Loud fan

John400HPS

John400HPS

Well-Known Member
i have a 424cfm fan that is to loud for me. I put some ducting and a hood and carbon filter on it and it got quiter but still too loud. I didnt put it in a tent yet, will that make a big difference? I have a 4x4x7 tent coming to put it in. If not, how can i make it quiter? Ive heard of mufflers and boxes, do these work well? Does anyone have any real life experience with them, that would be great. Just to clarify the noise is coming from the air moving, not from vibrations, there are no vibrations. I might get a power controller too, but i extract with this fan and idk how my temmps would react. Your thoguht are appreciated.
 
Hairy Bob

Hairy Bob

Well-Known Member
You've got a tent that is 112 cubic feet, and a fan that moves 424 cubic feet per minute. Unless you're trying to put ridiculous amounts of light in there or the ambient temps are sky high, running it at half to three quarters speed should provide ample ventilation, and reduce the noise significantly.
 
John400HPS

John400HPS

Well-Known Member
Hairy Bob said:
You've got a tent that is 112 cubic feet, and a fan that moves 424 cubic feet per minute. Unless you're trying to put ridiculous amounts of light in there or the ambient temps are sky high, running it at half to three quarters speed should provide ample ventilation, and reduce the noise significantly.
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Thanks for the tip. I may run a 1000hps in there though. What do i buy to control the power of the fan? Could you buy it at a store or do you have to go online. Not a big deal but i like using cash
 
Hairy Bob

Hairy Bob

Well-Known Member
That's not a ridiculous amount of light to put in a 4x4 tent. In fact it's about right, and that fan should be up to the job.
You need a fan speed controller, most hydro shops sell them but they'll charge you a fortune for what is essentially a variable resistor.
I've been told you can't just use a dimmer switch, but havn't been able to find out why...
Shop around online, if you search google or ebay for fan speed controller they'll pull up a few, you'll just have to trawl through all the overpriced crap until you find a good value one. I've found one in the UK for £12 (about $20) with google, but price will vary depending on where you are in the world.
 
Hairy Bob

Hairy Bob

Well-Known Member
That should work, I've seen that mentioned on here somewhere before.
If you want to be real clever you can wire it in parallel with a thermostat set to the maximum temperature you want the growroom to stay below. That way it will run at whatever speed the controller is set at unless it gets too hot in there, then the fan will kick up to full speed until it cools down again. Lets you have automatic temperature control of the room while having constant airflow.
Have to give credit to Al B. Fuct for that one, saw it in one of his threads a while back.
 
cowell

cowell

Well-Known Member
Hairy Bob said:
That's not a ridiculous amount of light to put in a 4x4 tent. In fact it's about right, and that fan should be up to the job.
You need a fan speed controller, most hydro shops sell them but they'll charge you a fortune for what is essentially a variable resistor.
I've been told you can't just use a dimmer switch, but havn't been able to find out why...
Shop around online, if you search google or ebay for fan speed controller they'll pull up a few, you'll just have to trawl through all the overpriced crap until you find a good value one. I've found one in the UK for £12 (about $20) with google, but price will vary depending on where you are in the world.
Click to expand...
ohh I actually know answer instead of just asking them!

The reason you can't use a dimmer switch for the fan is because the fan motor requires constant power at its set amount. A dimmer sends less current and the fans turn slower, but you also are stressing the motor so that it may burn out or not turn at all. The resistor in the proper dimmer send the right amps but less wattage, so the motor will turn slower and not stress the motor....
at least that was the way it was explained to me when installing ceiling fans in the bedrooms in place of the light fixture and was told the proper dimmer was another like 100 bones but they told me why I had to use the proper dimmer for the fan.

For no other reason than knowing.:joint:
 
M4A1

M4A1

Well-Known Member
Hairy Bob said:
I've been told you can't just use a dimmer switch, but havn't been able to find out why...
Click to expand...
Yes a dimmer switch will work. I use one for my exhaust fan in my cabnet. It works fine. You can get a $5 - $10 one at homedepot.


ETA: Here's how mine is wired and it works great. Defantly made my fan alot more quite. I don't run it at full speed unless I have to. I use a slide type of dimmer switch with a bathroom exhaut fan.

Code: 
                                                                                             |
Source Power                   Dimmer switch                                  Exhaust Fan    |   ~~~~~~~~~              
Hot                   Power in  ____||____     Power out to Fan                 __________   |   ~~~~~~~~~
-------------------------------[__________]------------------------------------{__________}--|   ~~~~~~~~~  Blowing Hot Air. LOL
Common                                                                               /       |   ~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/        |   ~~~~~~~~~
                                                                                             |
 
cowell

cowell

Well-Known Member
M4A1 said:
Yes a dimmer switch will work. I use one for my exhaust fan in my cabnet. It works fine. You can get a $5 - $10 one at homedepot.


ETA: Here's how mine is wired and it works great. Defantly made my fan alot more quite. I don't run it at full speed unless I have to. I use a slide type of dimmer switch with a bathroom exhaut fan.

Code: 
                                                                                             |
Source Power                   Dimmer switch                                  Exhaust Fan    |   ~~~~~~~~~              
Hot                   Power in  ____||____     Power out to Fan                 __________   |   ~~~~~~~~~
-------------------------------[__________]------------------------------------{__________}--|   ~~~~~~~~~  Blowing Hot Air. LOL
Common                                                                               /       |   ~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/        |   ~~~~~~~~~
                                                                                             |
Click to expand...
I agree, I think it would work using a dimmer, but I was told why not to by the "electrician" at Home Depot, and I have read after that - as it will either not work or prematurely burn your fan's motor out by fucking with the amps supplied to the fan motor without putting a resistor in to lower the wattage and leave the amps alone.

Try it if you want with a regular dimmer, I did get my information second hand..but if you fuck up your fan, let me know so I will know I at least that was right and I tried to help..and I can alo hang on to that piece of information to help others.

Good luck!!
 
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