Rapid Damage of Tank Fan

Boekhtiar · 05-14-2004, 11:42 PM

Is there anyway to protect the tank fan from rapid damage by the salt deposit? I've just bought this fan 2 months ago and last week I tried to clean the salt deposit around the fan. When I turned it back on, my surge protector to the aquarium burst into flame. After trying to find out the short-circuit of the wires, I found out that most of the negative charged copper wire has totally rusted. After removing the rusted part, I tried to reattach them back properly but to no avail. I decided to open up the fan and I saw that the circuit board on the fan itself is encrusted by salt crystals. http://boekhtiar.tripod.com/thoughts...ation/id6.html Anyone-else has this same knd of problem with their fan? Thank God I was at home when the fan had the problem, if not my house might have burned already...

Geoff · 05-15-2004, 12:20 AM

salt water at copper do not go well together. there is not any real way to fix the problem. SW will always get into the windings of fans. it is a good idea to use low voltage fans instead of full voltage around the aquarium. this is another reason why GFCI's and surge protectors should be used on any line going to or near the aquarium.

G~

Doug1 · 05-15-2004, 12:39 AM

not to mention, positioning them so that they blow in and not draw salt laden air out, if you can rig some ducting like used for dryer vents here in the us and mount the fan remotely from the canopy thats even better

Boekhtiar · 05-15-2004, 03:36 AM

I'm thinking of coating the exposed wire with silicon glue for the next fan that I'm going to buy. Is this a good idea? And I think the culprit is the fact too many bubbles are produced by my protein skimmer and hence too many of them bursted on the surface. Even though with the fan on, some of SW managed to reach the fan. Hmmm... too many bubbles (without presence of high nitrate or nitrite): is it a tell-tale sign of another hidden problem with the tank ecosystem or the products that I used?

Geoff · 05-16-2004, 12:29 AM

some skimmers release a lot of bubbles into the system. what kind of skimmer is it? maybe you can adjust it so it does not relaease so many bubbles.

there is not way to completely seal the motor windings on these fans. most peoplel use the brushless computer fans because their winding are encased a lot better than a normal fan. plus they are low voltage like said before.

it is a good thing that those bubbles burst on the surface. that means the surface of the tank is relatively clean. i fit was covere with a lot of organics than the bubbles would stay on the surface a long time.

G~

Phishnoob · 05-17-2004, 11:32 PM

I am thinking of potting with something like a Dupont DP-100 epoxy. This stuff will dry in 20 minutes and adhere for good and add extra layers.

I already tried hot glue but it does not seal well enough and if the wire is flexed the salt gets in the seam.

Boekhtiar · 05-17-2004, 11:57 PM

To think of it again, I will just ignore the damages to the fan and add it up as a liablity and maintainance cost of the marine tank management. Maybe Hocum's Razor will apply in this case. Buy the cheapest fan that you can get (around 10 US Dollar) and just change it if it stop working properly. Messing around with the thing that's beyond your control will just add up the maintenance cost and more anxiety to people with anxiety trait. Yes... I think from now on that's what I'll do.