Coralife 2x18w Pc Aqualight Mod

[holokai]

Hi All,
I've recently set up a new tank (you can read all about it here)

I purchased a Coralife Aqualight, and I'm pretty disappointed with the heat that the ballast is throwing off. It raises my tank temperature from ~80 to 83F in about an hour and a half. This is unacceptable, so I plan to do something about it. I'm just not sure what yet!

My favorite idea so far is to take off the plastic sides (they're attached with only 3 screws) and install two small computer fans on each end. I think this would really dissipate the heat from the unit. I think once I've opened it up, I can snag the wires from the ballast and splice on the fans (and some sort of converter, I'm sure) no problem.

I'd like this to stay self contained and as professional looking as possible, as the tank is in my office and they're already worried about having a five gallon tank.

Anyone have any thoughts about this? My biggest concern is the electrical part of this. Thanks for any input!

- Chris

 

[anodized]

in the big standard coralife lights there's a 12v transformer for the fans built in,
not sure how you'd fit that into the smaller light, but it sounds like an interesting idea. i have one of these lights on my 3.5g and it does the same thing.

some other alternatives might be to put a heatsink on top of the light or drill holes in the casing to allow passive cooling. fan sounds good too just wonder if you can find one small enough

 

[holokai]

in the big standard coralife lights there's a 12v transformer for the fans built in,
not sure how you'd fit that into the smaller light, but it sounds like an interesting idea. i have one of these lights on my 3.5g and it does the same thing.

some other alternatives might be to put a heatsink on top of the light or drill holes in the casing to allow passive cooling. fan sounds good too just wonder if you can find one small enough

Computer fans, my friend, computer fans! They're tiny and silent (sometimes). The problem as I mentioned is that I'll need to jam a transformer(?) in there too. Not sure how packed this thing is. Maybe I'll open it up during lunch.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[holokai]

I popped the case open, and there is plenty of room for a transformer and whatnot. The wires are all easily accessible too. I was impressed with the amount of heat flowing out of it when I took the side off. I may try running it with the side off to see if that helps.

I do have one question though - is the tank temp getting that high because the ballast is that warm, or because the light is so bright? What I'm trying to ask is if I get the temperature of the light fixture itself down, will that in fact improve the temperature of the tank?

Thanks!
- Chris

 

[anodized]

thats a good question. i would suggest raising the light up 1 inch and putting a fan on it for a few hours, just near it before doing the mods. then you will know if its radiant heat from the lights or direct heat from the light