Thread: Suitable sound deadening material

Simple 50mm polystyrene will make a big reduction in the noise, but normaly you will also need to design a baffle system to allow for cooling

You need a mix of heavy (dense) and light materials to be really effective against noise and
Heavy/Dense can be MDF but - the more the better. I reckon around a 30 mm thickness is needed or it will just resonate like a drum.
For the light stuff I used old polyurethane foam mattresses.

As China says you need cooling air pathway which undermines whatever you use unless it is thought through..
I found a passive cooling pathway to be ineffective in a small box (17 cuft) and so I use forced air cooling ( a 4.5" diam, 100 cfm 240V fan .
Full details of my setup are here.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/b...ml#post1378982

Thanks China and Bob. China I've got a couple of polystyrene boxes that fruit was stored in I think but they'd be only 15mm or so thick, do you know if that would be any help at all or do you need it to be at least 50mm?

Originally Posted by Tiger

Thanks China and Bob. China I've got a couple of polystyrene boxes that fruit was stored in I think but they'd be only 15mm or so thick, do you know if that would be any help at all or do you need it to be at least 50mm?

I reckon you will need more than 15 mm. At least double but triple would better.

I am just starting to do some work on sound deadening my cyclone. I thought I might enclose the frame with an outside layer of 16mm MDF then a sheet of Aldi/Bunnings interlock rubber floor mat, then a layer of Bradford Sound Screen batts.

Anyone got some thought on this approach?

Thanks,

Safari

Originally Posted by safari

I am just starting to do some work on sound deadening my cyclone. I thought I might enclose the frame with an outside layer of 16mm MDF then a sheet of Aldi/Bunnings interlock rubber floor mat, then a layer of Bradford Sound Screen batts.

Anyone got some thought on this approach?

Thanks,

Safari

I only thought you had to muffle the outlet using insulated foil tubing?

I have already done that BobL (see pictures in my "cyclone installation" thread) and it is still way too noisy for me. John Samual also had some sort of cloth material wrapped around the impeller housing but I thought that a few extra layers might help to cut the noise even further.

We worked on a couple of high end inner city apartments that needed some sound proofing work and one of the acoustic engineers told us you essentially need mass-air-mass to block most sound. Something like soundchek plasterboard on one side of a timber frame then battens on resilient mounts to form an air space then another layer of soundchek.
Years ago when I was in high school mates of mine formed a band and they practised in an old shed that had been lined with egg cartons then a layer of ply over that. Surprisingly effective and a similar principle to what the acoustic engineer had us do many years later.

Stewie

Polystyrene wont do squat, to be blunt.

You want mass and absorption. Build a box, line with high density insulation (I prefer polyester but you can use fibreglass). But then it needs venting as it'll get hot or in the case of the compressor an intake (and outtake)

Have a read of Soundproofing Products - Soundproof Walls, Ceilings, Floors and Rooms for general information (its the best source material online IMO)

Thanks StewieD. Your comments confirm that my thoughts are on the right track - just using different materials

I was looking at doing something similar to


https://www.woodworkforums.com/f13/co...ilation-43903/

as it's fairly easy to build, stewie and Ellil, this won't work if your suggestions are right?

Now I don't normaly shop at harvey Norman shops but I was there today as they gave me the best price on a new TV, but what I did get was some polystrine sheets at least 50mm thick and all free. Go around to the warehouse section where you pick up goods etc and look for the skip. I just asked and they could not give it to me fast enough, anything to help empty their skip, so a visit each day and you will have skip loads of the stuff, beats paying for it.

SB

Another from band practice years ago - got any old carpet?

I orignally used 50mm polystyrene to quiet down my dust extractor encloseur with corrogated colourbond outer layer as it was outside, it reduced the noise outside 63.74% ( Adelaide University Mechanical Engineering Dep) to be blunt.
This was enough to keep the neighbours happy and produced less noise than a power drill