How loud is a 4' vortek/ DR120 question

[NorCalFor20]

I live in an appartment and I was wondering how loud a 4" vortek is because the kit i am ordering from bghydro includes a 4"vortek fan and a dutch breeze air filter here is the link let me know if it will be too loud.

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/customkititems.asp?kc=GRDR120KIT&eq=

 

[bounty29]

I have the 4" Vortex and it's in my cabinet in my bedroom. If you're in the bedroom, you'll know the noise is coming from the top of that white cabinet in the corner. I can have a fan, dehumidifier, or AC on within 5 feet of it but you can still tell there's a strong "whooshing" noise coming from the top of the cabinet. I have a speed controller, and while it makes the fan itself quieter, that's not the problem. The fan runs almost silent, it's just the amount of air that it moves that makes the noise. I've tried to muffle it but in order to get it quiet enough to not be noticed I lose my negative pressure and my door falls open and HPS orange comes shooting out, which draws a whole lot more attention.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I have an Elicent. 5-10 dB quieter than the Vortex. Quadruple silenced with: Speedster, fan isolation box, insulated ducting and DIY muffler, it could, with the garage door open, be heard all the way to the street 40 feet away.

I'm not talking bleeding ears or going deaf just, "What the hell is that ... sound ... that has NO BUSINESS in coming from a house?" If you heard that sound coming from the back of a commercial laundromat, you wouldn't think twice. With the possible exception of the stove fan, there's no excuse for that sound in the home.

Sound can be managed by keeping the fan and people seperate. Put the fan in the attic or lock people out of the grow room. Anyone in the room will KNOW there's huge honkin exhaust fan going and they'll want to know why.

 

[bounty29]

I have an Elicent. 5-10 dB quieter than the Vortex. Quadruple silenced with: Speedster, fan isolation box, insulated ducting and DIY muffler, it could, with the garage door open, be heard all the way to the street 40 feet away.

I'm not talking bleeding ears or going deaf just, "What the hell is that ... sound ... that has NO BUSINESS in coming from a house?" If you heard that sound coming from the back of a commercial laundromat, you wouldn't think twice. With the possible exception of the stove fan, there's no excuse for that sound in the home.

Sound can be managed by keeping the fan and people seperate. Put the fan in the attic or lock people out of the grow room. Anyone in the room will KNOW there's huge honkin exhaust fan going and they'll want to know why.

Something that was never made clear to me before I bought the Vortex.

Is there a quieter way to vent a cabinet through a carbon scrubber and maintain temps within 5 degrees of ambient? All I've got is a 150w, but I don't want the fan's motor to die because it's pulling through an inch of carbon.

 

[Cali smoke]

Hey norcal, just get a fan controller and you'll be fine. I have mine in the same room I sleep in pushing a lot of air into my closed off space and it's the oscillating fans that are the loudest, the vortex is pretty quiet on low and pushes a lot of air. I was bored so I shot a short vid to help give you an idea of how it sounds. It's on low from the start then I turn it to high then back to low again. http://www.zshare.net/video/12870086de76219b/

 

[bounty29]

That's exactly what everyone said, get a fan controller and you'll be fine. I got one, and it doesn't change the fact that it still blows a shit ton of air, because that's what it's made to do. Moving air makes noise, and moving air is required for negative pressure. If you turn the fan down so low that the moving air doesn't make any noise, but then you lose the negative pressure. Maybe it's just my situation, but if anybody went any farther than the doorway in my room they could tell within 3 seconds that there was air rushing out of my cabinet. Not good for stealth...

 

[swampdank]

your best bet, imo is to wrap the blower with insulation. i did this and it reduced the noise quite a bit. noise wasnt an issue for me, but heat was. so i wrapped the whole ducting with insulation. another thing that helped...

my ducting blows into a box, which in turn is open on the other side tolet the air exit the building. the box houses the filter. the ducting blows directly into the filter inside the box, then exits the hole on the other side. sound complicated but its not.

cut two 4 inch holes in a rubbermaid box, sit the filter inside with the end stuck through one of the holes, and connect to your ducting. the other hole is for exhausting the filtered air. a little caulk makes it air tight and way less noisy.

i dont know if this will help you, but maybe it will help somebody one day.

 

[Guest]

My 4" Vortex was loud until I connected my speed controller. I knew I was not going to need max cfm so I was prepared.

 

[HAPPYTREE]

if you leave the exhaust end open with know ducting/filter it will create a shitload of noise like Bounty says think jet engine. the fans are silent as hel but the swooshing air is well....SWOOOOSH. I used an over sized fan for my project(8inch vortex,4x5 space)
it was loud as hell until i added 20 feet of 8 inch insulated ducting to it .now you just here the low droan of the motor.theres plenty of ideas o how to cut the noise down HERE=
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637. and try to use the advanced search option
they also sell duct mufflers.

good luck grow safe
HT

 

[Gottagrow]

I shop at BGhydro as well check these out. I havent bought one but it might help.
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=AFADS04&eq=&Tp=



BTW I'm waiting for my rebate check to get 2 DR120s I have a DR40. How do you like the DR120 size and abilty to get rid of heat?

