Soundproofing a stand?

[Ram_Puppy]

Has anyone taken steps to soundproof a stand? My 115 is going to have two MD-70RLT's in it, and I think it will be a wee bit noisy (I think it is mostly the fans generating the noise). I have a buddy who just got done building an inhome sound studio, and has some sound absorbant foam (the same stuff studios use) scraps he is going to give me to try it out... I am a little leary of how this material may hold up in a salt air environment, and also, heat retention.

I have been doing reading all night on how to quiet them down, so far I have come up with:

Mount them with rubber, and or a padded mouse pad between pump and wood. this should eliminate or drastically reduce vibration.

Use flexible tubing ASAP coming off the return. This worries me, not sure I want to do it.

***

I also had a thought on actually removing the fan guard and using a long (about 3/4 of a foot) pvc pipe (to match girth of fan) and the putting baffles inside the pipe to slow the air down. (this is the same principle used in a silencer for a pistol). but space is limited, so not sure that is an option.

Also considered is building acrylic boxes that can be removed around the pumps and lining them with sound absorbant material (with fabric covered vent holes to facilitate air exchange.) (and acrylic because it's thin and easier to work with I expect than veneer.)

and advice you guys have would be extremely welcome.

[GaryP]

I wouldn't recommend anything that will restrict air movement to the pumps. After all this is how they are cooled. I'd wait and see how loud they really are first. I have a similar Panworld and its not loud at all. I can't hear it over the noise from the cooling fans in the hood.

Gary

[RobertG]

Use the absorber in the stand. I had this done on my 115G stand. It worked out great. I would not restrict the air to the pump fans. They will get hot. Also the pads under the pumps.

[NaCl_H2O]

I have a PanWorld 200PXX which I think is the same as the 70RLT. It really isn't that noisy (I did mount it on a rubber pad). It is plumbed with rigid PVC.

FWIW

[Ram_Puppy]

hmm.. well Maybe it was just the conditions i was running it in then, I had it out on bare concrete on my patio with the in-line going up and over a garbage can, and the out doing the same and living on the second story, I could hear it when I walked the dog outside... but then, mom always said I had sharp hearing... I will wait and see what it is like when they are mounted in the stand.

[NaCl_H2O]

I just looked at my suppliers website, the PanWorld is advertised as being "Even Quieter" than the Iwaki?

[ratboy]

For the plumbing I would use spa flex pvc tubing. Its more rigid than poly tubing and wont kink in turns. Also you can use normal pvc fittings and pvc glue to assemble your lines. You can get it at homedepot but its cheaper at a specialty plumbing supply (Crump's Plumbing in austin (burnet))
-Erik

[SBreef]

And if you really want to do something for sound proofing on the interior of the stand, try something like dyna mat. Dyna Mat is car audio sound dampening material. It is like real heavy tar paper, but not paper. You could also use it under the pumps.

Roy

[RobertG]

I would not use Dynomat, it is tar basically. It also gets brittle, & will crack eventually. It is used to elimanate vibration of metals. I would hate to have to clean up around that crap, it also stinks.

Robert

[reefer74]

Is your stand an open or closed back type of stand? I have heard that people use the same sound deadening material in their stands with great results, but by the same token I have also heard that some times heat becomes an issue. As long as you have some sort of ventilation for the area where your sump may be I don't think you'll have much of a problem with it, and will more than likely be happy with your noise factor. Definately use the flexible pvc to keep the vibration humm down to a minimum.

Johnny G.

[captexas]

From what I have heard, it seems the larger Iwakis tend to be alittle noisy. I think you should just go ahead and try using the material you have around the front and sides of the stand. As long as air can ventilate out the back you should be fine. And of course if it doesn't work, you can always remove it later.

[Richard]

I used 1' X 1' cork board squares that you can get at Arts & Crafts stores and a hot glue gun. It helped alot but my iwaki 100rlt was still a little annoying.

[Ram_Puppy]

Richard, when you say a little annoying, how are we talking you walk in and the hum assaulted you still? The 100 is a little bigger than the 70, so I am wondering if it is really overcomeable, plus, ther will be 2... the Stand design is not finished, I have been scared to start buliding it without the actual tank for reference... :)

[JimD]

If you want to soundproof something, you need mass mass mass,,,,, foam, cork, fiberglass insulation do very little to stop soundwaves from traveling through a wall, they do make fair sound absorbers or diffusers though, also known as acoustic treatment. Density (mass, did I mention mass?) is whats needed. If youre serious about "soundproofing" your stand, there are proven techniques that I have used personaly in my studio with tremendous success and Id be glad to share them if youre interested.

[Richard]

Well, I can still hear the hum from the pump. The tank is 4 feet behind my couch and it doesn't bother my wife but still annoys me. Before the corkboard it was intolerable. The stand was like a big echo chamber. But as JimD says the corkboard didn't make it soundproof. The iwaki 70 is much, much less noisy than the 100. We have the 70's running at the store and they are not too bad. I think with the 70 it would be easy to overcome any noise problems.

[Richard]

Oh, I have an iwaki 70 running my skimmer. When I turn off the the 100 I really haven't noticed any sound from the 70. Also I screwed the pumps onto a small board with foam padding glued on the underside. That seemed to help alot as well.

[MikeyBoy]

Where would you get the rubber mat used to put under the pumps and between the boards?

I need some of this stuff.

[Ram_Puppy]

I was thinking about using that neoprene pond liner they sell at home depot as a rubber mat, but I read on wetwebmedia that neoprene mousepads (the really spongy thick ones) work great. I think I have about 40 thousand of them laying around the house somewhere. :) (Tragic side effect of being in IT, and I don't even use a mouse pad with my optical mouse! )

Richard, thanks, Jim, the stuff I am thinking of lining the stands with is a studio quality sound absorber that a friend used to create an in-home stufio. I may line the inside of the stand with cork like richard did, and then lay the sound absorbinb material ontop of it. Denisty matters for sure, but I think it also matters WHAT material your using, obviously water is incredibly dense, and it translates sound across hundreds of miles (such as whale song). I would, and I think others, would DEFINATELY want to hear what you have to say aobut your techniqes, every little bit will help!!!!

[JimD]

The mouse pads will work ok as isolation devices separating the vibration source from the transmission source but thats abut it. I wouldnt bother with the foam and cork, the only time youd notice their effect would be if you were inside the stand, it would actually sound pretty good in there depending on the type of foam and how it was arranged. A sound "absorber" will do nothing to stop soundwaves. Although some procedures can be quite complicated, my suggestion is, since the transmission source will most likely not be tremendously intrusive, wrap the entire structures exterior with a good grade poly sheeting to serve as a moisture protectant, then apply a layer of 5/8" sheetrock for mass and weatherstrip all doors and openings. Do this and I can almost guarantee youll sleep like a baby. You could take it one step farther and isolate the sheetrock from the stand using rezilliant channel separating the rock from the actual stud allowing for much less sound transfer to the outside. Really depends on how far you wanna take it.

[Ram_Puppy]

Thanks Jim, I am modifying my plans as we speak.