Cleaning LED light fans

ElusiveKumquat · Oct 12, 2016

Hello all I have 3 AI prime lights. There is dust building up on the fans as expected. I blow what I can off. What is the best method for cleaning these off. I was thinking maybe air in a can but not sure. Any thoughts would be awesome thanks!

Hammerheadz · Oct 12, 2016

If you blow them off regularly the fans are usually good. If they go awhile without being blown off there is a build up on them that air just doesn't work on; especially with the moisture of the tank. A small compressor with a air nozzle and a moisture trap is IMO the best way to keep them clean; if you have one or can get one. If they have build up on them that may not be sufficient and you may want to clean them with some alcohol and cotton swabs and or q-tips to do a good detailed cleaning. IMO the air in the can common for cleaning electronics I wouldn't use without removing what you're cleaning from the direct vicinity of your tank. There is often moisture from the compressed air chemicals that come out when spraying them. Good luck!

RJinPV · Oct 13, 2016

The only real way to clean the fan is to take the light apart. It is easy and AI told me it will not void the warranty. There are videos on you tube to walk you through it. This is more of an annual maintenance. In between that I just blow on it and vacuum it once in awhile

revhtree · Oct 13, 2016

gus6464 · Oct 13, 2016

Air compressor or canned air.

Bluefish9 · Oct 28, 2016

Shop vac with the brush attachment... works like a charm. Not a fan of shooting compressed air into delicate electronics.

Salty1962 · Oct 28, 2016

I blow off with compressed air every 2 months and take apart to clean 1x year with vacuum with a brush on it.

Reef'in Rob · Mar 3, 2020

Old thread but deserves a good shock from the defib and CPR.
Now that these lights are aging many of them are getting pretty "gunky". Simply blowing them out is no longer working. Alot of people (myself included) are placing them close to the water on drilled 40 breeder setups to get maximum par values on these incredible little affordable lights. That said, disassembly is fairly easy and straight forward. There are a couple videos on how to do this on youtube. Simply search in google "how to clean and AI Prime HD" and it will pop up. It is not very difficult but make sure you have small screw drivers as to not strip the screw head or over toque them going back in. Hope this helps. Mine ran about 20 degrees cooler after a deep clean of 1 years use even with a air duster cleaning about once a month.