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#1 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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Why the Viper K2 stinks... and how I fixed it
The Viper K2 Deluxe light (the one with the fan and moonlights) has a SERIOUS design flaw. The fan, while it has its own hi/low rocker switch, takes its power from the ballast, which has only one power cord.
The problem is that if even if you run the light on a timer or controller, you cannot control the fan with one. You have a choice: either it's on the entire time the light is on (which in my firsthand experience will cool the tank TOO much), or it is off all the time, in which case you might as well throw the fan in the garbage. I guess you could say option 3 is you could stand by your tank all day and turn the fan on or off as needed, but I'm a touch busier than that. The fan should have had its own power cord. Since it doesn't, the only fix is to add one for it. All that is needed is a cord (which I cut off of an old dead powerhead) and a few minutes time. Take the top off the ballast. On the back of the fan switch are three wires: one red on the center terminal and two blacks (one for high, one for low). The red/center wire is the main positive wire for the fan, feeding the switch its 120v power. It is wire-nutted with two other wires. Remove the one to the fan switch from this group, and wire nut the other two back together. Connect this (the red wire you removed) to the positive side of your new power cable (after, of course, you have drilled a path through the case and installed the wire and a rubber grommet). Entering the case from the big "output" cable are four wires, some for the light and some for the fan. The BLUE wire is the neutral side of the fan. Follow the same procedure as before, removing it from its "group" and rejoining the other wires it shared a connection with. Connect the blue wire to the other side of your new power cable. The grounds are all under a screw in the bottom of the case, just put your new ground under that screw with the others, using a crimp ring terminal. That's all there is... now your fan has a dedicated cord so you can use a controller to turn it on or off as needed... all you have to do manually now is select high or low speed to use when it runs, and leave the switch in that position.
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. Last edited by cr500_af; 03-29-2010 at 12:03 AM.. |
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#2 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,374 City: Marietta State: GA
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Nice one Barry, mine doesn't have the fan... want to give me a writeup on adding a fan?
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#3 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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Heck, that's too deep for me...
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 5,219 City: Auburn State: AL Occupation: Retail LP Investigator Other Interests: Autos, guns, beverages
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Nah, $5 fan from Walmart and some zip ties!
Nice writeup, Barry! |
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#5 |
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Join Date: May 2009
Age: 26
Posts: 437 City: Atlanta State: GA
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thanks for the info in the brand. i was going to get it for a sump/frag tank.
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#6 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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I'm overall happy with the light... but as a main light on the tank, the fan in stock form is useless. If I had it to do over I'd have gotten the one without the fan I think... even though now I'm happy with the end result. The built-in fan is a pretty good thing since it's impossible to put an add-on fan on top and make it look clean... and if I wanted a canopy I'd certainly be using a different light.
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 395 City: Locust Grove State: GA
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Who makes the Viper?
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#8 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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jbj. I hate how you can't do a company name/initials in all caps...
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. |
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#9 | ||
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ARC Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,887 City: Atlanta State: GA
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Mrc
jbj gmc I wonder why that is? |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 5,219 City: Auburn State: AL Occupation: Retail LP Investigator Other Interests: Autos, guns, beverages
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Gmc
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#11 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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Babysitting software I guess... we can't YELL at each other.
For some reason you can single out a word, though. I don't know what the rules are.
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 2,563 City: Conyers State: GA Occupation: Nissan Parts Guy/Student Other Interests: PS3, Nissan Primera P10
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#13 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2009
Age: 43
Posts: 4,594 City: Dallas State: GA Occupation: Good question Other Interests: Motocross and Crimson Tide football
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So, is the words in front of it?
Jbj mrc gmc Nope. Ok, Corey, fess up. What's making it work for you? I'm a mod, the software should allow me to yell in caps all I want. ![]()
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My drinking team has a serious racing problem. |
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#14 | ||
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 2,563 City: Conyers State: GA Occupation: Nissan Parts Guy/Student Other Interests: PS3, Nissan Primera P10
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Quote:
Hehe... I'm using Windows Vista x64 with Safari as my browser. grant it, that has nothing to do with it, I just thought I'd share... but all I am doing is pressing and HOLDING the SHIFT key and it seems to work lol Maybe it is a sign that I should be a mod since it works for me lol j/k JBJ MRC I WIN Quote:
Seriously tho, that is kind of weird some people, well a very limited few can and some can't |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 5,219 City: Auburn State: AL Occupation: Retail LP Investigator Other Interests: Autos, guns, beverages
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I just bumped up the font of the "mc" one size, lol.
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#16 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 2,563 City: Conyers State: GA Occupation: Nissan Parts Guy/Student Other Interests: PS3, Nissan Primera P10
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