How to muffle Ballast Noise

[skylined]

Hey all,
I am wondering what methods to use to muffle the noise of my ballasts. Both are quite loud and I do not want the sound being transmitted on the floor or walls as I have neighbors. What are some things I can do to shut them up?

Peace,
~Skylined

 

[CCronik]

Suspend them from the ground with bungie cords or just buy a digital ballast.

 

[bounty29]

I took a little rockwool cube, split it into 4 pieces, and put one under each corner of my ballast box. Worked very well for stopping vibrations from traveling, plus helps with ventilation.

 

[senseless]

a properly built ballast will humm very little if not at all.

the humming sound is from something being loose, either the transformer, capacitor, ignitor or the ballast housing. if its a professionally built ballast i would take it back to the retailer and swap it for a diffrent one. or if you built it yourself then make sure everything is tight.

 

[Haps]

Take a drive behind a strip mall and find some foam, make sure it can handle the warmth, the rigid/flexible tv box foam is what I am using. Dollar store sponges should also work, but will compress and become less effective in time.
H

 

[bounty29]

a properly built ballast will humm very little if not at all.

Magnetic ballasts vibrate, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with them, just how they work.

 

[senseless]

vibrating is normal but that shouldnt make much noise. its when something is loose inside the ballast so when it vibrates it shakes the loose piece and makes it hum.

whenever ive made enclosed ballast lights into remote ballast 150w,250w,400w, they hum somewhat but after im done with them they dont because ive tightened everything down.

 

[bounty29]

ah ok, sorry I misunderstood. I thought he meant noise from the vibrations carrying through the floor or wall or wherever the ballast is mounted.

 

[Gunnarguchi]

Build a bow out of MDF og HDF fiber, cover it with drywall plating and put the ballast inside screwing it on with some kinda rubber between the box and the ballast.
As silent as it gets.
You might have to drill some small holes in the box if it gets hot.
dont drill the holes to big or you will loose effect.
better to make box bigger instead.

 

[clowntown]

I was thinking about this today. So you're saying... if all parts are mounted correctly, a ballast (of any age) should make little to no noise? I've seen many people complain about how noisy their older ballasts are... is this purely due to parts becoming loose over the years, creating more vibration? If so, would taking it apart and re-tightening them or otherwise adjusting them to their like-new configuration get the noise level back on track?

While on the topic... what makes older ballasts less efficient? I've read multiple times that as a ballast becomes older, it becomes less efficient. Which part(s) "wears out", and in what way(s)?

 

[pineappaloupe]

clowntown: my guess is that the biggest wear that can decrease efficiency is the coil around the ballast, which creates all of the heat. more heat = more energy lost. i inherited a very old hydrofarm ballast that had an output to the capacitor that was a very odd voltage, so no capacitors could be found to replace it. my guess is that the general design of that type of ballast is less efficient.

i agree with all of the above, magnetic ballasts are based on a part physically moving at 60hz to turn ac to dc and charge the capacitor within its desired time. so they make noise. a better ballast makes less noise.
I have a feeling that the extra cost of mounting to make a quiet ballast is not cost effective in regards to demand of quiet ballasts. most people do not demand silent ballasts. Dampening materials may also be more flammable. ive put mine on very small stryofoam blocks, on wire frame shelf. ive seen a ballast explode before... keep them far away from anything that can ignite.
that being said, I have a 1k switchable CAP ballast that rocks. you can still hear it but my 600w Sunsystem 1 makes more noise.

 

[clowntown]

my guess is that the biggest wear that can decrease efficiency is the coil around the ballast,

How does the coil get "worn"? I'm a complete noob when it comes to these things, but it appears that the coil is wrapped around some metal with some insulating (?) tape wrapped around it (= transformer?).

magnetic ballasts are based on a part physically moving at 60hz to turn ac to dc and charge the capacitor within its desired time

I wasn't aware there were any moving parts in a ballast, besides as a side effect from the "hum" that's generated, I'm guessing, by the restrictive (?) flow of electricity.

I have a feeling that the extra cost of mounting to make a quiet ballast is not cost effective in regards to demand of quiet ballasts. most people do not demand silent ballasts.

This is a very good logical explanation on why some ballasts, especially older ones (perhaps before indoor hobby growing was as big a hobby as it is today), are quite loud from the get-go.

ive seen a ballast explode before... keep them far away from anything that can ignite.

That's pretty scary. What caused it? Wrong input voltage such as 240v input on a 120v wired ballast? Or other failure in mid-operation?

that being said, I have a 1k switchable CAP ballast that rocks. you can still hear it but my 600w Sunsystem 1 makes more noise.

My first ballast was a Sun System (forgot what model) 400w switchable ballast. It was pretty loud (bzzZZZ!!!) even from a brand-new unit out of the box. I also remember that some heavy part inside wasn't mounted properly: If I tipped the ballast at beyond a 45-ish degree angle, I could hear and feel a large metal part tipping over... a loud CLUNK! type noise accompanied by the sudden switch in center of gravity. I never opened it up to find out, as I wasn't sure whether this is normal behavior or not... and I didn't want to void warranty by breaking the tamper-evident sticker. In hindsight I'm guessing that it was most likely the transformer that somehow either wasn't mounted properly from the manufacture process (quick, cheap, low-QA'd work at a sweatshop I'm sure) or somehow became loose during transportation.

My new Hydrofarm XtraSun 1kW ballasts are very quiet, and from what I can gather, quite well built with a much nicer aluminum enclosure w/ heatsinks and more cooling louvers. (Thanks slips for the recommendation! ) They also cost me less money than what I paid for that Sun System piece of crap, which had a flat steel enclosure with just a few lame louvers.

