Cooling fan help...

[Jnicho]

My daughters nano runs 86+ degrees during the day so I thought I would put a fan in the hood.

So this is where I need some more help...I found a bunch of old computer fans laying around, but they are all 12V. On the one hand that's good as I think DC fans are much quieter than AC. However, I'm not sure how best to hook it up. I probably have a DC adapter in the basement that has 12V output, but I really wanted to wire something in direct that would turn on and off with the lights. Any ideas without getting too complicated?

[Wiskey]

What I do is get a power supply (I call them power bricks) that puts out betweeen 9 and 12V,.. Lower for less noise,.. higher for more air flow. Then I simply plug the power supply into a power splitter that is plugged into the timer that controls the lights. This way when the lights come on it fires up the fans as well.

Whiskey

[jph]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

What I do is get a power supply (I call them power bricks) that puts out betweeen 9 and 12V,.. Lower for less noise,.. higher for more air flow. Then I simply plug the power supply into a power splitter that is plugged into the timer that controls the lights. This way when the lights come on it fires up the fans as well.

same here! works like a charm! my tank actually runs cooler when the lights are on

but that will change as soon as the summer heat hits us


J.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by jph

same here! works like a charm! my tank actually runs cooler when the lights are on

but that will change as soon as the summer heat hits us


J.

For you and me both,.. all my tanks run at an upper end of 81 right now,.. but I know that as soon as summer hits I will have to do something.

Whiskey

[hng]

I have my fans wired so that I can have one or both of them on. They are set on their own timer independent of the lights.

[Jnicho]

Thanks guys...I'll go that route...I know I have a bunch of extra AC/DC adapters in the basement. I kinda wanted something that would be small and fit inside the hood that could be wired directly to the lights (maybe a capacitor or something???), but this will work fine...Thanks again!