Which part of a cyclone is loud?

[Robert Reece]

I am going to be installing a cyclone (probably clearVue) and I am wondering which part is loud? The reason I ask is because I have a low ceiling so I think I am going to pull the impeller and motor off the top of the cyclone and install it next to the cyclone. If I enclose the impeller/motor in a sound deadening box (allowing the motor to get it's air somehow), will that do most of the job? I guess the motor really isn't that loud, so it's probably the impeller that is the biggest offender. I plan on sending the return air through some floor joist baffles as I believe Jim Becker did. I also plan on using PVC ductwork as I understand that is better than metal for sound.

Another option is to install this outside, but I live in a regular neighborhood with not a lot of property so I would still have to do something with the sound and I don't have room for an attached DC shed.

Thanks
Rob

[John Peterson]

I dont claim to be a genius on dust collectors, but from what I read, most or all off the noise comes the exhaust side, or the filter on the DC. I know the do make mufflers. how well they work, not really sure.

[Rod Sheridan]

Noise emanates from the exhaust air, the impeller housing and the sound of the sawdust sliding against the cyclone cone.

Regards, Rod.

[Dave Zeigler]

Perhaps the loudest noise comes from the impeller. How that sound radiates - such as through the exhaust or through the housing, I don't know.

I have a clearvue and it wasn't as loud as I believed it would be when I first tried it. However, I am enclosing the whole thing in a closet to bring down the whine a bit.

Dave Zeigler

[Robert Reece]

Thanks All.

Those are good points about the impeller being the source, but the exhaust is the escape for the noise. I think I'll just put this thing up in my basement in a free standing MDF closet. The motor will stick up in between the floor joists and I will route the exhaust air in a floor joist bay baffle for some distance and then drop the filters down from there. I will have a pretty short duct run so I can afford some pressure drop on the exhaust side.


Rob

[Chris Padilla]

Actually, my wife is the loudest but we won't go there!

I think everyone's nailed it already: exhaust. Keep in mind you aren't far from having/builiding an air-raid siren with our DCs!!

[Sonny Edmonds]

...when it's off.
All of it when it's on.
Just box it in with sound board and OSB. Give it room to breath.
I channeled my exausht to my Air Compressor closet, which has sound board in it also. Then the air exits out the bottom opening in the front.
Kills two birds with one stone.
Quiets the din from the DC, and sends air through the air compressor to help cool it. (And since it is so clean, it helps that to.)

[Chip Lindley]

An insulated closet for the DC would cut down noise pollution most, without installing the *beast* outside. An enclosure to include the DC and compressor kills 2 noises with one box!

But however you isolate your DC, there remains the fact that certain machines (planer, jointer) produce ENL...(Enhanced Noise Level) when the DC is pulling air past the whirring blades. I used a portable 2hp Delta DC on a 55gal. drum for years. Running alone, the DC blew innocently into the filter bag, but fire up the planer and the noise level magnifies about tenfold! Before any planing is started!

There Will be noise pollution while using a DC system. Some can be minimized, some Cannot! If your shop is in your home basement, I suggest buying every family member one of those nifty *ear muff/AM-FM* headsets. But they will probably negotiate for iPods! *sigh*

[Wayne Cannon]

They make mufflers to reduce the noise that go in the exhaust line between the cyclone proper and the filter, so I assume the noise is primarily from the impeller as opposed to air flow through the filter.

[Jim O'Dell]

I have the Clear Vue. Note: I exhaust outside, not through filters. Inside with the TS or BS, it is about as loud as either of those machines. I can still, with ear protection on, discern between the two. Outside it sounds like a small turbine engine. I'm basically through with my Planer stand, but don't have the duct hooked up for it yet, so no personal info there, but as others have said, it is supposed to be bad. Jim.

[Rick Potter]

Most mention the exhaust as loudest. In my old shop I ran the exhaust from my Onieda 1 1/2 HP unit outside. It really didn't seem to make any difference.

Rick Potter