Great Video, a few thoughts. I wonder how well carpet remnants or area rugs would work compared to sound proofing foam. They would be cheaper. These motors are air cooled. In the first test the motor temp was 64 F. So, the room temperature could not have been any warmer. When enclosed, the “room” temperature is the temp of the exhaust, which is not any different than most shops in the summer. It is easy to see why there was a 40 degree temp change. But, I doubt this is a problem. If you are concerned about the temperature of the motor, drill a couple of holes in the suction piping in the enclosure, quarter inch or so. Then drill a hole in the top and insert a short length of 1” pvc directed at the motor. The suction piping would pull in cooling air. If it does not work, the holes are easily plugged. It would be fun to experiment and see what works.
Ridgid stuff has a lifetime warranty, but besides, 102 degrees isn't that hot. That is cooler than the ambient temperature I usually worked in when I lived in Florida.
Vacuum motors are built with spacing and filtration, and the air the vacuum sucks essentially passes through the motor itself. It basically acts as its own cooling fan. It shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re running it for hours and hours.
I have a 20 gallon air compressor that's even louder than that! I'm going to add a dust collector and they're loud, too. I got some free sound panels just like the ones you used when we closed our office, so I was already planning to build a box around these things and use them to deaden the sound. I got some good tips from your video, especially the baffles and the door latch. BTW, I also recently got the new Dewalt Stealth shop vac for my mobile cart. It's much quieter than any other vacs I've ever used. Not quite as quiet as your box but quite tolerable. Great video, thank you!
The leafblower clip at start caught me entirely off guard 🤣 Great video! I'm definitely building a mini tool cart/sound absorber like this for my bauer 7gal cordless vac, it's loud but i swear by it. Also your hot water and dryer advice resurrected my ebay remnant foam that wouldn't expand on it's own and I just left kicking around the shop.
I am very impressed on what you have done both shop floor vac system and this sound proof vac box. I have similar idea but never started as am afraid of wasting time. However, u prove it scientifically. Thank you.
Hello. Very well elaborated. I am inclined to copy your work. I have a Ridgid vaccume like yours , I guess ( 5 HP ). I was wondering what is the size of your box? How much space do I need between the walls of the box and the vacuum? Do I need to install a PC fan in there ? Would the heat create fire ? I would greatly appreciate your expert opinion. Thanks.
It's a nice build. I'm curious how you arrived at the decision to double up plywood on sides and top vs using those layers to create extra baffle walls such as you did for the exhaust wall. It seems likely the reason is you needed it to fit under the bench. It seems like you'll be OK on heat running a few degrees hotter than it would in open air, if that's all it ever does. Perhaps the longevity of the vacuum will suffer a wee bit at most. The thought occurs that it wouldn't hurt to assess the fire rating of the materials used in which you're essentially permanently installing a portable appliance meant for intermittent use in a situation where the appliance may receive some continuous use. Consider a timer? These types of pumps and motors work hardest when the air flows the best and their load is lightest when caused to cavitate. Ordinarily, I'd suggest restricting the air flow slightly to unload the motor and reduce heat build up, but in the case of your build, that same air flow carries the heat out of the box 😬, so it's unlikely to help much. The central grate at the top of the vacuum is usually the motor cooling fan's air intake. You may want to study the cowling and figure out where that air exhausts and monitor the temperature of that air flow VS the surface of the cowling. Confirm that the cabinet top and soundproofing foam isn't obstructing air intake for the cooling fan. A little more head space in that cabinet could let turbulent air from the vacuum exhaust keep the air at the very top of the space (where the heat will collect) stirred up better so the cooling fan doesn't always get the warmest concentration of air inside the cabinet. Or if there's already plenty of head space, a 3D printed chute of some sort could scavenge some vacuum exhaust flow and direct it over the top of the vacuum. Another chute could help the cowling exhaust to get entrained in the departing air slipping into the baffle space. Anyway, just a few thoughts. Good luck.
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to write all of that. You are right on the using the extra plywood to double up the walls instead of more baffles. I was pretty much at my max size with what I had and since I was only using ½” thick I wanted to maximize the density for added soundproofing. Both foam panels I’m using are either fire resistant or fire retardant, this was a happy accident because I didn’t even think of that until I was in the middle of building the box. I did reposition the vacuum in the box so that the exhaust is blowing directly at the baffle opening instead of the back of the box hoping it would create a more efficient airflow and that did drop the temp by about 5 degrees, but I really like your suggestion of a chute that could direct a strong airflow to the cooling fan. That’s something I’m going to work on. Thank you!
Results are great of course... but I'm not sure about the trade-offs. There's the heat issue, but then the fact that you end up with a 3'x3' immobile shop vac. I've seen a design for generators that uses offset louvres that basically reflect the noise downward into the grass, which of course would need some kind of substitute material for concrete.
I’m trying a few different things to help with the heat. When I tested it I had the exhaust pointed towards the back which meant the air had to circulate around the box before it could find it’s way out. I turned the vac so the exhaust is now pointed toward the first baffle opening and it’s helped a lot. I also never moved that vac it was dedicated to the dust collection system but the huge box is a big trade off especially with the dust separator sitting on top. I really want to move that so the top of the box can become a work surface.
@rightsidedownstudio Makes sense. I hate how loud my shop vac is but adding the remote wireless switch has made it so now ita barely on longer than it takes to make a cut so the noise doesn't last as long. Baffle design is cool. Reminds me of a Bose subwoofer.
Why not use the exhaust to cool the motor. It's like a leaf blower so grab a short hose direct it at the motor. The wind blowing on the motor would help. You could even make a heat sink. I think this would work best if you could vent it outside and bring fresh air in.