One small "modification" that I made on my XtraSun's to passively cool them (they run noticeably cooler) is to crack open the panel... the panel with the louvers, opposite of the corded side:

• Remove the top two screws on the panel
• Loosen the bottom two screws on that panel
• Re-install the top two screws, but under the panel instead to create a gap. Screw it in by hand, just enough to secure it w/o wobbling. This just serves as the spacer
• Tighten the bottom two screws; not so tight that it will bend the plate, just tight enough to keep the plate from flopping around or otherwise moving.

This basically opens that side up creating something like a 10-ish degree angle on that plate, with the open side facing up. A much larger and more effective heat vent, in other words. I felt that the holes drilled on the top and the louvers on one side weren't really that great at removing much of the hot air, and also didn't want to leave that side completely open for safety reasons (I'd hate to accidentally bump into it and get a 240v shock). I've thought about getting some axial fans and mounting them onto that side for cooling, but I don't really feel that's necessary. Maybe one day I'll get a small 12" fan to blow on all of the ballasts to help cool them, I'm not sure. (I hear heat kills capacitors.)

(The tamper-evident sticker adhesive was extremely weak, and pretty much peeled off by itself. I couldn't even keep it in place if I wanted to, at first. However, it turns out that the glue on it was somehow activated by the heat, and now I can't get 'em off. Tricky bastards... or was this a bug, and not a feature? )

 

[pineappaloupe]

clowntown: I am not sure what parts move in a magnetic ballast but everything I have read attributes the noise to a moving part.
The coil in the ballast does all of the hard work, the other elements are tuned to the voltage, current and frequency of the electricity that leaves the ballast. It get very hot, and vibrates as electricity is converted from AC to DC (60 oscillations of current direction every minute).

My ballast exploded because the person who rewired it to 240 messed up, the neutral line was still in place from the 120 setup, so an extra 120V went through that line. It was really really crazy. Luckily I test everything first on a concrete floor, standing near the breaker. And the garage door was open... I managed to kick a flaming ballast out of a garage door with 2 moves, over 30 ft.

I can't say enough about the GPF breakers. I will never plug anything that pulls more than 5A into anything but one. They cost $120 for a 30A breaker but the peace of mind is priceless.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

a properly built ballast will humm very little if not at all.

the humming sound is from something being loose, either the transformer, capacitor, ignitor or the ballast housing. if its a professionally built ballast i would take it back to the retailer and swap it for a diffrent one. or if you built it yourself then make sure everything is tight.

no man ballasts start to hum the older they get.

i thought there was a thing that oscilated at 60hz inside to make the thing "tick"?

i had a 600W hf ballast that got so dam loud it started to buzz. so i know they buzz/humm.

the bulb isnt really 'on' it gets 60 energy spikes a second making 'waves' of light. the ballast is limiting the power so it turns on for a hz, allows some juice to flow, then stops for 1 hz, then starts again. all this start/stop or /oscilating current causes the buzz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast
elec charge->
elec release->
bulb wave[light]->
elec charge->
elec release->
bulb wave[light]->
thats the 2NS life of a ballast by my understanding.



this bitch hums.


these dont.


HHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

 

[resinryder]

Damn DH. That's some serious lighting ya got going on.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

Damn DH. That's some serious lighting ya got going on.

never hought about it...but yea...
7 1K's
4 600's

 

[ooga booga]

I found out that the noise comes from the transformer block plates. Not the electric humming, but the buzzing & rattling. Typically the only thing that holds these plates together is the lacquer applied on them. After wear & tear and heat, they will loosen up and make that noise. I've read about people who drilled holes in the plates and installed a small bolt to tighten the plates together, quite effectively reducing / eliminating that noise. I think a "C"-clamp could accomplish the same, but I'm curious exactly what role the metal plates play in a ballast. In other words, by adding an extra amount of conductive metal, will this affect the ballast's performance one way or another? My Hydrofarm XtraSun ballast has holes in the plates already, so if they ever start rattling all I should need are some nuts & bolts.

I recall I had a brand-new 400w switchable Sun System making this buzzing noise. Wonder if it was just poor quality, perhaps refurbished internals in a new enclosure, or what. I also remember something big & heavy in it was seriously loose, I think the transformer / ballast wasn't mounted securely. When I tipped the ballast over 45 degrees, I could hear / feel something heavy go ***CLUNK*** inside, easily shifting the center of mass.

 

[kaljukajakas]

I think a "C"-clamp could accomplish the same, but I'm curious exactly what role the metal plates play in a ballast. In other words, by adding an extra amount of conductive metal, will this affect the ballast's performance one way or another?

Ballasts have their cores made from steel plates instead of solid metal to prevent eddy currents. It helps with efficiency. If you modify the plates in any way it will almost certainly have a negative impact on the ballast performance. Don't know how much though, it could make it like 0,5% less efficient or something. Probably nothing to worry about. If you put a 1/2" thick piece of wood between the ballast and the C-clamp the effect should be pretty nonexistent. Alternatively you could put some high temperature epoxy (I've seen epoxy that can take over 500 deg. F), silicone or even muffler repair paste between/on the plates to prevent rattles.

 

[Cakes]

clowntown: I am not sure what parts move in a magnetic ballast but everything I have read attributes the noise to a moving part.

the moving part is when the electricity jumps from one electrode to another. as it crosses the gap it is exposed and can be seen if SWIM was a tiny man inside the ballast. since SWIM could see it as it moves across the gap it is called a moving part.

 

[jordas]

there are no actual moving parts or pieces in a transformer / ballast........noise is usually from loose parts inside such as a loose transformer........these do vibrate a little from the line changes in our AC electricity and can cause the bolts to come loose holding down parts over time........