Sound proof a tank cabinet?

karlyhui

New member
Hi

I am trying to lower the noise level of a cabinet (skimmer and pumps) what material should I use to sound proof it?

Thinking about surrounding it with material to lower the noise level.

thank you
 
Check out some of the material used in the auto sound industry. Dynomat is a popular one that people use to keep sound in. Expensive though. I built a small box to go around my return pump from my basement sump to my 1st floor display. I lined the inside of this box with dynomat to keep the noise down. Pretty effective.
 
Dynomat is not going ot be much help. It is an asphalt based product used to dampen low frequency panel vibrations, not absorb a broad spectrum of sound.

Melamine foam based sound products would be a much better choice based on their absorbtion characteristics.
 
Carpet padding works well I used it in the fish room and on the wall so I would net hear the pumps. (sandwich between plastic sheeting.)
 
Carpet padding is fairly transparent to sound. The melamine foam and other engineered products work oponentially better (at a cost of course). If the carpet padding helped, then the sound absorbing products would have made it dead silent :) If it is dead silent, then the noise was not bad to begin with.
 
How effective are irregular surfaces at absorbing sound inside a cabinet? i know that techniques is used on surfaces where you do not want sound to reflect.
 
melamine based foam can come in many forms and densities. Most carpet foams and mattress foams are polyurethane foams :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13436339#post13436339 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Dynomat is not going ot be much help. It is an asphalt based product used to dampen low frequency panel vibrations, not absorb a broad spectrum of sound.
Bingo. I do this for a living.:)

When we want to help isolate higher frequencies, we use a CLOSED CELL foam. Regardless of what it's made out of, I believe that's the key. Please take into account that whatever you put in there may get wet at one point or another. So items like carpet padding may not be the best choice for mold/mildew prevention. Try something like Ensolite or Overkill:
http://www.raamaudio.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?p=pr
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/products/Sound-Deadener-Noise-Filters.php

EDIT: And I had a friend who made a cheap/quick/poor attempt at a sound room in his house using carpet padding. Definitely helped a lot. But hanging anything soft over all those solid flat walls would help. You could staple a group of 3rd graders to the wall for improvement.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13444139#post13444139 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firebirdude
You could staple a group of 3rd graders to the wall for improvement.

That won't work! I tried it. While it dampens the other sounds, it ended up creating waaaay more noise of it's own. Have you been in a third grade classroom recently? Serious sensory overload!

Allen
 
That overkill stuff sounds like it would work well. How much would be good for inside of a 90g stand?

Is there anything cheaper that would do the same job?

Would I have to double the stuff up?
 
Buy the 4 sheet pack. Should be plenty. If you have extra, it will only help to double it up around the noisy components.

Is there cheaper versions of it? I don't know. I work in mobile electronics, so that's what I use. lol But if you find anything, let us know!
 
Well that product is made nice and compact because you probably deal with small spaces so you need a product to meet those needs.

I am wondering if something really simple like Styrofoam would do a good job if it were really thick? I have tons of space so it makes more sense to use something that is cheap and less efficient but just use more of it.
 
firebirddude... In a past life, I ran a custom car audio store an dinstallation business for a friend and have spent a better part of my adult life in the DIY speakers and high end home theater hobby :)
 
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