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

[BoomerBloomer57]

and how to quiet it down. 12 air stones in each 120qt cooler gets kinda loud. So I set myself up with the bong and some killer Afghani Kush and took a coupla rips,,,,

Turns out if you put two washers on each stone the stone doesn't come in contact with the bottom of the cooler and I swear to dog that it's whisper quiet now.

Take a stone to Lowes or Home depot and find the rubber washers that fit the stone and use two per stone, one at each end.

Now what's my prize for solving the problem?

ftp

 

[Hoodrich]

I have two single output air pumps. Each one has one air line running to a T connector. The third part of the T connector is hooked to one single air stone. One air pump is plugged in, the other I left unplugged. The result is 90% of motor "HMMMMMMMMMM". Is gone, all I hear are the bubbles. The bubbles are now the loudest part, but unlike motor noise It doesnt travel through walls.

BoomerBloomer: I cant say if that would do anything for me because my stone was never touching the bottom of the bucket.

 

[Hoodrich]

heres what I did

 

[DarkCursade]

Hey one2threeBUDS4

Great thread I was thinking of making a box like this lined with carpet to help with my can fan noise, however i wasnt sure what temps would i be running inside the box?

Also I know this is off topic but Im constantly battling a heat issue and I didnt know if it would be better to have the boxed fan out side the rooms air mass like in the ceiling to help with heat inside my room?

Also do you think if I made my box a little bigger would it reduce more noise than a smaller box?

 

[curioushiker]

Hey one2threeBUDS4

Great thread I was thinking of making a box like this lined with carpet to help with my can fan noise, however i wasnt sure what temps would i be running inside the box?

Also I know this is off topic but Im constantly battling a heat issue and I didnt know if it would be better to have the boxed fan out side the rooms air mass like in the ceiling to help with heat inside my room?

Also do you think if I made my box a little bigger would it reduce more noise than a smaller box?

The heat that the fan motor puts off is minimal. Unless you are in an ultra small grow then I would not be concerned about it. The heat generated by placing your fan in a "box" will NOT over heat the motor. The air moving through the fan also cools the motor.

 

[N Buds]

Hi chaps just thought i'd chip in my bit on quiet ventilation. Although it may be a bit costly for the non serious growers.

I work fitting vent we fit these really quiet fans called 'ecosmart squrbo' they're available - I think - only from the maker Nuaire's own distributor FansDirect and a company called Lindab - who are all over the country and sell every vent fitting you could ever wish for. It is lined with barofoam silencing and can be used with a speed controller or even a thermostat (ordered with it).

Anyway the fan would be great hung on bungees like someone has done before or maybe on 'Gripple Wires'.

To further quieten I reccomend the use of in line silencers otherwise known as attenuators - available at Lindab - one either side of the fan ideally and as long as possible.. they come in 30,60,90,120cm lengths - they work a bit like the back end of a good car exhaust pipe.

Part of the problem with the 'whoosh' sound is that there is a lot of turbulence in the the air running through the flexible pipe caused by its ribs.. you have 2 options here.. get some lagged flex (insulated) which will dumb down the sound, or ideally - if your a bit braver is to get some duct pipe and run a solid duct to a wall vent - noise is massively reduced that way. If you do this make sure you seal all the joints with silicone or mastic otherwise you will get a hissing noise.

Hope this helps you all..

 

[N Buds]

one thing i have had recent problems with was an inline fan that shakes or vibrates. this can cause hoses connected to your lights to shake loose or even rip, eventually causing an air leak which will defeat the purpose of having an air cooled system. it can also cause loud vibrations which is the reason i created a housing for the fan;


this is pretty much what it will look like when it is done. the bungees help reduce the sound by 200% so if you can hang it you will be much happier.

first start by measuring the fans height and add an inch or two then cut the wood for the box. if you are using 6" hose then cut a hole on two of the boards that are 7" in diameter, these boards will be the end boards.

next set the fan on one of the boards and mark where the holes are on it, then drill them and mount the fan to the board (do it now, makes it much easier).

once you have done all of above go ahead and connect the hoses.

also you need to cut or drill a "V" in the side of the board where you want the power cord to go through.

after that you can go ahead and put together the last couple sides and you have a brand new silencer box for your inline fan.

