On Sep 25, 10:59 am, ClownPleco wrote:
Hi all,

The other night I was trying to replace the bulbs (straight 4-pin 65
watt) and the endcaps pretty much crumbled in my hands. I have found
replacement endcaps on-line. In the meantime, I went back to my old
tube florescent bulbs. The tubes were silent as compared to the
compact fixture. I'm sure it is the fans.

1) Is it normal for the fans to make that much noise. They are
similar to computer fans, which also make some noise.

2) Would I be crazy to just remove the fans - would the bulbs get too
hot and create all sorts of dangerous problems.

3) Any suggestions for quiet lighting - looking for 110+ whats for my
54 gallon Corner tank. I'm thinking about looking into an LED
fixture, but my guess is that they are pricey.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Snap the fan covers oput and the fan comes out with the cover. Pull
the cover apart that encloses the fan.no tools needed. The fan is
enclosed bwetweena lower and upper grill assembly. Clean off the lint
and accumulated dust with a Q tip "dry". If necessary use alchohol and
a q tip to clean if dirt does not come off easy.........Try fans and
see if they make noise. If they do, locate the round label on the fan
assembly. Peel that label off. It will expose the sleeve or bearing
end of the armature. Using a tooth pick topick up a drop of oil use
some 3 in 1 light oil or sewing machine oil to put a single drop of
oil on the armature sleeve / bearing. You can also use synthetic 2
stroke oil typically used to mix up for chainsaws and string trimmers
to lube the shaft. Do not apply more than a single drop as it onlyb
takes a dab to dothe job, and excess oil will casue premature failure
of motor of the fan....just a single drop from end of the tooth pick
will do the trick. Press back the round label or if it will not stick
just apply a pieceof masking or scotch tape over the area and snap fan
back into the upper and lower grill and snap back intothe light
housing assembly. Nice and easy to do and no tools needed. Your right,
the onlythng that really makes a noise is the fans as the ballast is
electronic and is not capable of making a noise like the old magnetic
ballasts did. The light assembly needs those fans or your risking
burning up the ballast , due to heat buildup. You can also buy better
grade of fans as the fans used by Coralife is as cheap as they
get..but most times a bit of lube oil does the trick for a few more
years until they need to be relubed again.

You do not even want to jknow how much a comparable in par/ wattage
output a totally LED light assembly would cost as compared to
florescents. Power compacts are not the best way as they do loose the
correct color spectrum with age (typically 9 months to a year or so )
and then really need tobe replaced. The best route is T5 lights, and a
sinlge 15 watt T5 is equal to approx a 34 watt PC bulb output, plus
the bulbs are cheaper to buy abnd last a lot longer as
well..........but to get best results from T-5 you do need the proper
prismatic reflectors.