Quiet. The Neighbors Can Hear You (Sound Control Thread)

[Maude]

I don't have any problem with my fan, i have a controller to slow it down. If i don't use the controler, it's like a huricanne in the grow room !

The problem I have is with my air pump, is there any way to silence it so I can sleep without the ''Bbrrrrrrrrrrrr'' .

It's a 18w like this one.

Thank youuu !

 

[d0rk2dafullest]

I have a problem with the sound of the air being moved through the fan. I have a 450 CFM and standing on the other side of the wall it sounds like a dryer vent.

What u can do is get some styrofoam and when u mount your fans put pieces of styrofoam in between the mount or feet and the wood to dampen the vibration of the fans. i do that with ALL my fans. works pretty well. U can also Hang your carbon filters and fans off the ropes as well the ratchet ropes for lights , having it cause no vibrations thru the walls is key in noise.

if u go outside, and cant hear it, ur all good tho. (the air moving) i know at my setup... if i turn everything off.... u can hear my whole house power down. its quite scary.... and then u can hear the neighbors go... "wtf?....."

i've had blackouts in my part of town and u can literally hear all the fans and ac's power down and it gets so fucking quiet....SOOOOOOOO fucking quiet...... it's scary as fuck

 

[Rrog]

I built a nearly silent box for that exact type of pump. That's loud, so you need some mass to stop this. Then some soft foam or rigid fiberglass (duct liner, not batt insulation) inside the box for absorption. I used MDF for the box itself. Heavy. By resting the pump on the rigid fiberglass you cut much of the physical coupling of pump-to-box, so all you're left with is the airborne noise from the pump.

You'll need holes for ventilation, however. I'd test what works, but have a thermo probe in there to watch temps. My last box I built oversized (20" x 20" or so) more so that gave me headroom for heat. There's a LOT of sound coming out the air pipe, so I wrapped a couple feet of the air line with some heavy Dynamat-type crap. That drops a lot of the noise coming from the first couple feet of airline.

 

[a senile fungus]

I built a nearly silent box for that exact type of pump. That's loud, so you need some mass to stop this. Then some soft foam or rigid fiberglass (duct liner, not batt insulation) inside the box for absorption. I used MDF for the box itself. Heavy. By resting the pump on the rigid fiberglass you cut much of the physical coupling of pump-to-box, so all you're left with is the airborne noise from the pump.

You'll need holes for ventilation, however. I'd test what works, but have a thermo probe in there to watch temps. My last box I built oversized (20" x 20" or so) more so that gave me headroom for heat. There's a LOT of sound coming out the air pipe, so I wrapped a couple feet of the air line with some heavy Dynamat-type crap. That drops a lot of the noise coming from the first couple feet of airline.

I didn't realize how freaking noisy these things are!

I bought a heavy duty pump (20watt, 571gph) and the damn thing is louder than my 863cfm exhaust fan!

I'm gonna try to run it on a controller to reduce it's operation but if that doesn't work then I'll have to build a box for it.

Thanks Rrog!

 

[FreedomFighter2014]

What u can do is get some styrofoam and when u mount your fans put pieces of styrofoam in between the mount or feet and the wood to dampen the vibration of the fans. i do that with ALL my fans. works pretty well. U can also Hang your carbon filters and fans off the ropes as well the ratchet ropes for lights , having it cause no vibrations thru the walls is key in noise.

if u go outside, and cant hear it, ur all good tho. (the air moving) i know at my setup... if i turn everything off.... u can hear my whole house power down. its quite scary.... and then u can hear the neighbors go... "wtf?....."

i've had blackouts in my part of town and u can literally hear all the fans and ac's power down and it gets so fucking quiet....SOOOOOOOO fucking quiet...... it's scary as fuck

HAHA thanks bro. I am going to try that out.

 

[AUSCraig]

Regarding air pumps.

Having been into fish keeping for years the only way around it is too purchase a quality pump.
It will run better , more efficient and quieter. Most pumps from hydro shops and cheapies from eBay are useless.

 

[budman111]

Regarding air pumps.

Most pumps from hydro shops and cheapies from eBay are useless.

Really? you are going to all the wrong shops for sure.

 

[tyke1973]

Have the pump out side the room,but have it on a piece of rubber matt or polly board this will sort any noise out.compressors will make far more noise than say a fish tank pump but it all dep,on how many plants that you are doing,get air rings into the bottom of the pots if growing with coco and lava rock,or soil.the noise will be cut right down once the compressor or fish tank pumps are set up right has for noise from fans ext the best way long term is to use something like styrafoam boards glued orscrewed to the wall that the room is nearest to the neighbours wall.Got to agree with bud man grow shops should sell far better pumps than say a shop like the b%g for the simple reason they know the crack on how long there on,turn the pumps of when the lights are off no need for them to be on during lights off

 

[Beer Belly]

I built a sound box for my air pump a

https://www.hydroponics.net/i/136485 its a noisy MoFo! I lined with soundproof and fire retardant foam and including an intake muffler. Super quiet now.

