Vortex.......wtf.....

[Lucky 7]

Thanks for all the input here. I've been considering fans for my set up here at Wong's and realize how little I know!

 

[Paradoxed]

u ggotta use insulated ducting, and u gotta wrap that reducer with insulation cut off a some insulated duct. then suspend vortex from bungy cords..you have to to eliminate that humm..and if it still buggin you, i cut the insulation off some insulated 8" ducting and used it to wrap around the vortex fan itself... that takes care of the fan itself..

now if u get air flow noise comming from the exaust, a make shift muffler is easy..i myself, once cut open my pillow and stuck the exhaust hose half way into the stuffing and duct taped it in place..work like a charm!

my 6" vortex sounded like a jet also.....

I suspended from the ceiling with bungy cords also..once flexible ducting was installed and "tuned" most of the whoshing sound subsided.
adjusted speedster fan controller....

the fan is 1 foot from my front walkway venting into attic. can barely hear a thing at 2/3 speed

I have found that the position of my ducting plays a big part in some of the sound and airflow.

I use a 58" x 58" tent in a 10 x 10 room in the garage. a 6" vortex thru two air cooled 400w hps with a diy carbon scrubber. so I have some unique air flow issues that can be a bit touchy, I have found that doing a scrog, once ducting is optimized, I don't move the lights. and I am fine. makes things easier overall. I still run mid 80's at the canopy tho.

 

[PharmaCan]

Looking at my Vortex fans, I'm guessing that air flow through the fan cools it sufficiently. Has anyone who has wrapped their fans or put them in boxes had any problems with the fan overheating?

PC

 

[JohnnyToke]

I mounted my 6" vortex's in the attic which eliminated their noise. don't hear them anymore. only thing heard in the grow room now is my pondmaster 40w air pump vibration (which I hate) and circulation fans.

JT

 

[mikecar312]

There's one local friend that knows about my grow and was the only one allowed inside the garage during the inline fiasco. The 4" Elicent is 10-15 dB quieter than the 6" Vortex. With quadruple silencing on the Elicent, it took less than 10 seconds for him to scrunch his face and ask what the hell the noise was. I think your landlord is deaf.

Everyone's situation is different. my fan was/is attached to a hood, filter and muffler and gives off a soft hum unnoticed to most people IMO. its extremely different from just plugging in the fan alone. maybe during the fiasco your garage echoed the sound of you fan louder than normal or maybe your local friend is extra sensitive to sound. maybe my landlord is deaf, i have no way of proving that so i won't argue. thank you for contributing your diy on how you solved the noise issue.

over these crazy two years of learning, i've had all sorts of people come by, (not because of the grow, but just because of life) and no one has made a comment about the air movement or even acknowledged its presence, after all, all it sounds like is a fan (which is pretty common in a house). this is from my experience and what has worked for me.

some people here complain about how loud the buzzing from their ballasts are, which has never been a problem to me. i've read complaints about how loud air pumps are. i also have an ezclone120 with a 950gph (i think) pump on a 6min/6min on/off schedule. i definitely hear it over both my vortex 6" and pana whisper fan 6" (which i never hear) when it cuts on and off. i'm more worried about the splashing sound of water than i am about soft air movement.

i don't want to steer anyone wrong. i personally own a few vortex fans in 6", 8", 12" <-jet turbine, elicent 6" and 8", squirrel cage dayton fan, and pana whisper fan. for those strictly seeking quietness and don't mind sacrificing air movement, then IMO pana whisper fan is an excellent choice for you (sometimes i don't know if its on). mine has been working fine for over a year on a 18/6 schedule but i think some people on icmag have had problems with this fan. some here also recommend the s&p brand. best of luck with your choice!

 

[SiR-GrOwS-aLoT]

no, wrapping your fan in insulation does not cause overheating as the fans motor is in the fans air stream thus cools itself

 

[FreezerBoy]

IMO pana whisper fan is an excellent choice for you (sometimes i don't know if its on). mine has been working fine for over a year on a 18/6 schedule but i think some people on icmag have had problems with this fan.

The Panasonics got glowing reviews from all new users. It seems, just recently, some are developing problems after considerable hours of operation. Whether this is an actual trend, or an example of the dissapointed to post more often, is something we'll have to wait on to see.

 

[zappa66]

I have a 120cfm pani whisper (inline style) and I use one of those big box fans on low to cover the noise. Its a lot louder than I thought it would be...but I can get away with it.

 

[G33k Speak]

Did know that injecting CO2 is almost silent??

Why exhaust the air at all""

Inject CO2, and you don't need to vent the air!!!

Use sealed lights and just remove the HEAT. Much more quiet, inexpensive and more productive.

Just sayin'.....

 

[Chaghatai]

There is no way that a vortex fan is as loud as a leafblower. The motor on a vortex is almost silent, it's mostly all that rushing air that makes the noise. A leaf blower on the other hand, I can hear from well over a block away through my homes exterior walls. And that's just the motor noise - I'm you can hear that two stroke engine well past the distance that you can hear the air.

A leaf blower is a loud gas engine, a vortex is a quiet electric motor. There is really no comparison.

Having said that, the air movement through the fan itself is loud, but if it was a leafblower freezerboy's fan would be still audible from outside with the door closed in spite of the silencing efforts. Vortex and elicent is as quiet as you can get cfm to cfm. Moving 400+ cfm simply costs a certian amount of noise...

 

[sunnydog]

Ths will help .........
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=1787984#post1787984

 

[Chaghatai]

One way to go quieter is giant ducts and slower, but large fans. I'm talking 12"+ here.

 

[hlep]

so i got the S&P TD125 fan in last night.... WOW!

the motor of the fan is basically silent and the fan itself is pretty small. its about 10" long and 5" in diameter. it fits right in the top back corner of my cabinet perfectly.

another thing is this fan does push some air, even with the static pressure that i was worried about...

i hooked up my vortex side by side to this fan...dial the 6" vortex to about 1/2-1/3 power with the speed controller and held my hand next to both fans. (keep in mind that the S&P was already hooked up in the cab with the filter, cooltube, and about 6-8' ducting total)

i held my hand next to both fan exhausts and surprisingly the S&P pushing almost the same amount of air of as the 6" vortex dial down to around 200 cfm.

the best part about the S&P is definitely the noise factor. after hooking it up in my cabinet, the noise is about the same as an air cooled computer. i put a very small hepa filter next to my cab and turned the hepa filter on low and masked the noise coming out of my exhaust.

PERFECT!

and...finally...what about the performance?

my 250watt cooltube is warm to the touch.... temps in cab are 68F (3F higher than ambient)

anybody who has doubts about these fans...let me tell you, this fan is a godsend for anybody growing where stealth is an issue. throw away your insulated centrifugal fans....these fans are the future!

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=1858598#post1858598

 

[jaw]

i actually thought my vortexs were pretty quiet, but i had walls inbetween my growroom an and living space