Silencing/slowing down inline fan?

[TroubleGuy]

First so there's no confusion, I don't need a duct muffler/duct silencer. That's taken care of. This is about the fan itself making too much noise.

Has anyone seen or come up with some good ways to reduce the amount of sound heard from the fan? I have a box on it now but it's still too loud. I'd prefer not to use a speed controller cause I need it running at full blast to clear the air effectively.

 

[Calimed]

I bought a bunch of 6 inch duct muffler casings and wrapped them around the fan, essentially making a big egg LOL. It isn't the most pretty, but with some duct tape to hold it together, my fan is much more quiet. It is cheap too. Like 5 bucks a bag at home depot.

 

[TroubleGuy]

someone in chat gave me the idea of wrapping an old sleeping bag around it. i just went and bought a cheap one that should work, i'll do it when the lights go back on and see how it works!

 

[badugi]

Depends on the kind of noise you're trying to stop. You said you had a box build around the fan. What's it made of? How is it constructed and mounted?

 

[Schizophrenic]

I've seen the sleeping bag trick done before. Seemed to work.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Please excuse the crappy execution (hint: NEVER mix panic, flu and power tools) but, it worked like a charm.



Note: The only way to silence an inline is to unplug it. An operating inline fan CANNOT be silenced. Period. No matter what you do, even Helen Keller will hear it and she's not only deaf, she's dead.

Your three choices are: Move the fan out of the room, lock visitors out of the room, pin the noise on a patsy (like an old freezer, aquarium, computer server, window fan, etc)

 

[kushkommander]

Please excuse the crappy execution (hint: NEVER mix panic, flu and power tools) but, it worked like a charm.



Note: The only way to silence an inline is to unplug it. An operating inline fan CANNOT be silenced. Period. No matter what you do, even Helen Keller will hear it and she's not only deaf, she's dead.

Your three choices are: Move the fan out of the room, lock visitors out of the room, pin the noise on a patsy (like an old freezer, aquarium, computer server, window fan, etc)

so that cooler trick there didnt affect the sound coming from the fan? what size is that there a 6"? I need to do something similar to my 4" inline just so I can sleep in peace at night haha

 

[fatcat666]

rubbermaid container filled with cotton batting . makes my actual 675cfm fan almost silent. except that the air blowing through the duct and out of the end even with the duct muffler sounds like a fuckin jet engine

no need to spend money on $$$ cooler and definately put it straight through lengthwise and not that strange way fridge glasses guy did

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Look at posh "Acoustic fans" made by Vent Axia and people, bodge up ghetto version, FreezerBoy is spot on... remember not to make something that bursts into flames too quickly, Firemen are Grasses.......

 

[TroubleGuy]

solved this problem awhile ago.

 

[FreezerBoy]

so that cooler trick there didnt affect the sound coming from the fan? what size is that there a 6"? I need to do something similar to my 4" inline just so I can sleep in peace at night haha

That's a 4" and the cooler made a huge difference. Without it I couldn't have kept using the fan (though that could be said of teflon duct, speed control, muffler or, the mountain of foam and blankets it hid under too) It was still too loud to let anyone in the garage or near the driveway with the door open. Even if it had worked, the hardware alone blew my hide in plain sight stealth out of the water.

I've got a 4" S&P now. Fits in the cab. MUCH quieter. Lacks the power of an inline but, I'm trying to get by on the low setting. I can always go from 100 to 135 cfm. I'm not comfortable with people getting right next to it like the old axial days but, at least I can let them into the garage now.

 

[kushkommander]

That's a 4" and the cooler made a huge difference. Without it I couldn't have kept using the fan (though that could be said of teflon duct, speed control, muffler or, the mountain of foam and blankets it hid under too) It was still too loud to let anyone in the garage or near the driveway with the door open. Even if it had worked, the hardware alone blew my hide in plain sight stealth out of the water.

I've got a 4" S&P now. Fits in the cab. MUCH quieter. Lacks the power of an inline but, I'm trying to get by on the low setting. I can always go from 100 to 135 cfm. I'm not comfortable with people getting right next to it like the old axial days but, at least I can let them into the garage now.

lol glasses on fridge guy....so anyways freezer boy do you think putting my inline a cooler similar to that will make it quiet enough to sleep in the same room? thats all im trying to accomplish...because sometimes it will wake me up in the night and it pisses me off recently with my back problems....I may try a rubbermaid or some other container but i think the cooler seems thicker which might block out more sound.

 

[genegenie]

Hey freezerboy,
Just saw your fan in a cooler and thought I might give some advice if that's cool.
If you put the fan's outlet on the right side of the box, instead of the bottom, you'd have a much smoother flow of air through the box and the fan would be able to do it's job better and cool your growroom down that little bit more, maybe even enough so you could get a fan controller and turn it down a knotch.
Also I don't see why you don't have the silencer connected straight to the outlet of the fan, it would eliminate the need for you to have the 2 foot of ducting you have connecting the fan to the silencer and the noise the air makes while passing through it.
Hope it helps,
GG Peace
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[FreezerBoy]

lol glasses on fridge guy....so anyways freezer boy do you think putting my inline a cooler similar to that will make it quiet enough to sleep in the same room? thats all im trying to accomplish...because sometimes it will wake me up in the night and it pisses me off recently with my back problems....I may try a rubbermaid or some other container but i think the cooler seems thicker which might block out more sound.

Possibly. I could but, that's too subjective. It was no longer noise level (the SaturnV at liftoff feel was gone) it was the sheer inappropriateness of the sound. It had no excuse to exist in a residential neighborhood. Sit next to a stream and you don't even notice the trickling sound. It belongs there. Water trickiling in the bedroom? No such thing. Now it's Chinese water torture. "What's that sound and where is it coming from?" Not a question we want to hear, let alone answer.

Hey freezerboy,
Just saw your fan in a cooler and thought I might give some advice if that's cool.

Please do. I freely admit my execution sucks. I can only plead that panic, 104º fever, credit cards and powertools make a very bad mix. I replaced the Elicent setup for an S&P that fits inside the freezer but, others will benefit from your advice.

 

[RicoT]

Freezerboy are you saying the S&P is the superior fan as far as noise? And is it as efficient as the others?

 

[cannaboy]

Sounds like you need to get a fan with a diamiter twice the size and the same extraction rate, bigger diamiter fans pull more at a timemaking it quiter becauce its slower, on the other hand you can get a turbo twice the size and volume and use a speed controler. Smart growers use 16" duct mate.