Noise Reduction from your Cabinet Grow

[TrichomusCaesar]

Hey, I was just sitting here, smoking some bud, and thinking of ways to sound-proof my cabinet. This is where you folks come in handy. I need your opinions on how to do this as well......They always say that two heads are better than one, so seems right to assume that twenty thousand heads are better than one as well.

Ok...a cabinet to house a 150W cool-tubed HPS and carbon scrubber is in order....fan being used is a 4 inch 152cfm elicent that will be tuned down to 50% speed...and maybe a bit less.

Now....this is still a bit too noisey for my taste.....I am looking for noise-proof or next to it.

I was thinking of using a 4inch duct, covered with an inch of insulation....then covered by a 6 inch duct. But how could I close the ends of the outer ducting to not expose the insulation in the cabinet....

What about using a 6 and 8 inch duct instead of 4 and 6? Air should flow better with a larger diameter duct....just want to know your opinions.

As for the type of ducting...I assume the smooth aluminim ducting is better than the flexible ribbed type.
hmmmm.

I'll also be adding a couple feet of said ducting to the outside of the cabinet....but in a straight line to minimize air flow loss.

The fan also makes vibration noise when suspended in the cab....so it will have to be hung by bungee cords....is there anything that absorbs more noise than rubber cords? What if I hung the chords(attached to the fan) with another set of chords? More noise reduction?

I was also thinking of covering the wood panels of the cab with some sort of noise absorbing material.....but I dont know what.....Anyone have ideas?

Ballast will be remote....and away from the box.....but we cant do anything about that cuz of the heat.

Anyone else have any ideas? The more, the merrier.

I'm looking for the maximum amount of noise reduction possible.....so give me your ideas/experience, etc.....please

 

[Ono Nadagin]

You can use dynamat http://www.dynamat.com/ ( a sound deadening mat for car stereo installers... it is an adhesive backed mat that sticks in place... or you can spray rhino huide or some other truck bed covering on things to deaden sound.. both are widely used to sound deaden in vehicals

 

[TrichomusCaesar]

Hey Ono Thanks for stoppin' by.

Thats a great idea...I'm going to look into the dynamat thing. Probably work well to apply it to the outside of the cab. Any ideas on cost/square foot?

Anyone else with ideas?

 

[Ono Nadagin]

Ill call a few buddies and ask them where they get it wholesale... and how much cheaper that isthan retail....

a 6.67sqft section of their extreme dynamat is $55 it is made for use on sheetmetal
a spray can that covers 4sqft is $25... these are retail prices...

Also dynamat makes thespray on liner but it is pretty mych just the truckbed liner but more exspensive as it is made by Dynamat

 

[Guest]

dont use aluminum ducting..use pvc to deaden the sound, it also eliminates wind lag.

 

[TrichomusCaesar]

Right on....I was thinking about using PVC too..very dense compared to aluminum. 4inch PVC covered with insolation and 6 inch ducting....would probably be very quiet.

Good stuff....Already making progress

 

[Guest]

They will sell ya a section of foam for under the carpet at a hardware store for prety damn cheap..It comes in different density's and thickness...I like the 6lb density with 3/8 inch thickness....it should be the black stuff. Anyway wrap the tube and bingo...dead silence...its flexible- it can wrap anything, it comes in handy to silence air stone bubblers or triple it up in small chunks to damper vibrations. Remember, one side has a thin film which protects it from absorbing moisture-make sure that its on the outside of the wrap. Good Luck M8!

 

[Guest]

insulation can be messy,expensive, and hazardous to your health. I would not recommend it as a sound barrier

 

[TrichomusCaesar]

Great info! I'll be looking for that carpet foam.

 

[Guest]

Glad to be of help TC oh and btw the larger diameter tube will make less noise, as air can travel more freely.

 

[TrichomusCaesar]

Thing is....PVC has a melting point of 70 degrees celcius....you think the air from the hot HPS will go that high?

 

[Guest]

what size hps is it? a 1000w with a good intake from a fresh air source should run fairly cool with a 490 cfm or higher blower. I mean i think 70 celcius is about 158 Fahrenheit..thats enough to fry me some eggs in the mornin. YeeHaa

 

[TrichomusCaesar]

its a 150

6 inc pvc ductin, covered in high density carpet foam.. having the box covered and the fan hung by bungee chords hooked up to a piece of foam at the top...

sounds like now we're getting somewhere on the noise front

 

[Dreamscape]

Although i've not built a cab I was doing some serious research into building vocal booths and sound isolated rooms for audio recording and the general rule of thumb is the more DENSE the material the better - therefore If you were to cut some 5/8 drywall and prepare it properly , i'd say you could make a cab out of that and have some good success with deadening the sound.

goodluck
~ Dream

ps. cool name

 

[Guest]

Hail Caesar - LOL

I'd go with 6" ducting as it will drop the air velocity by 1/2 by doubling the area of the ducting.

Smooth tubing is another option since the noise is caused by turbulance in the air flow.

Check out my 150 HPS cab design . I use a computer fan on the cool-box with a muffler and separately ventilate and scrub with another computer fan. It's very quiet.

 

[hazeywonder]

In larger room the best thing to do is have 2 doors. How big is your cab. You might be best off putting your cabinet in a larger cabinet. if you know what I mean. You could use the open space to silence your air intake and vents.

 

[Guest]

line your cab with a material called "peal n seal" the company claims to make it for several other companies who sell it as dynamat type material. its about a quarter the price and it works, i used it for stereo competitions. other than that, building a box to house the fan itself in and using sound damping foam material and covering it in dynamat as well as using insulated 6 or 8 inch ducting will deffinitly help, i'm still designing my cab after 6 months.. experimenting with it. because in my case, noise is no option. its either next to silent, or it isnt usuable. best of luck.

 

[Guest]

TC

Any chance you could put your cab inside a closet and your ventilation fan up in an attic? Then hang the fan from bunji cords….have heard bicycle inner tube works well also. I know some people hate the thought of cutting holes in their walls, etc. but dang, this sure worked out perfect for me.

Bh