AI Prime Fans after 3D reefing diffuser

[Zakary2003]

I recently bought an AI prime 16hd for my new nano tank. After a few days I noticed there were very harsh shadows and an annoying discoball effect so I bought a 3D printed light diffuser from 3D reefing. This has done wonders to improve the visuals of the light, but the fans are now running nonstop! I run all spectrums except for cw at 60%, with cool white at 100%. Should it be on constantly? Do I need to remove the diffuser? Would the light melt if I manually lowered the max fan speed or would the light give me a warning and/or auto dim first?

 

[blaxsun]

Myself, I wouldn't tinker with the fan speed as it may lead to other heat-related issues. Without knowing what intensities you're running your lights at it would be hard to give any good suggestions beyond turning them down a bit and running a condensed schedule (neither of which may resolve your issues).

 

[Zakary2003]

Myself, I wouldn't tinker with the fan speed as it may lead to other heat-related issues. Without knowing what intensities you're running your lights at it would be hard to give any good suggestions beyond turning them down a bit and running a condensed schedule (neither of which may resolve your issues).

Is the intensity the same as what percentage the lights are set to? I said in thr original post: 100% for the cool white lights and 60% for the others (blue, violet, UV, deep blue, red, green).

 

[TokenReefer]

I get the appeal of diffusers but I wouldn't box in anything that needs to be cooled without adding cooling. Messing with the fan that cools it, could be trouble obviously, especially lowering the speed. Care to show before and after pics so we can see the difference (and Guage thier worth). I run ai 16s fwiw

 

[Zakary2003]

I get the appeal of diffusers but I wouldn't box in anything that needs to be cooled without adding cooling. Messing with the fan that cools it, could be trouble obviously, especially lowering the speed. Care to show before and after pics so we can see the difference (and Guage thier worth). I run ai 16s fwiw

Unfortunately I don't have an orange filter or anything for good comparison pictures. It really doesn't come across as any different in pictures or videos on my phone camera, but the difference in person is very noticeable

 

[TokenReefer]

Can you maybe mount a fan above the diffuser in a pull configuration? Sounds like it'd be bulky as I'm typing but idk how else to remove the heat... It'd make the unit fan run less/slower. They make silent fans.. Just spitballin

 

[EricR]

Interesting. I just ordered 2 of these diffusers earlier today so we’ll see. Following…

 

[blaxsun]

Is the intensity the same as what percentage the lights are set to? I said in thr original post: 100% for the cool white lights and 60% for the others (blue, violet, UV, deep blue, red, green).

Depends on what app you're using. Under Mobius you have individual channel intensities and an overall schedule intensity, but I don't know if that also works for AI lights (or just EcoTech). Adjusting the intensity of the LEDs will reduce heat/fan load, but I don't want to tell you to just do that since this could have an impact on your reef (not sure what corals or PAR you're running).

 

[EricR]

How often was your fan running before you installed the diffuser?
I suppose holding in a little extra heat makes sense but a lot of people seem to use these diffusers without problems.
100% CW and 60% on all the rest of the channels seems like an odd "mix" for a reef tank but to each his/her own there.

I run only 40% of the BRS recommended LPS settings (for 2x AI Primes on my 40 gallon tank) and barely ever notice my fans running but I don't have the diffusers yet.

These are my peak intensities only for reference and I'd expect the overall heat generated to be similar but who knows:

 

[Zakary2003]

Yeah it is a bit of an odd mix but the par readings are alright for my softie and LPS mixed tank and I'm coming from the freshwater world so I like having a white tank. I'm sure that will change when I get some more florescent corals but my current corals don't look any better under blue.

 

[Hooz]

The diffusers don't contain much heat. They don't block any of the factory airflow paths, and even the diffuser sheet is vented to prevent heat buildup.

That being said, I ran diffusers on all 6 of my Primes for years, but recently ditched them all. They cut PAR output and light spread quite a bit, and removing them allowed me to turn down my intensities, all while reducing heat and gaining PAR and spread.

It took a minute to get used to the shimmer without them, but I don't even notice it now.

 

[marinesnow]

Try adjusting this setting, it'll allow the fan to turn on and off based on the internal temperature. I use it on mine along with a diffuser I printed (similar design), and have had no issues since I did it 2 months ago.

 

[Zakary2003]

Just a quick update for anyone else having this issue:
After searching online and through other forums, I found that the reason for the excessive fans was that the white and UV lights being set too high. Those two produce a lot more heat than the other spectrums apparently. Running the Saxby preset fixed the issue and now the fans rarely go above 20%

 

[MrGisonni]

It's the whites. I run 16s with diffusers and have never had that problem. My CW channel maxes out at 36 for about an hour at my "high noon". I also run a modified zaxby schedule. My lps and softies are growing well and my sps are growing a bit slower.

 

[dr_vinnie_boombatz]

The diffusers don't contain much heat. They don't block any of the factory airflow paths, and even the diffuser sheet is vented to prevent heat buildup.

That being said, I ran diffusers on all 6 of my Primes for years, but recently ditched them all. They cut PAR output and light spread quite a bit, and removing them allowed me to turn down my intensities, all while reducing heat and gaining PAR and spread.

It took a minute to get used to the shimmer without them, but I don't even notice it now.

Thanks for calling this out! I have my Prime mounted 8" off the water but with a diffuser too. Tried taking it off and the spread is so much better per par meter. I never had a disco ball effect but it had removed the shimmer, which I actually like. Colors seem to pop more too. Forgot it was even there, glad its now gone

I also run the Saxby schedule