Light fixture cooling fans....

[Lonewolfblue]

I was thinking of pulling the cover off my Odyssea 260W fixtures and putting either 2 large or 4 medium sized holes in it and putting on some cool looking PC cooling fans. But what I'm wondering is can I use the same wires that the current fans are using? Will it be enough juice for larger fans, or do I need to do something else? I'd like to put the fans in the top of the fixture, and disconnect the noisy ones that are in the end, which some of the fans are no longer working. They don't spin.

[roka64]

I would tend to think the fans at the ends are designed specifically to be more effecient on removing the heat. If you put them in the top, this may effect the heat removal (plus possibly overheating the wire insulation...). As for larger fans, I THINK you would have to check what kind of wattage/amperage/volts are already built it.....I think you should wait for a more experienced person for advice, since I am not an electrician....these are just my thoughts....

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, the fans in the Odysseas are very poorly designed, and would have better cooling with the fans in the top. And the fans can't be replaced either, from what I hear. I have 1 fixture where the fans don't turn at all.

[roka64]

Originally Posted by Lonewolfblue

I have 1 fixture where the fans don't turn at all.

Sounds like the ball berings are worn out or stuck. Can you stick something in there to try to get them moving again?

[maxwell1295]

If you need a replacement, a PC case fan should work best. I'm pretty sure that's what they use...only they use cheapies. Drop a Sunon fan in there and you'll be much happier.

[tropicalfish]

What is the voltage of the fans already in there? PC fans run on 12 volts DC.

[jsoong]

What you need to do is to pull out the old fans to look for any markings on V & Amps. Then all you need to do is replace with appropriate fans.

Failing that, you can trace the wire back to its power supply. If there is a transformer, you should be able to read the V & AC or DC ratings. If the wires are connected directly to the power outlet, then you are looking at 110/120V AC (note that if more than one fan is connected in series (rather than parallel), then you will need to divide 120 by the number of fans in series).

If you are experienced in electricity, you can measure the output with a voltmeter on the live wire. WARNING: you can electrocute yourself if you don't know what you are doing running you meter on live circuits (esp. with CF ballasts around, you can be dealing with way more than 110V AC)!!!!!

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by roka64

Sounds like the ball berings are worn out or stuck. Can you stick something in there to try to get them moving again?

Yes, I did. They spin freely when you turn them, but it's like they don't have enough power to turn the fan. You can spin them with a tooth pick, but then they just slow down and stop.

Originally Posted by maxwell1295

If you need a replacement, a PC case fan should work best. I'm pretty sure that's what they use...only they use cheapies. Drop a Sunon fan in there and you'll be much happier.

The fans are pretty small, and is 2 fans in a single unit. From what I heard from other people, there is no replacements, and PC fans are too big to fit in there. But I'm going to look around at different places for fans that I think might work.

Originally Posted by tropicalfish

What is the voltage of the fans already in there? PC fans run on 12 volts DC.

Not sure. I haven't opened any units yet.

Originally Posted by jsoong

What you need to do is to pull out the old fans to look for any markings on V & Amps. Then all you need to do is replace with appropriate fans.

Failing that, you can trace the wire back to its power supply. If there is a transformer, you should be able to read the V & AC or DC ratings. If the wires are connected directly to the power outlet, then you are looking at 110/120V AC (note that if more than one fan is connected in series (rather than parallel), then you will need to divide 120 by the number of fans in series).

If you are experienced in electricity, you can measure the output with a voltmeter on the live wire. WARNING: you can electrocute yourself if you don't know what you are doing running you meter on live circuits (esp. with CF ballasts around, you can be dealing with way more than 110V AC)!!!!!

First I'm going to remove the fans to see what theratings are. When I was in the Navy, I went through Bassic Electricity and Electronics school, but that was many years ago. So I do understand working with electricity. Just kind of rusty, lol. I worked in Weapons Department on a particular weapon system, so I've had my share of working with all the types of test equip. But that was my main reason for posting, I'm a bit rusty, lol.

[maxwell1295]

I haven't measured mine, but I think they may be 30mm fans:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=573

If not, they could be 40mm fans:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=573

I really don't think they're any bigger than that, but I didn't measure them either. I just eyeballed them and figured it had to be one of these sizes...

[maxwell1295]

I took the model number of the fans on my 260w/48" Odyssea unit. Here is what I came up with from a Google search (translated from Chinese):
http://translate.google.com/translat...004-49,DVXA:en

Basically, it's a 40x40x10mm fan. I'm 99.9% sure that a 40mm CPU fan would be a direct replacement.