Quiet fan for lights

[fish fry]

Hey guys,
I've been having problems with my PC, ballast. I spoke with the manufacturer Custom SeaLife who informed me that the average ballast should last about 5 years. Of course I wasn't using the cooling fan which can cut their life in half.
The fan that came with them is extremely loud. What type of fans do you use to cool your ballasts? Are there any silent ones? It is supposed to be a relaxing hobby and the sound of the fans...urgh so annoying.
Thanks
Tom

 

[chocochipper]

If you can handle the noise of the fan in your computer you could try one or two of them. Fairly cheap and readily accesible at most computer shops or radio shack. Just make sure that you get one that is for 120 volts since I'm going to assume that yours are now. I've got CSL pc's too but without the fan. I wasn't too happy that they mount the ballast in the hood itself. Sooner or later I'll be making it a remote ballast to help keep as much heat away from the tank as possible.

 

[mal]

Go to radio shck and get a pc hard drive fan. They cost about 15 bucks, the get and in-line fuze, 2 bucks, and a power adapter that is closest but over the amperage that the fan draws, 9-15 bucks.
When you hook it up at home you cut off the adapter end of the adapter, wire in the in-line fuze, and then wire it into the fan. Plug it into the timer with your lights, and it will come on when your lights do. Make sure you use wire clamps and cover the whole splice. You can black tape over it then if you want.
The radio shack guys know how to do this. They told me how. They also have lots of different sizes of fans to pick.

 

[mr . salty]

I just got a couple of small personal "desk type" fans and hung them under the canopy..They were like 5bucks a piece and have worked flawlessly for about six months now.One runs continually.The other is timed to come on with my MH's....10 bucks vs 40-50bucks,,,,you decide which is best for you....

 

[von_rahvin]

i wounder if i can post a website that has non fish stuff on it. well i'll try, go to www.pricewatch.com and look under case fans. that will give about 100 places to choose from. i just bought 8 fans for my hood and it only cost me $16. it depends on how slick you want to be. i had a 175 comp power supply hiding in my closet, so i just plugger it in, did so soddering (sp) and now i have fans in my hood.

 

[master of all the reefs]

i use 3 inch computer fans on my tanks. almost no noise at all.

 

[jeff903]

I just recently got a new fan for my canopy. Go to radio shack and look for the fans, they have assortments of them in different sizes. On the package for the fans it tells you how loud they are on the back...look for where it says dB (decibels). The lower the better. They are all DC powered so you'll have to buy an AC adapter/converter. They fan that I got, which was the quietest, was $12 and the converter was $12.