interesting canopy fan hood hum...

d28 boy · 01-27-2004, 09:11 PM

greetings,
Well I took the plunge and bought the AH Supply 4x55 to light my 55gal. At the same time, I "carved" 2 holes in my hood for fans(much to my wife's chagrin!). I found the 80mm pc case fans that have been recommended in outher posts, and a nice boy at radio shack helped me with the wiring schematic to add an AC adapter(all of this went well and worked, by gosh

So upon finishing installation of lights and fans and returning the hood to the tank(picture cardinal tetras with shades), I noticed that while the fans are very quiet in and of themselves, they seem to be "resonating" my wooden hood like a musical instrument at a very nasty frequency. I have tried various screw loosening and tightening and a cushy piece of foam at each contact point, but the hum prevails. Please help as my wife thinks I was crazy to cut venting holes in our beautiful canopy in the first place!
On a different note, I have been pleased with AH Supply and the 4x55 bright kit. Quick and professional with good setup instructions, and oh man!, Buck was right 'bout them reflectors!

**GDominy** · 01-27-2004, 09:18 PM

I have this problem whenever I use cheap fans (IE fans that using bushings). Go track down some quality Ball Bearing fans. R@dio Sh@ck is probably not going to be the best place to do this.

There are a number of 80mm case fans that will do the trick, just make sure you get really quiet ones. You can check computer stores that sell mod'ing equipment for altering computer cases or ordering online. www.thermaltake.com make some great little fans in a variety of colours and styles.

Ptahkeem · 01-27-2004, 11:48 PM

hi d28boy
just out of curiosity but how close are the 2 fans you are using? it could just be that, like you stated, theyre resonating with each other creating the hum you hear. if thats the case then i dont know what you can do. you might try running the fans together outside of the canopy to see if they still hum on their own. if they do then like gdominy said you might want to look into a better brand. personally the best and most silent brand ive come across is Papst. the fans are expensive though coming in at around $20 for a nice 80mm fan. otherwise you can go with a little cheaper route via vantec stealth fans which are both decently quiet and cheap. this all depends though on what you want, ie amount of air flow and noise. i decided not to cut holes in my canopy and came up with some nifty fan holders that i will be attaching to my canopy soon.

d28 boy · 01-28-2004, 03:00 AM

thanks for the replies. i ordered a pair of the vantec stealth fans earlier today. will post back with results.
as well as an audible hum in the room, i noticed that if i put my ear to the glass, the hum is, of course, reverberating through the tank and this seems like an undesirable and definitely unnatural amount of noise pollution in the water. with the fans off, it is very quiet, just sounds of gurgling bubbles!! any thoughts on this...brian

Rex Grigg · 01-28-2004, 03:07 AM

It sounds like you may have torqued the frames of the fans a bit when you installed them. That's the voice of experience speaking.

Ptahkeem · 01-28-2004, 05:13 AM

Another thing I just thought of is to get some rubber gromets and install those in between the fans and the canopy. The gromets will just act to absorb some of the shock. It probably wont help much but hey computer guys use em and it works for them. Good luck with those vantecs I have a pair and theyre pretty good for the money. I have 2 80mm vantecs running off of a 500mA 12V ac to dc adapter.

Daemonfly · 01-28-2004, 05:43 AM

The Vantech stealths are pretty quiet, and would most likely last longer than the Radio Shack fans.

You said it's slightly vibrating the tank, so it could be like Rex mentioned, you slightly torqued the frame upon mounting.

When you used the foam, you probably only used it between the fan & wood. The vibrations would still travel through the screws themselves unless you put a cusion between the screw & fan.

Wait for the Stealths to come in and see how those work for you.