Nice setup mate.. get some rubber washers on them rods as well as the metal ones - both sides of the board,they'll help dampen the noise.

Better still get some threaded rubber feet for the fan if you can, with fans you want to avoid contacting metal directly with the board otherwise you'll turn it into a bass box.



Should help a bit

 

[SteadyChiefin1207]

What kind of portable AC unit are you running? My 1000w is putting out to much heat for my inline fan to handle, temps staying around 85 to 90 at the base. Clones ready for transplant in a week, hoping that would do the trick? Hard to vent that heat as well? Im running a similiar setup, same air cooled tube. thanks.

 

[horribleherk]

gonna make me a box too thinking about spraying automotive sound deadener inside of box

 

[ffejrey]

There are a number of principles of physics that are being somewhat overlooked and are quite simple. I did not read the entire forum but this subject is something near and dear to me -- excuse me if some of this has been mentioned... just trying to help.

1. First of all not all fans are created equally. The quality of the original equipment is paramount. A vortex fan is a lot quieter than a cheap imitation because of the thickness of the housing and quality of build. If screws work loose or metal is too thin vibration/noise will be greater and increase with time. Old cheap fans are noisy and shake, not saying Vortex is the best but they are great.

2. Use a duct muffler. As pointed out by others a duct muffler drastically reduces "swooshing" sound. This works best for scrubbing and open ended applications because as others have noted when tubing is connected to both ends of a circular fan the sound is fairly contained. Also increasing the diameter of the duct is very helpful if room permits.

3. Decouple, decouple, decouple. This principle can not be overstated enough. The bungee cords are a great example. If you can decouple and isolate the vibration you are in great shape. There are wonderful products made for decoupling - check www.soundproofing.org for great ideas. Isolation clips rule!! (great for wall mount fans!!)

http://www.soundproofing.org/sales/SSP.htm

The website is a mess but the information and products are great and work. You can even decouple an entire wall!! If it works for a music studio it will be more than adequate for our needs... (I am not affiliated with them in any way just found them and now thank them!)

4. Sound deadening versus contaiment - MLV (mass loaded vinyl) is a great sound deadening material, although anything dense has deadening properties. Remember that a solid flat surface reflects sound while softer materials such as rug muffle and disperse. Therefore the thicker the box the better and as long as the box is solid (no holes) reflecting the sound and keeping it internal to the box is the best method. Covering the outside of the box with rug or similar material isn't a bad idea either for the sound that escapes.

**Note -- whoever thinks that a fan doesn't produce heat is foolish. A fan pushes air, it does not cool it. The motor does produce heat -- a fair amount. While some of the heat is removed by the air movement not even close to all heat produced is removed. (And remember unless the air is exhausted outside of the room the heat generated by the fan is just being pushed not eliminated . If you don't believe me take a fan with both sides ducted to a different room and just leave the fan on. It will increase the ambient temperature of a 5x5 room several degrees. Most people overlook the fact that fans produce heat -- exactly the opposite of what most would hope. A/C cools - fans push air to either remove heat from the room though exhaustion or increase circulation. With that said a vortex fan is rated to operate up to 120 degrees so it shouldn't be an issue.

You guys are definitely on the right track with deadening vibration and noise at the source. With that said there are also many techniques to deaden sound from leaving the room entirely (if using solid walls not a tent). Green glue is an amazing product that deadens sound and goes in between any two solid surfaces such as two laters of drywall: http://www.greengluecompany.com/

Also check out vibration pads on www.soundproofing.org they work and isolate heavy vibration from A/C's etc:

http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/vibrationpads.htm

These products and principles have helped me immensely deaden sound to the point that you would never know what is in the next room!!

Good luck...

 

[joe weed smoker]

its ok im pretty sure my neighbors grow too

 

[Fenster Karton]

great thread,cant understand why it only got a couple of replies, iv just got my new 6' inline and it sounds like a fucking jet , thought i had every angle covered but this noise could fuck my grow op , i need to sort the noise as me and the gf sleep right next to the room....

stay under 1000 feet per minute of flow to avoid noise made by ductwork. there are quiet fans out there - I would not use a fan that could be heard through a closed door. All things being equal if two fans have equivalent power consumption and air flow the larger will be quieter. If you cant get the desired airflow unless you exceed 1000 feet per minute switch to a larger duct.