 

[Rrog]

That's a cool deal you made. That bastard looks massive, which is the key. You could have all that foam, but if the box was cardboard, you'd hear everything. Foam lacks mass. Really nice job, man

Can you tell us about the muffler??

 

[brimck325]

I don't have any problem with my fan, i have a controller to slow it down. If i don't use the controler, it's like a huricanne in the grow room !

The problem I have is with my air pump, is there any way to silence it so I can sleep without the ''Bbrrrrrrrrrrrr'' .

It's a 18w like this one.

Thank youuu !

put in styrofoam cooler and cut holes for hose n cord.

 

[Rrog]

I recommend using a box heavier than styrofoam. You want the mass. Like Beer Belly did

 

[a senile fungus]

View attachment 3369201

I built a sound box for my air pump a

https://www.hydroponics.net/i/136485 its a noisy MoFo! I lined with soundproof and fire retardant foam and including an intake muffler. Super quiet now.
View attachment 3369193

That's a cool deal you made. That bastard looks massive, which is the key. You could have all that foam, but if the box was cardboard, you'd hear everything. Foam lacks mass. Really nice job, man

Can you tell us about the muffler??

put in styrofoam cooler and cut holes for hose n cord.

I recommend using a box heavier than styrofoam. You want the mass. Like Beer Belly did

I found that my pump was much quieter when pumping against a bit of resistance, just a bit.

Makes a huge difference in the amount of decibels that thing is putting out, lol

 

[brimck325]

i'm not following, resistance on the air hose? or do you mean attaching the whole unit firmly?

 

[Rrog]

I found that my pump was much quieter when pumping against a bit of resistance, just a bit.

SF, you mean if the insulation is in contact with the pump? There could be some damping of vibration, I suppose. Might be the fact the laying of the pump on fiberglass in the box is essentially setting the pump on a spring, which (like a bungee chord) transfers less vibration to the box itself.

 

[a senile fungus]

i'm not following, resistance on the air hose? or do you mean attaching the whole unit firmly?

SF, you mean if the insulation is in contact with the pump? There could be some damping of vibration, I suppose. Might be the fact the laying of the pump on fiberglass in the box is essentially setting the pump on a spring, which (like a bungee chord) transfers less vibration to the box itself.

Sorry, kinda stoned, meant to clarify.

I meant resistance of the airflow from the unit.

I use my oversized pump to make teas. I use a clamp to keep the hose in the bucket. I slightly compress the tubing until I hear the pump get quieter, then leave it like that.

Also, I'm getting a diff pump, that thing is noisy and loud as fuck. 571gph.

 

[brimck325]

Sorry, kinda stoned, meant to clarify.

I meant resistance of the airflow from the unit.

I use my oversized pump to make teas. I use a clamp to keep the hose in the bucket. I slightly compress the tubing until I hear the pump get quieter, then leave it like that.

Also, I'm getting a diff pump, that thing is noisy and loud as fuck. 571gph.

View attachment 3369525

thank you!

 

[Beer Belly]

That's a cool deal you made. That bastard looks massive, which is the key. You could have all that foam, but if the box was cardboard, you'd hear everything. Foam lacks mass. Really nice job, man

Can you tell us about the muffler??

The box was made of some 1\2 melamine I had from an old bookshelf (cruise your local alleys people toss these things out all the time. ) I lined it with this stuff fearing the heat (up to 120 degrees) that eco 7 air pump may cause a fire.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#9190t5/=w9o74i a freebie from an R&D job I did.
Silence intake muffler http://www.mcmaster.com/#98305k73/=w9o50r
I also used some rubber stoppers like these to isolate the vibrations of the pump in the box and on the bottom of the box itself. Just put a screw thru them. works great. http://www.mcmaster.com/#6448k92/=w9o8wr
The box is about 18" square. Silicone all joints for air/noise leaks. Works awesome! Almost no sound. I also have a timer built in so it only runs when the ebb-n grow buckets have water in em. The girls like it!


Cheers man
Your Bro on the Grow
Beer Belly

 

[Rrog]

Love it!! Love the intake muffler!

 

[Javadog]

I was looking at that pump....3 amps...then I googled this:

For AC power supply, watts are equal to the power factor times amps times volts.

watts = PF × amps × volts

For resistive load without inductors or capacitors, the power factor is equal to 1:

watts = 1 × 3A × 120V = 360W

For inductive load (like induction motor), the power factor can be approximately equal to 0.8:

watts = 0.8 × 3A × 120V = 288W

.....so, I am to conclude that this pump take 300 W to power? Wow.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

JD