Cyclone Noise Reduction Tips - Please

[Roland Chung]

I just finished installing a 2hp cyclone and found it to be louder than I was expecting. I've been reading old threads about this subject, but I was hoping that you might be able to offer some of your final Cyclone Closet construction tips as well as anything else that seems to tame some of that noise.

I have a niche in my garage shop that is about 40"x60" where the DC is mounted, but I will need to close off the open sides to contain the noise. Some of the things that I picked up from the old threads include:

1. 2x4 framing
2. A reverse flow exhaust in the door or wall
3. Drywall on the outside
4. Insulation in the wall (Would fiberglass enclosed in the plastic still be disturbed and end up floating around the shop? Would rigid isulation be better?)
5. Sound board on the interior studs
6. Pegboard with rough side out

Any other/better ideas? Please help, I would like to benefit from your collective wisdom the first time around.

Thanks,
RC

[Michael Gabbay]

Roland - Check Bill Pentz's web site. He has plans for a muffler which may help you out. Also, Oneida-Air carrys one. They are mounted on the exhaust side at the filter.

Mike

[Don Frambach]

I mounted the Oneida muffler on my Oneida 1.5 hp cyclone. The noise reduction was quite significant. It was so easy that I'd try that first before going the cabinet route.

[Derek Arita]

Building walls around the DC and insulating it will make a big difference. I built a tiny room outside of the garage and piped in thru the wall. If that's possible, that would really solve your problem. Would a muffler cut down on airflow as it does with cars?

[Howard Barlow]

Seems to me it would help substantially if you got some duct board from an a/c shop and folded a panel to sit around it.

[Ed Moehlenpah]

I mounted my BP/CE cyclone to two sheets of plywood, joined in an L, then made cleats to hold everything up. This is not attached to the wall, so some of the vibration noise doesn't make it to the walls, and it doesn't sound as loud. My filter also is inside this "L" and it's definitely loud, but not as loud as I was expecting. I've never heard anybody else's cyclone so, I don't know how mine is actually doing.

Ed

[Frank Pellow]

First of all Roland, I see that this is your first post at Saw Mill Creek so a welcome is in order. Welcome!
You sent me a private note as well as starting this thread. My answer here should cover the note as well.

When I built my shop last year, I included two walls of the closet for my Oneida 2HP dust control unit but did not build the other two. One of those walls was an external wall and the unit is mounted on that wall. I built the third wall last January and finally got around to the fourth wall (the one with the door) last week.

Now to address each of the points you listed.

1. 2x4 framing

Yes, one the internal walls. The external wall uses 2x6 framing.

2. A reverse flow exhaust in the door or wall

No exhaust -but I do have vents. One of my internal walls faces most of the loud machines and there is only one small vent in that wall. The other internal walls have larger vents.

3. Drywall on the outside

I used plywood both on the inside and the outside of each interior wall.

4. Insulation in the wall (Would fiberglass enclosed in the plastic still be disturbed and end up floating around the shop? Would rigid insulation be better?)

I used R12 fiberglass but did not bother to enclose it in plastic -it is enclosed in studs and plywood.

5. Sound board on the interior studs

I didn't do this.

6. Pegboard with rough side out

I didn't do this.

One other thing, is that I built my own door and I built it as small as possible. The door is made of a pine frame with plywood (one half inch) on each side and there is 1 inch of dense rigid insulation within the door.

[Steve Cox]

I framed in a closet using two existing exterior walls and two new walls in the shop. I placed both my 60gal campressor and my cyclone (Woodsucker) in it. I framed it with 2 x 4s with OSB in and out and then soundboard over the top of this on the inside. I have a return baffle at the top of the closet and this is lined with soundboard as well. Everything inside the closet is covered with the soundboard, the floor, the ceiling, the inside of the door to the closet. I did not insulate the walls (probably should have) but I did use expanding foam to seal off all cracks, gaps, areas where pipe penetrates the walls, etc. It helps some with the cyclone but it really cuts the compressor noise to nothing. The cyclone itself is quiet but of course it gets quite loud with air rushing through the pipe.

[Roland Chung]

Thanks for the welcome and for the tips. This will help me proceed with some confidence. I'm really glad to have found this forum-there is so much to learn!

Thanks again,
Roland

[Bob Stroman]

Contact the Larry at KNC Home Shop. He was extremely helpful with suggestions and sometimes products for reducing noise in my basement workshop. They have a website, but you really need to talk to them for advice. Their web site is a very small subset of what they can offer. lars@knchomeshop.com 877-807-1525

[Jamie Buxton]

At least on my cyclone, the noise produced by the cyclone is less than that produced by the equipment making the sawdust. That is, if you run the cyclone by itself, it may seem loud. However, if you run it in the real world situation -- it plus a tablesaw, or it plus a thicknesser, etc -- the cyclone's contribution isn't particularly noticeable. Of course, your cyclone's noise may be different from mine....

[Micheal Cobb]

I put sheetrock on the wall surrounding the cyclone, then tacked accostical ceiling tiles on the inside of that wall.

Also only certain kinds of fiber glass insulation have sound deadening capabilities

[Eddie Watkins]

I mounted the Oneida muffler on my Oneida 1.5 hp cyclone. The noise reduction was quite significant. It was so easy that I'd try that first before going the cabinet route.

Don,
did you get the 12" OR THE 36"? I notice they have 2.
Eddie