 

[monkeybutler]

So I've read 16 pages of this thread, but this question is kind of specific... hoping someone can help...

my rooms will be in my crawlspace... it's the best spot for it, however, i have one major issue...

my ventilation system, will be 100% contained in the crawl space. My main goal is to vent this exhast through my roof (possibly merging ducts with my bathroom exhaust fan so i don't have to punch another hole in the roof)..

i mainly want to do this so that any air that might possibly escape and may smell, (i am putting a can fan filter on it tho) will be released about 20 feet in the air, above anyone's head walking by...

i was planning to use reducers and run the exhaust through my walls (i'm very handy, i just gutted and rebuilt 90% of my house) using 2" PVC pipe... my main concern now is noise, if i try to send out roughly 150-300 CFM worth of air up through a 2" pipe (the duct started at 6") - won't all that air rushing through such a small pipe create a shitload of noise?

would i be safe enough to vent the air out into the crawl space, since it'd be after my carbon filter? what if i did that and put an air ionizer or two in the crawl space to double neutralize anythign that got passed the carbon filter..?

I'm super super super cautious. my whole room will be 100% soundproof, light-proof, air tight etc. my only remaining problem is where to vent the air.

 

[hotwheelszac]

this is something to keep in mind:

the smell of cannabis attaches itself to the water that drips from the air conditioner. Its like concentrated ganja water, and it smells noticeably.

 

[cymbaline]

Great thread and some really creative ideas.
I'm trying to figure out how to quiet down my operation as well..
And I figured I would come on here to think out loud and get some feedback.

My objective: deaden the sound of the air intake

I'm currently running a 6" suncourt/sunleaves windtunnel (which is an extremely quiet fan and I highly recommend to anyone looking for a new one)
Mated to my 6" is a can33.
I have this setup on a shelf with the canfilter sitting on the shelf and fan sitting on top of that.
From there I have insulated flex ducting running out the ceiling. In the attic I can't hear any air
noise which is sweet and mission accomplished..
The problem:
I have a bathroom that shares a wall with where my fan is located and the sound in the bathroom isn't acceptable.
The filter also happens to be head height so when you're standing in the bathroom to take a leak you can hear it.
quick diagram
x | o where x is the bathroom and o is the fan
I bought a speedster controller in hopes of toning down the fan some since I don't need all the CFM it can produce right now. Unfortunate for me I didn't do all my homework and found out the hardway those controllers are a pos ripoff.
It made that fan hum so loud it was ridiculous..
After some more homework I see a lot of people recommend a variac or a environment type controller.
Has anyone used a suncourt VS100 controller? They pretty much are the same as a speedster but they also have a
de-hummer circuit in them. They cost about the same as the speedster.
I don't want to buy it and find out that it isn't any better than what I have..
I'm also searching for a environment controller that will control fan speed but obviously won't hum either..
That would be more ideal over the variac so I can have more control over temps.
So that brings me back to the sound issue. Say I buy that fancy controller that will adjust fan speed based
on temperature and when it hits the high point the fan will go full speed and my noise issue will be back.

Space is fairly limited so I can't build out the wall.
Lowes for some reason doesn't sell the acoustic board within 50 miles of here so I have to do something
a little different.

Which foam would work better the eggcrate or the wedge type foam for my issues?
I'm thinking about getting one of the blackout curtains and wrapping it around something fairly stiff
yet would also absorb sound.
Than sticking the foam onto the curtain and placing that against the wall next to the fan/filter.
I'm hoping it will deaden that noise enough since I can't really treat the entire wall.
The best I could do is treat the entire top half of the wall on the fan side.

Someone brought up noise cancelling in here and I have considered that. I'm just not sure what kind of
computer software I need to create that whitenoise. I figured I could create an audio recording of the noise in the
bathroom and than process it and loop it through a stereo 24/7 and cancel the sound of the air movement
entirely?

