Powercompacts & noisy fan

[James]

I just bought a 36" powercompact/moon-lite combo light system.
It has this noisy computer fan at the end of it to keep the inside fixture cool. What would happen if I decide to disconnect the fan???? would it melt the housing?, shorten the life of the lights, or is it there to reduce heat on the tank?

The bulbs are:

1 - 10,000 daylight, 1 ultra-actinic, and 3 moon-lites

[Reefland]

I don't think it would melt the housing unless it was made from Ziploc baggie plastic. Mainly the fan it to help reduce heat to the tank so I would say you could cut it off; of course monitoring it closely for the first could of days. Another option is to replace the fan with a quiet one; I really like the IceCap's!

Scott Z.

[James]

I found that its not the fan that is making the noise, its the air passing through the tube shaped housing. I'll cut out the fan and monitor the temp. of the tank.
I'll be using this light on my new 50gal tank that I'll be setting up next week. The new tank comes with a stand and canopy. I'm thinking of taking the insides out of this fixure (lights and ballast) and mounting them in the canapy, sure hope it works, then may be mounting some fans in the back of the canapy to keep it cool. hopefully this will stop the wind tunnel effect I'm hearing. If not, the store that sold this light system suggest drowning out the noise with some classical music while admiring my new tank. They'll say anything to secure a sale.