Thread: ACOUSTIBLOK: sound deadening for dust collectors (and other machines)?

I looked into loaded vinyl for a project at work about 10 years where we had a 14 x14 x 4+ m lab that had major noise generation and reflection problems, so bad that lab users had to wear ear muffs continuously.
From memory there were several grades/thicknesses and the better (thicker Stuff) was at the time about $3/ft² plus shipping so this worked out to be more than 14 grand to cover the ceiling and all 4 walls.. This was also at the cheaper end of the fancier acoustic treatments available at the time.

In the end we went for a slightly different approach of using acoustic tiles (75mm thick polystyrene sheets clad with a loaded vinyl) but just for the ceiling. These tiles were even more expensive but supposedly better targeted the frequencies of concern. We only used the tiles on the ceiling and including installation it ended up costing ~$20k.
Disappointingly it did not make the improvement we expected and the lab users still had to wear muffs.

The only current prices I can see on-line are US$ prices that are around the same price as 10 years back, especially if shipping and the usual AUS markup is taken into account
If so then 8ft x 8ft x 3 fit DC enclosure will cost about $600 to do the ceiling and all 4 walls

For an small volume like an impeller it is probably worth it but there are guys on the forum that have more or less solved that problem with conventional materials anyway

In terms of using this on machinery one needs to be very careful not to over thermally insulate machines that need cooling and in the end this stuff cannot be just draped over a machine so a frame (and if outside a weatherproof cover) has to be built and aspects like air gaps around doors etc still need to be well sealed.. The frame cannot be too lightweight because (especially the thicker stuff) it's very dense.

Loaded vinyl does look easy to install and I have seen/heard it being used to make a sound barrier behind roller doors. It definitely made a difference but no hard specs have been provided about its efficacy.
If space is a premium they it definitely is worth using.
Using new conventional materials to achieve a similar noise reduction is likely to take longer but still be cheaper. If time is valuable to you then it may be worth considering.

However, there is no need to use new materials as there is usually more than enough second hand or salvage materials around the place.

My DC enclosure cost;
External Colorbond cladding and a bit of flashing $0 - leftovers from building the shed

• Pine frame - $0 - stuff all came out of builders skip bins from a major apartment development down the road
• 32 mm melamine office partition material, $0 came from a skip at my brothers workplace reno.
• 16 mm chipboard cladding came from a machine crate that I had kept.
• I had enough rock wool insulation left over from the shed reno - if you have to buy it a pack enough to clad a machine enclosure costs about $50
• To insulate the doors I used 75 mm thick foam rubber mattresses I found during hard rubbish collection

What I actually paid hard $ for were for a couple of packs of Tek screws, hinges and door fasteners all up about $50.

There are many other materials that can work - just have to keep your eyes and ears open.

The absolute best and zero cost stuff are the packing sheets from boxes of hard drives.

If you go to a yum-cha style computer shops like IJK, computermart or MSY, they receive boxes of 40 drives that each come with 2 large sheets of acoustic foam. It is super dense and designed to withstand high G's, high temperature, is insulating and blocks noise up to 110 dB.

They throw it away.

It's gray or yellow with those cool cone-ripple patterns.

Get them to save the sheets for you, they would each use several boxes a day, so enough to do a full enclosure would be collected in a month. A case of beer or two would ensure enthusiasm

Originally Posted by Evanism

The absolute best and zero cost stuff are the packing sheets from boxes of hard drives.

That will work for some frequencies but won't be so effective for others.
There is absolutely no substitute for a combination of High and Low density materials to stop sound transfer.
Anechoic chambers where sensitive or loud sound testing is performed would never use just the packing sheets from hard drive boxes.
The use a concrete bunker and the 250 - 500 mmm of foam padding inside the chamber.
They are incredibly erie places where you can hear your pulse not via your external but internal parts of your ear.

So the packing materials from hard drive boxes could be used on the inside of a DC enclosure but to stop more of the sound coming out that material would have to be backed by something denser or thicker like some layers of chipboard. Lead sheets are very effective.

Originally Posted by BobL

That will work for some frequencies but won't be so effective for others.
There is absolutely no substitute for a combination of High and Low density materials to stop sound transfer.
Anechoic chambers where sensitive or loud sound testing is performed would never use just the packing sheets from hard drive boxes.
The use a concrete bunker and the 250 - 500 mmm of foam padding inside the chamber.
They are incredibly erie places where you can hear your pulse not via your external but internal parts of your ear.

So the packing materials from hard drive boxes could be used on the inside of a DC enclosure but to stop more of the sound coming out that material would have to be backed by something denser or thicker like some layers of chipboard. Lead sheets are very effective.

Perhaps that sticky-backed tar sheeting Bunnings sells? A sandwich of chipboard-tar-cheapoSheets.

Obviously I wasn't suggesting hard drive sheets for some high end Anechoic chamber...... der! I was suggesting it for his dust collection box!

Originally Posted by Evanism

Perhaps that sticky-backed tar sheeting Bunnings sells? A sandwich of chipboard-tar-cheapoSheets.

Yep that would be worth a go.

Obviously I wasn't suggesting hard drive sheets for some high end Anechoic chamber...... der! I was suggesting it for his dust collection box!

Sorry it wasn't that obvious to me. When someone writes. the "absolute best and zero cost stuff" , that doesn't sound like just for a DC.