Last thing I could try is moving my fan into the attic and put some distance with flex duct between it and the filter
but I think the sound of air intake would still be there. I also wonder if the amount of flex ducting I have on
the exhaust part could be lending to the intake noise issue as well. It's probably 23' of ducting that
comes straight up for about 2.5' than angles off at a 90 and drops back down gradually and runs flat.

Thoughts, ideas please let me know. Thanks for reading through my stoned rambling..

 

[ffejrey]

Great thread and some really creative ideas.
I'm trying to figure out how to quiet down my operation as well..
And I figured I would come on here to think out loud and get some feedback.

My objective: deaden the sound of the air intake

I'm currently running a 6" suncourt/sunleaves windtunnel (which is an extremely quiet fan and I highly recommend to anyone looking for a new one)
Mated to my 6" is a can33.
I have this setup on a shelf with the canfilter sitting on the shelf and fan sitting on top of that.
From there I have insulated flex ducting running out the ceiling. In the attic I can't hear any air
noise which is sweet and mission accomplished..
The problem:
I have a bathroom that shares a wall with where my fan is located and the sound in the bathroom isn't acceptable.
The filter also happens to be head height so when you're standing in the bathroom to take a leak you can hear it.
quick diagram
x | o where x is the bathroom and o is the fan
I bought a speedster controller in hopes of toning down the fan some since I don't need all the CFM it can produce right now. Unfortunate for me I didn't do all my homework and found out the hardway those controllers are a pos ripoff.
It made that fan hum so loud it was ridiculous..
After some more homework I see a lot of people recommend a variac or a environment type controller.
Has anyone used a suncourt VS100 controller? They pretty much are the same as a speedster but they also have a
de-hummer circuit in them. They cost about the same as the speedster.
I don't want to buy it and find out that it isn't any better than what I have..
I'm also searching for a environment controller that will control fan speed but obviously won't hum either..
That would be more ideal over the variac so I can have more control over temps.
So that brings me back to the sound issue. Say I buy that fancy controller that will adjust fan speed based
on temperature and when it hits the high point the fan will go full speed and my noise issue will be back.

Space is fairly limited so I can't build out the wall.
Lowes for some reason doesn't sell the acoustic board within 50 miles of here so I have to do something
a little different.

Which foam would work better the eggcrate or the wedge type foam for my issues?
I'm thinking about getting one of the blackout curtains and wrapping it around something fairly stiff
yet would also absorb sound.
Than sticking the foam onto the curtain and placing that against the wall next to the fan/filter.
I'm hoping it will deaden that noise enough since I can't really treat the entire wall.
The best I could do is treat the entire top half of the wall on the fan side.

Someone brought up noise cancelling in here and I have considered that. I'm just not sure what kind of
computer software I need to create that whitenoise. I figured I could create an audio recording of the noise in the
bathroom and than process it and loop it through a stereo 24/7 and cancel the sound of the air movement
entirely?

Last thing I could try is moving my fan into the attic and put some distance with flex duct between it and the filter
but I think the sound of air intake would still be there. I also wonder if the amount of flex ducting I have on
the exhaust part could be lending to the intake noise issue as well. It's probably 23' of ducting that
comes straight up for about 2.5' than angles off at a 90 and drops back down gradually and runs flat.

Thoughts, ideas please let me know. Thanks for reading through my stoned rambling..

Very easy fix -- hopefully this helps. Most of the sound you are hearing in the bathroom is vibrational noise. This is because you have the filter on the shelf and the fan on top of the filter. Fan shakes, can shakes, wall shakes. Lift the fan off the can33 and connect the 2 with 6" insulated ducting. Hang the fan suspended from where permits and use bungee cords to hang the fan. Voila! Fan vibrational noise is decoupled by the bungees and the fan vibrates happily while you pee in silence...

