work would be to add a separate power supply for the fans, and tying the primary power of this supply back to the cord for the main lights. This is an awful lot of work, and in most cases, is not worth it. Just to put it in perspective, I have a shop filled with suitable power supply parts, and I've never bothered.

 

[daninct]

I agree. I will work out something else like a power strip for combined on off ease.

 

[sflasurfer]

how about using a timer?

 

[daninct]

Yes, someone else emailed me the same idea.