Red Sea Max 250

[The Guy]

I just bought this RSM 250 from Dempsey a fellow forum member, got a good deal and he has done the Steve's Led retrofit. The tank is in beautiful shape, BUT! the 2 little side by side fans at the back of the hood for cooling and keeping the hood from moisture building up are really quite loud. Has anyone found any good quality ball bearing fans that are a good replacements for these. I hope!

[Wretch]

Not much help on quality but if you do a search for 12v dc cooling fan 6020S lots come up on eBay. Just pick a quiet fan that moves enough air. Can also order red sea replacements.

[sphelps]

Have you tried reducing the voltage? I use to have the same fans way back and ran them at 6v instead of 12. If you have two fans on a 12v source just wire the fans in series to split the voltage.

[MKLKT]

I picked up a RSM 130d recently that needed a fan replacement as well, I found some 50mm 12V fans at RP Electronics that I'm going to try out. They are 10mm as opposed to the stock 15mm depth, but from what I read if you sit them back from the fan grille you can also cut down on the noise the grille can make. (The fans were in the $7-10 range, pretty average. And I can see there's a 0.10 amp/4000RPM and 0.16 amp/5500RPM version)

I don't know if the RSM 250 has the same fans or not. There were all sorts of sizes though.

[The Guy]

I called Red Sea and they only carry the same replacements and have no quieter ones available. Not going there thanks!

[RMC]

Before going out to purchase replacement fans. This is what I did to my RSM130 fans which cut down on the noise
1. Remove the fans from the hood
2. Carefully removed the sticker and and rubber cover from the the fan
3. Paced a drop of 3 in 1 oil at the bearing/axle.
4. Worked in the oil by manually spinning the fan back and forth.
5. Replace the rubber cover, sticker and reinstall the fan into the hood.

Red Sea has instructions on how to remove the fan from the hood and there are a few videos on Youtube which will guide you through the oil.

I did this six months ago and the fans are still relatively quiet.

These fans are small and move a fair bit of air, there will always a audible noise produced from them.

If you can't stand the noise, I believe Steve's LED carries a different type of fan, from old Sony Trinitron TV's. They are a drum style fan and should be a lot quieter.

Good luck!

[Sharkbait-huhaha]

My RSM has loud fans when it starts up on the timer. After 5 minutes it goes quiet. Have you let it run for a bit?

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by Sharkbait-huhaha

My RSM has loud fans when it starts up on the timer. After 5 minutes it goes quiet. Have you let it run for a bit?

These are not the internal hood fans, they were removed when the Steve's Led upgrade went in and have squirrel cage style fans which are dead silent.
The ones that are noisy are the 2 little 60mmx60mmx 15mm side by side fans that are mounted on the left back side of the tank just below the canopy in a snap in bracket and are plugged in for power with a 12 DC RCA jack.
They are very noisy, they're the ones I want replace with better quality quiet fans. Still looking.

[WarDog]

Laurie, look into the Noctua fans. Made specifically for computers, these are the finest, quietest, German made fans in the world. Www.noctua.at . Smaller ones come in 40 and 60 mm.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by WarDog

Laurie, look into the Noctua fans. Made specifically for computers, these are the finest, quietest, German made fans in the world. Www.noctua.at . Smaller ones come in 40 and 60 mm.

Thanks for the info Warren I checked out what they carry, they have the 60x60mm but only in 25mm thickness.
I just ordered 2 60x60x15mm which is the exact fit, they tell me these are supposed to very quiet. $6& change each. I got them from The Cooler Guys in Washington.