 

[ffejrey]

So I've read 16 pages of this thread, but this question is kind of specific... hoping someone can help...

my rooms will be in my crawlspace... it's the best spot for it, however, i have one major issue...

my ventilation system, will be 100% contained in the crawl space. My main goal is to vent this exhast through my roof (possibly merging ducts with my bathroom exhaust fan so i don't have to punch another hole in the roof)..

i mainly want to do this so that any air that might possibly escape and may smell, (i am putting a can fan filter on it tho) will be released about 20 feet in the air, above anyone's head walking by...

i was planning to use reducers and run the exhaust through my walls (i'm very handy, i just gutted and rebuilt 90% of my house) using 2" PVC pipe... my main concern now is noise, if i try to send out roughly 150-300 CFM worth of air up through a 2" pipe (the duct started at 6") - won't all that air rushing through such a small pipe create a shitload of noise?

would i be safe enough to vent the air out into the crawl space, since it'd be after my carbon filter? what if i did that and put an air ionizer or two in the crawl space to double neutralize anythign that got passed the carbon filter..?

I'm super super super cautious. my whole room will be 100% soundproof, light-proof, air tight etc. my only remaining problem is where to vent the air.

If you do vent into your crawl space, it is sealed from the house and your growing space you might want to consider a ozone generator. They are relatively inexpensive, quiet and work well for odor elimination. Only drawback is that ozone is not good for the lungs or plants to breathe -- on any level (as in parts per million...).

Another thing you want to consider is that just like with every 90 degree bend in ducting you lose ~40% efficiency, reducing your duct will create turbulence and back pressure reducing your cfm dramatically. From a 6" duct to a 2" duct you are losing about 80% of your capability... (surface area of a circle is pie x radius squared). I wouldn't think sound would be any issue at 300 cfm from a 2" duct out side...

 

[cymbaline]

Very easy fix -- hopefully this helps. Most of the sound you are hearing in the bathroom is vibrational noise. This is because you have the filter on the shelf and the fan on top of the filter. Fan shakes, can shakes, wall shakes. Lift the fan off the can33 and connect the 2 with 6" insulated ducting. Hang the fan suspended from where permits and use bungee cords to hang the fan. Voila! Fan vibrational noise is decoupled by the bungees and the fan vibrates happily while you pee in silence...

thanks for the reply yet I'm about 99.9999% positive;
this is most definitely not a vibration noise. This is all air movement.
The shelf has thick eggcrate foam on it which the filter sits on. I even doubled the foam and the noise still persists, since it's the air making the noise and not the vibration. I was looking into using mass loaded vinyl on the wall.Instead I have found a humidifier strategically located is the white noise I needed. Unless someone sticks their ear to the wall they probably still won't know what they are hearing.

 

[ffejrey]

thanks for the reply yet I'm about 99.9999% positive;
this is most definitely not a vibration noise. This is all air movement.
The shelf has thick eggcrate foam on it which the filter sits on. I even doubled the foam and the noise still persists, since it's the air making the noise and not the vibration. I was looking into using mass loaded vinyl on the wall.Instead I have found a humidifier strategically located is the white noise I needed. Unless someone sticks their ear to the wall they probably still won't know what they are hearing.

No disrespect but egg crate is sub par, these pads work well and are cheap:

http://shop3.mailordercentral.com/supersoundproofing/products.asp?dept=25

They are awesome both the dimple and the cork - honestly... and are $5 to $7 bucks a piece - I suggest using four underneath a piece of ply for best results. (Both separated by ply is incredible even for heavy items like 100 lb portable A/Cs) Leagues better than egg crate I promise...

If you are hearing a "whooshing sound" (air noise) it's not coming from the can filter inlet and you say you're using insulated ducting so all you can do is add a duct muffler:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=duct+muffler+6"&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

If you are exhausting in to another room, using the can filter SECURELY fitted to insulated ducting and the filter - which you say you are... I would bet you $50 bucks suspending the fan with bungees will solve your problem (and quicker, easier and cheaper than buying something online...). Hey $50 bucks is almost the cost of a duct muffler!

 

[phonesystem]

I have a 6" inline that moves 435 cfm. It was pretty loud until I hooked it up to my carbon filter and all all the ducting. That did wonders for the sound on its own. Probably not much help, but you should remember that in an apartment, there is no insulation on the inner walls separating rooms. However, there is insulation in the walls that separate the different apartments in order to cut down on noise, so it's probably not as loud as you think it is next door.

ya i find it so great. I like it