01-27-2004, 09:11 PM	#1
d28 boy Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: arcata, california Posts: 57	greetings, Well I took the plunge and bought the AH Supply 4x55 to light my 55gal. At the same time, I "carved" 2 holes in my hood for fans(much to my wife's chagrin!). I found the 80mm pc case fans that have been recommended in outher posts, and a nice boy at radio shack helped me with the wiring schematic to add an AC adapter(all of this went well and worked, by gosh So upon finishing installation of lights and fans and returning the hood to the tank(picture cardinal tetras with shades), I noticed that while the fans are very quiet in and of themselves, they seem to be "resonating" my wooden hood like a musical instrument at a very nasty frequency. I have tried various screw loosening and tightening and a cushy piece of foam at each contact point, but the hum prevails. Please help as my wife thinks I was crazy to cut venting holes in our beautiful canopy in the first place! On a different note, I have been pleased with AH Supply and the 4x55 bright kit. Quick and professional with good setup instructions, and oh man!, Buck was right 'bout them reflectors! __________________ 55 gallon - 4x55watt power compacts fluval 404 - pressurized co2 - cardinal tetras - SAE's - pleco - platys - corys - amazon swords - crypts - anubias - spirall val

01-27-2004, 09:18 PM	#2
GDominy Planted Tank VIP (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Victoria,British Columbia, Canada Posts: 3,276	I have this problem whenever I use cheap fans (IE fans that using bushings). Go track down some quality Ball Bearing fans. R@dio Sh@ck is probably not going to be the best place to do this. There are a number of 80mm case fans that will do the trick, just make sure you get really quiet ones. You can check computer stores that sell mod'ing equipment for altering computer cases or ordering online. www.thermaltake.com make some great little fans in a variety of colours and styles. __________________ Gareth

01-28-2004, 03:00 AM	#4
d28 boy Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: arcata, california Posts: 57	thanks for the replies. i ordered a pair of the vantec stealth fans earlier today. will post back with results. as well as an audible hum in the room, i noticed that if i put my ear to the glass, the hum is, of course, reverberating through the tank and this seems like an undesirable and definitely unnatural amount of noise pollution in the water. with the fans off, it is very quiet, just sounds of gurgling bubbles!! any thoughts on this...brian __________________ 55 gallon - 4x55watt power compacts fluval 404 - pressurized co2 - cardinal tetras - SAE's - pleco - platys - corys - amazon swords - crypts - anubias - spirall val

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01-27-2004, 11:48 PM	#3
Ptahkeem Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 164	hi d28boy just out of curiosity but how close are the 2 fans you are using? it could just be that, like you stated, theyre resonating with each other creating the hum you hear. if thats the case then i dont know what you can do. you might try running the fans together outside of the canopy to see if they still hum on their own. if they do then like gdominy said you might want to look into a better brand. personally the best and most silent brand ive come across is Papst. the fans are expensive though coming in at around $20 for a nice 80mm fan. otherwise you can go with a little cheaper route via vantec stealth fans which are both decently quiet and cheap. this all depends though on what you want, ie amount of air flow and noise. i decided not to cut holes in my canopy and came up with some nifty fan holders that i will be attaching to my canopy soon.

01-28-2004, 03:07 AM	#5
Rex Grigg Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (65/100%) Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland Orygun Posts: 9,600	It sounds like you may have torqued the frames of the fans a bit when you installed them. That's the voice of experience speaking.

01-28-2004, 05:13 AM	#6
Ptahkeem Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 164	Another thing I just thought of is to get some rubber gromets and install those in between the fans and the canopy. The gromets will just act to absorb some of the shock. It probably wont help much but hey computer guys use em and it works for them. Good luck with those vantecs I have a pair and theyre pretty good for the money. I have 2 80mm vantecs running off of a 500mA 12V ac to dc adapter.

01-28-2004, 05:43 AM	#7
Daemonfly Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 355	The Vantech stealths are pretty quiet, and would most likely last longer than the Radio Shack fans. You said it's slightly vibrating the tank, so it could be like Rex mentioned, you slightly torqued the frame upon mounting. When you used the foam, you probably only used it between the fan & wood. The vibrations would still travel through the screws themselves unless you put a cusion between the screw & fan. Wait for the Stealths to come in and see how those work for you.