fan noise

[llamaman]

My new cabinet seems to be funtioning ok, temps are right around 70 degrees, rh around 40%. My box fan that I use to **** warm air out though seems to be too noisey. I have a passive intake near the bottom of the cab and the fan up top. It keeps the air moving and fresh, but I can hear it too easily. My cab is even in a walk-in closet, but is still noticable. Any ideas for how to muffle it w/o lessening the function? I see a duct muffler for $73 in the Worms Way catalog, but I'd rather go cheaper with something homemade if possible.
Thanks
The Llama

 

[bobbak67]

DITTO........mines in bedroom!

 

[Dr.GreenThumb]

My new cabinet seems to be funtioning ok, temps are right around 70 degrees, rh around 40%. My box fan that I use to **** warm air out though seems to be too noisey. I have a passive intake near the bottom of the cab and the fan up top. It keeps the air moving and fresh, but I can hear it too easily. My cab is even in a walk-in closet, but is still noticable. Any ideas for how to muffle it w/o lessening the function? I see a duct muffler for $73 in the Worms Way catalog, but I'd rather go cheaper with something homemade if possible.
Thanks
The Llama

are you hearing the noise of the motor, vibration, or of the air being moved?

 

[llamaman]

Originally I thought that maybe it was vibration that I was hearing. So I put some dense foam weather stripping material around the edge of the fan to pad it and re-attached it to the back wall of my cab. No change. Now I think it is the motor that I hear. I did find some ideas for a muffler on the HG420 forum site. But I don't think it is the air noise that I hear. My concern is that I may have to put another fan in the cab when I hook up my HID lights (just using cfl's currently). With the cfl's my temps are between 70-80 degrees and rh between 30-50%. I have my fan on for 15 minutes, off for 30. This keeps my temp and rh w/in a decent range. I'm afraid that when I hook up the HID lights I will be producing enough heat that I'll need a fan to cool the lights and a fan to vent the room and keep fresh air flowing. I have a really quiet computer fan I may use to vent the cab instead of another squirrel cage noisy thing. I must admit that I am really having a good time figuring out how to grow in a cabinet. I came home from work tonight and looked in on my little plants and was really pleased at how much they had visibly grown since this morning! However this first grow turns out I will definitely learn a bunch. I'm just hoping to get enough bud out of this first grow to get me through my second grow and keep going. OK, I'll admit it, I'm totally addicted to this new hobby of mine!
Best wishes,
the Llama

 

[bobbak67]

Mine is definetly air noise. Any thoughts?

DOnt mean to hijack....sorry

 

[fugly]

Mine is definetly air noise. Any thoughts?

DOnt mean to hijack....sorry

maybe bigger ducting? less restriction....

 

[bobbak67]

Im not using ducting! straight fan...

 

[llamaman]

Last night I put sort of an awning over the hole in the back of my cabinet where the fan blows out. I thought that perhaps it was the noise of air moving. My cab sits about 8" from a wall, so I figured maybe it was the force of the air hitting the wall. So, I made a cardboard awning to direct the exhaust air down instead of straight out. Either it helps some or I'm getting used to the noise. I still think the real problem is the sound of the fan motor though. Perhaps these squirrel cage fans are just too loud for my application. They sure move the air though and keep my cab at a decent temp level and provide plenty of fresh air for my plants. Maybe I will try to insulate the cabinet with some sort of rigid foam to block the noise?
The Llama