Glass cracked...

[RobG]

Just got back from out of town for three days to notice that the fans that cool my JBJ PCs were not running. I lifted up the light fixture to notice that the glass canopy over the tank had cracked (very badly). I am assuming it was from the heat.

I cleaned all the salt that had caught in the fans and they're running again, but I'm concerned. Salt creep is a fact of life, so I have to assume the fans will stop again.

Should I get the legs that hold the fixture a couple of inches higher over the canopy? How will that effect the light output in the tank?

Should I remove the canopy? That will increase my evaporation & salt creep into the fixture without a doubt.

Any ideas? How do you guys/gals with PCs handle this?

Should I just never go out of town again?

Rob

[SCETT316]

I have the JBJ pc's. I use the wire attachement to hang them from the ceiling, that way I can adjust the height.

[Emperator]

Why don't you lift the light fixture up an inch or two. This will solve the heat buildup issue (more airflow) and it will be harder for the salt creep to get into the fans.

I would also suggest you periodically clean out the fans, not only does it prevent the fans from seizing but will also help them last longer.

[RH]

I am using a JBJ 4 x 55 fixture with the stands. I think raising up the light will increase the covered area and decrease intensity at the same time. So, I took away the glass canopy to have more direct light into the tank. You can see the difference on the coral when u remove the glass! Evaporation is OK on my tank after glass removed. The stands are sitting on the rim of the tank. I have an All-glass tank and the rim is too wide for the slot of the stand. I use some plastic strips as rails for the stands and double-sided tap them on the rim. So, the fixture won't fall into the tank with a push from the side. The fixture is next to the return of my Ramora C skimmer and it make some salt creep on the protective len. But the fans are clean.

[RobG]

I got the legs for it that hold the fixture about 2 inches higher (give or take) and I must say that I HATE the way it looks now. With or without the glass canopy over the water, the light intensity is not even close to what it used to be. (But I have to agree, RH, that removing the canopy does help, but still not the same as before)

Maybe I'll just buy a second pair of fans and install them at the other end of the fixture -- that way they shouldn't all die at once and the glass shouldn't crack.

Grrrr... I should have listened and bought MH to start out with...

[fishguy_8]

pssshhh light weight! the glass on my tank itself cracked now THAT is a headache..... sorry to hear about your misfortune bud. if you do decide to go mh you can always just use the jbj's as actinics i hear lots of people doing that. keep it in mind.
Jon

[billzie]

I had this problem a while back. I needed to keep the lighting directly on the glass as well as keeping the glass itself. I had the glass shop order me a 1/4" piece of tempered glass to fit, no problems since. The tempered was double the price as reg glass, so why are tempered glass aq cheaper than a reg glass aq? Bill.