 

[FreezerBoy]

A speed controller will NOT silence an inline. It won't even come close. Again, I'm not talking about drowning out the Howitzer in the 1812 Overture. Properly muffled, you can sleep right next to it. The problem isn't noise level but noise appropriateness. Coming from an aircraft, a factory, an auto plant, the noise would be "invisible." Inside the house, it's a white elephant that demands explanation. There is no excuse for that sound to exist in a home.

I sleep with ear plugs on the road. Not because noise is too loud but, because it comes from the "wrong" direction. From my feet means someone is breaking into my studio, underneath means they've broken into the garage, from the left means they're in the quest room, above puts them on my roof. None of these "answers" are correct but, when sound and surroundings don't match, survival instincts kick in.

My axial isn't silent yet it's self explanatory. It looks like a freezer, it sounds like a freezer, it must be a freezer. The inline sounds like a huge honkin industrial exhaust fan. The question is, why is it coming from your bed? Beds don't require huge honkin industrial exhaust fans. Nor do closets or living rooms. Why is this wholly inappropriate noise coming from a place it doesn't belong? You're fighting 5 million years of evolution, survival instincts and curiosity.

 

[Daemon]

^^I don't know, I have 3 fans in my little apt and it sounds like an AC.

 

[Guest]

A speed controller will NOT silence an inline. It won't even come close. Again, I'm not talking about drowning out the Howitzer in the 1812 Overture. Properly muffled, you can sleep right next to it. The problem isn't noise level but noise appropriateness. Coming from an aircraft, a factory, an auto plant, the noise would be "invisible." Inside the house, it's a white elephant that demands explanation. There is no excuse for that sound to exist in a home.

I sleep with ear plugs on the road. Not because noise is too loud but, because it comes from the "wrong" direction. From my feet means someone is breaking into my studio, underneath means they've broken into the garage, from the left means they're in the quest room, above puts them on my roof. None of these "answers" are correct but, when sound and surroundings don't match, survival instincts kick in.

My axial isn't silent yet it's self explanatory. It looks like a freezer, it sounds like a freezer, it must be a freezer. The inline sounds like a huge honkin industrial exhaust fan. The question is, why is it coming from your bed? Beds don't require huge honkin industrial exhaust fans. Nor do closets or living rooms. Why is this wholly inappropriate noise coming from a place it doesn't belong? You're fighting 5 million years of evolution, survival instincts and curiosity.

You make it sound like everyone is going to experience the "dead-roommate trip" sooner or later. Relax brother. a speed controller won't silence a fan, but it will suppress the noise to an acceptable level. I know this. A muffler would be nice too.

 

[bounty29]

You make it sound like everyone is going to experience the "dead-roommate trip" sooner or later. Relax brother. a speed controller won't silence a fan, but it will suppress the noise to an acceptable level. I know this. A muffler would be nice too.

Maybe acceptable for you, but it is by no means stealthy. Like FreezerBoy said, it creates a noise that does not belong in a residence, aside from a bathroom or kitchen vent fan. I might try to add a bunch of ducting to the top of my cabinet, but I'm not sure how well that'll work.

 

[Guest]

Maybe acceptable for you, but it is by no means stealthy. Like FreezerBoy said, it creates a noise that does not belong in a residence, aside from a bathroom or kitchen vent fan. I might try to add a bunch of ducting to the top of my cabinet, but I'm not sure how well that'll work.

Nah man, you couldn't be more wrong; box fans are louder than my 4" Vortex.

 

[bounty29]

Ok. I also have a 4" Vortex, in case you missed that. The amount of air it moves makes noise, whether you think it does or not. Your opinion is just that, an opinion. It's in my bedroom, I listen to it every day, and it makes substantial noise, with a controller or without. Maybe you need your ears checked.

 

[Guest]

Ok. I also have a 4" Vortex, in case you missed that. The amount of air it moves makes noise, whether you think it does or not. Your opinion is just that, an opinion. It's in my bedroom, I listen to it every day, and it makes substantial noise, with a controller or without. Maybe you need your ears checked.

Ok ok, you're setup isn't stealthy; I believe you. For security reasons, I hope you get that sorted out real soon.

 

[FreezerBoy]

You make it sound like everyone is going to experience the "dead-roommate trip" sooner or later. Relax brother. a speed controller won't silence a fan, but it will suppress the noise to an acceptable level. I know this. A muffler would be nice too.

You're right about the first part. That and wanting to save people several hundred dollars they needn't spend or could spend better elsewhere. However, an inline cannot be suppressed to anything approaching stealth level by speed controls alone. I seriously doubt inline stealth can be achieved by any means other than: Removing the fan or the people from the room, or by moving the room to an industrial setting.

 

[Chomas]

brother it sounds like your apartment is more the problem than the blower...

What are the 3 most important aspects of real estate?
location, location, and location

 

[FreezerBoy]

brother it sounds like your apartment is more the problem than the blower...

What are the 3 most important aspects of real estate?
location, location, and location

Since when do dB ratings alternate by zip code?