# HELP PLEASE Sound Proofing Dust Collector & Compressor Noise



## Calgirl

Can anyone give advise on how to sound proof a little room containing the dust collector, which is inside the shop? I thought about putting it outside of the shop, but the problem remains because I have one neighbor who might be bothered by the noise. It is easier to just keep it within the workshop, but I don't want to listen to it either! My workshop is to be built starting next week or thereabouts, so any suggestions or experiences would be greatly appreciated.


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## boboswin

There is an insulation out there for acoustic (sound) dampening. I was in a hardware store in the summer and they had a boom box inside a 10 cubic foot box. 
You could not hear it … until you opened the lid.

Absolutely amazing!

Do a google on "acoustic barrier".
It looks like brown insulation.

Good luck 
Bob


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## MyronW

The noise from the dust collector seems to come mostly from the outlet. Once I installed the big filters, it quieted down quite a bit, although it still makes it kind of noisy in the shop. It can't be heard outside through my insulated walls.

The sound is a low-frequency whoosh, really not unpleasant. (You really should have hearing protection on anyways because of the woodworking machinery.)

There might be a few things to consider regarding a little room. I was planning on the same thing, but reconsidered and left it out. First, the motor needs to breathe. It gets hot, so air needs to circulate around it for cooling.

Second, you have to allow for the system exhaust to go somewhere- either outside or back into the shop. I opted for back into the shop, because I didn't want to deal with 1200CFM of air makeup, especially if I have spent money on air conditioning! There is virtually no breeze coming back from the filters, so I don't have stuff blowing around, like dust from the outside.

Third, the sight of dust and chips whirling about in the clear cyclone is really cool!

I think if I decided to attenuate the sound, I would buy Sonex panels and install them on the walls adjacent to the cyclone and filters. Also, there are a lot of tips in the Clearvue forums about mufflers and filter enclosures.


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## che

Without knowing your setup its a little hard to make specific recommendations. One good way is to build a double wall enclosure made of heavy dead materials on both sides that aren't touching each other, or touching each other minimally. There is a neat trick in house construction where you place the 2×4 studs every 8" instead of 16" and then offset every other stud an inch or so the first stud is supporting the inside wall and the next stud is supporting the outside wall etc. The acoustic path of least resistance in this modified wall is from the equipment to the sheet rock to the void space to the other layer of sheet rock to the new room every time you go from high dense material to low density a lot of energy is lost. In normal construction the stud bridges the void space. which has a much lower resistance. Heavy layers are preferred in this scenario because they absorb a lot of energy in themselves. Note you don't want anything that will naturally resonate at an audible frequency so stay away from metals.

Without adding a new / second wall anything soft will absorb a lot of the noise: heavy fabric, old mattresses, blankets, egg crate foam, cardboard boxes stuffed with peanuts, or more cardboard, deep pile carpet on the walls, They insulated the home recording studio in Hustle and Flow with cardboard and foam egg crates (the clear plastic won't work as well).


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## Calgirl

Che,
Thanks very much. I will stagger the wall studs as you suggest. I'll let the builders do the outside shell and then I'll place staggered studs in between the builders studs for the room. I am going to construct the other 3 walls so I can do as you suggest. An earlier poster suggested a "brown" acoustical insulator that I would like to place inside of the walls if I can find out what it is. So far, in my Google search I've found Hermosote which sounds like it may help, but I'm still searching. A quieter workshop will be a joy to work in.

Thanks again


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## Calgirl

Wow…. I'm getting a lot of good suggestions and I really appreciate it. I'm going back to the ClearVue site
and read up on accoustics.

Does anyone know what the "brown insulation" is that Bob wrote about in #2?


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## hermanv

In my shop video I have breifly demonstrated the acoustic change with staggared studs. I have a 5 HP 14CFM @ 90psi compresser that I needed to keep quite. I am able to have a telephone conversation right next to the enclosure.


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## bryano

Im not sure about brown insulation, but they are sound proffing a conference room at work. they are using a 1" thick yellow fiberglass pannel. they come in 4'x8' sheets. the only sound comes from the door.


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## Sawdust2

To add on to MyronW's comment I've read that one of the problems with exhausting to the outside, in addition to the loss of heat or cool, is that if your shop has common air with your gas furnace and/or gas water hearer, you stand a good chance of sucking out the pilot light.


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## kwhit190211

I built a small Bag House outside & attached to my shop. I also louvered the windows to keep out the weather but to supply cooling air to the collector when it is in operation. The sound with it running outside isn't loud at all. Seems like the wood & louvered windows cut down on the noise a lot. 
My shop tools make more racket then the collector anyways.
I make it a practice to not to fire up my tools before 0830 hours (8:30 AM), anyways. And, I shut down tool operation on or before 2000 hours (8:00PM) at night. Makes for happier neighbors, and tool operation is not continous anyways, in my shop.


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## GaryK

Here's my solution:



I guess I could insulate it to cut down noise even more, but it's not that bad.


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