Fans again... How loud is 41 db? Where are the quiet fans?

[rikacarl]

I have been looking through pages & pages of search for the quietest fan. I found this: http://www.hosfelt.com/Fans/115vac.htm and I was looking at the NMB "low noise" boxer fan. But is 41 db really all that quiet? I am not impressed with radio shack fans. Too noisey IMO. Any one found a really good quiet fan that moves a lot of air? I am worried that I wil end up with fans like my friend has, his tank sounds like a it is ready for flight when the fans come on.

-carl

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know the answer.

I'm planning on building a hood in the near future and I was going to ask Leonard why he didn't recommend the IceCap 4" fans.

http://www.reefscapes.net/equipment.html

po

 

[SPC]

This is what I know about these fans. First of all that 41db is loud compared to some. Having said that they are all loud if you ask me . I have tried the radio shack fans, a fan that was only 28db and now have an Ice Cap, you can hear them all. Most people will tell you that the other noise they have associated with their tanks, skimmers, over flow, sump etc... drowned out the noise of the fan. IMO the fan makes a different kind of noise and therefore just adds to the noise level.
The Ice Cap fan is built for marine environments and therefore I like it for this reason. As far as the thermostat goes, I don't think it matters. I have found that in order to cool like it is meant to it needs to run wide open, so the variable speed part makes no difference IMO.
Steve

 

[Brad]

I've bought some really, really quiet 100 cfm 5" fans. Just check my past posts either here or at reef central on them. Gl

 

[rikacarl]

Brad, could you help us out a little more? I clicked on your profile and all your posts do not show up.
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/search.php?search_author=Brad

The two 4" fans that came with my Hamilton hood have been pretty good, but they are about three years old. They say Globe Motors on them. I just cleaned all the salt out of them and I can barely hear them now from 6 feet away. Maybe I will ck to see what replacment fans are availble from Hamilton, but I'm sure at a highly marked up price. With so many reefers looking for a quality fan, I am surprised there isn't more out there to choose from.

 

[Brad]

try reefcentral it hass all the info

 

[Polo]

I currently use 4 of the 120v 4" fans from Radio Shack, 2 on each end of my canopy. I really don't see how you can say they are noisy. You must have very acute hearing. I have been very satisified with mine.

 

[rikacarl]

Maybe something was wrong with the radio shack fan I had. It was awful loud. Now that I think of it, it would hum. Maybe the bearing was bad.

 

[shellshocked]

I see this question over and over again. I used two DC fans from a PC power supply. I purchased an AC-DC converter (the kind that plugs into the wall) from Radio Shack that has a slide switch to vary the voltage from 0 to 12V. You can adjust the speed of the fans and hence the noise by adjusting voltage. My fans runs silently.

 

[purple_tang2001]

Try these places, they sell sell pc mods, but they have some good 120mm fans,


http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/fansandmore.html

www.coolerguys.com

http://www.casecooler.com/

 

[goofyreefer]

I was thinking of getting a, or some, 12vdc squirrel cage fans or blowers and mounting them inside the stand then just run some flexible tubing to where I want to direct the air. The idea just came to me when I saw them so take it for what it is.

 

[Brad]

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/sh ... adid=25945

This is the thread.
GL

 

[reefmack]

http://www.icecapinc.com/access.htm

and be sure and read this article in regards...
http://www.icecapinc.com/fanarticle.htm

 

[Len]

I don't know the answer.

I'm planning on building a hood in the near future and I was going to ask Leonard why he didn't recommend the IceCap 4" fans.

http://www.reefscapes.net/equipment.html

po

Two very simple reasons:
1. They aren't "super quiet" as Icecap claims. Any 4" fan that produces 112 cfm is not going to be quiet, no matter how you engineer it. I guess I'm a little peeved at being mislead into buying this expensive fan.
2. The variable potentiameter is an useless feature, especially if you have halides in your canopy. I hate to think that $20-30 of my money went into paying for this gizmo.

It's not a bad fan, per se. For $40 though, it's a horrible buy.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding Leonard. I figure the info on this thread has saved me $40-60dollars in future purchases. That a fan is pretty much gonna be on all the time after the MH's come on is something I wouldn't have considered come purchase time. I'm thinking now of following shellshocked's tip and getting a slide switch AC-DC converter.

again, thanks
po

 

[suckair]

Quite fans..

Well the sleve bearing fans are the quiet ones however they will fail within a year or so. When they start to fail they get loud.

I use ball bearing Sunon fans and use a "celing fan" speed control avi at any hardware store to turn down the fan speed. I still get great cooling and air flow, but the fans are very quiet. The best part is the ball bearing fan won't fail!

You can't use a dimmer you have to use a fan speed control! Dimmers work on resistance and speed controls work on inductance.

good luck

 

[npaden]

I have 8 of the orion fans - OA109AP-11-3 51CFM at 25cb - mentioned in the thread linked above from reefcentral and I think they are very quiet. I got them from allied electronic for $14 each. There was a little vibration noise but I used some felt stick pads that you would use to put under a chair leg on wood floors and this has made them nearly silent. I think they do meet thier rated decibel rating of 26 db and the 50 cfm is decent airflow.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[reefmack]

the easiest way to quiet any of these types of fans is get a strip of rubber (thin, best with 3m tape on one side to hold in place while drilling). place the rubber strip along the backside of the fan (or on the canopy where the fan edges will sit) before you drill it into place in your canopy (covering all 4 holes - so basically you drill through the fan holes, the rubber strips that are covering them, then into the wood). vibration = nill, noise = almost silent (until they get old - but that rattle is inescapeable) :roll:

 

[DBW]

Try ceiling ventilation fans, such as those used in bathrooms and kitchens. The ones we get here are so much more quieter than any of the smaller 10cm computer type of fans. And they can move some serious amounts of air too. Smallest size is 20cm, and other is 25cm.

 

[Jaynorris]

I use the IceCap 4" variable speed fans, so far they are the quietest fans I've used so far. I also like the way the fans speed varies according to the hood temp. They are a little expensive but IMO are worth it, besides what isn't expensive in this hobby?