I built an un-baffled, basically sealed vacuum enclosure for the 16 gallon Ridgid shop vac, and I could run it for hours. Yeah, it'll get hot, but I ran it like that for at least 3 years- long enough for the enclosure to start rotting. It's still going just the same as the day I got it. Point being, don't worry about it overheating. It won't. And if somehow it DOES manage to get too hot (it won't) Ridgid has the lifetime guarantee on their vacuums. I wouldn't worry about it
If you can vent it outside, a good portion of the noise goes with it. I did it with a HF dust collection system. It was a little loud inside, but outside it was ridiculous.
@@SaintFredrocks You can still exhaust it outside, just direct it across a heat sink of some sort on the way. Im working on a similar system myself so I love all these ideas coming together (bonus of outside ventilation is that those nasty micro particles are taken care of as well)
Soundproof is a strong word for 2" foam! If anything, it'll just reduce slightly lower frequencies that the thinner material. Those foams are for acoustic treatment, reducing reflections, not stopping sound from going through the material (it's actually better if the sound does go through, as it would reflect off of the surface behind it, and travel through the foam twice). Still nothing for low and mid frequencies though, which to be fair, are the worst offenders of the shop vac. A lower pitched sound is far less offensive!
I’m trying a few different things to help with the heat. When I tested it I had the exhaust pointed towards the back which meant the air had to circulate around the box before it could find it’s way out. I turned the vac so the exhaust is now pointed toward the first baffle opening and it’s helped a lot. I was going to play around with a few more things before I post an update video
102 Fahrenheit (39 Celcius) I wouldn't be too concerned about, although with having such a high average, small fluctuations could cause it to spike. Since the only air inlet you have on the box is from the vacuum line, there's no air movement to cool the motor itself. What I could suggest to look into, is to either put some forced airflow into the enclosure (like a 4" PC fan on baffled inlet), or to set up an isolated internal/external heat transfer unit, like a heatsink with cycled flow internally and externally.
Great Video, a few thoughts. I wonder how well carpet remnants or area rugs would work compared to sound proofing foam. They would be cheaper. These motors are air cooled. In the first test the motor temp was 64 F. So, the room temperature could not have been any warmer. When enclosed, the “room” temperature is the temp of the exhaust, which is not any different than most shops in the summer. It is easy to see why there was a 40 degree temp change. But, I doubt this is a problem. If you are concerned about the temperature of the motor, drill a couple of holes in the suction piping in the enclosure, quarter inch or so. Then drill a hole in the top and insert a short length of 1” pvc directed at the motor. The suction piping would pull in cooling air. If it does not work, the holes are easily plugged. It would be fun to experiment and see what works.
You are COOKING that DC motor FOR SURE. Make sure you keep your WARRANTY card ready with that extension plan.
Ridgid stuff has a lifetime warranty, but besides, 102 degrees isn't that hot. That is cooler than the ambient temperature I usually worked in when I lived in Florida.
Vacuum motors are built with spacing and filtration, and the air the vacuum sucks essentially passes through the motor itself. It basically acts as its own cooling fan. It shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re running it for hours and hours.
Your link to the 90 degree elbow video actually just links back to this video.
Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll get it fixed.
I have a 20 gallon air compressor that's even louder than that! I'm going to add a dust collector and they're loud, too. I got some free sound panels just like the ones you used when we closed our office, so I was already planning to build a box around these things and use them to deaden the sound. I got some good tips from your video, especially the baffles and the door latch. BTW, I also recently got the new Dewalt Stealth shop vac for my mobile cart. It's much quieter than any other vacs I've ever used. Not quite as quiet as your box but quite tolerable. Great video, thank you!
Thanks. That's very helpful.😀
Glad it was helpful!
The leafblower clip at start caught me entirely off guard 🤣 Great video! I'm definitely building a mini tool cart/sound absorber like this for my bauer 7gal cordless vac, it's loud but i swear by it. Also your hot water and dryer advice resurrected my ebay remnant foam that wouldn't expand on it's own and I just left kicking around the shop.
I am very impressed on what you have done both shop floor vac system and this sound proof vac box. I have similar idea but never started as am afraid of wasting time. However, u prove it scientifically. Thank you.
Glad you like it!
It's never a waste of time!
curious if having a flexable hose inside the box would reduce vibrations from the vacuum to the outside. Simple solution, I like it!
Hello. Very well elaborated. I am inclined to copy your work. I have a Ridgid vaccume like yours , I guess ( 5 HP ). I was wondering what is the size of your box? How much space do I need between the walls of the box and the vacuum? Do I need to install a PC fan in there ? Would the heat create fire ? I would greatly appreciate your expert opinion. Thanks.
It's a nice build. I'm curious how you arrived at the decision to double up plywood on sides and top vs using those layers to create extra baffle walls such as you did for the exhaust wall. It seems likely the reason is you needed it to fit under the bench.
It seems like you'll be OK on heat running a few degrees hotter than it would in open air, if that's all it ever does. Perhaps the longevity of the vacuum will suffer a wee bit at most. The thought occurs that it wouldn't hurt to assess the fire rating of the materials used in which you're essentially permanently installing a portable appliance meant for intermittent use in a situation where the appliance may receive some continuous use. Consider a timer?
These types of pumps and motors work hardest when the air flows the best and their load is lightest when caused to cavitate. Ordinarily, I'd suggest restricting the air flow slightly to unload the motor and reduce heat build up, but in the case of your build, that same air flow carries the heat out of the box 😬, so it's unlikely to help much.
The central grate at the top of the vacuum is usually the motor cooling fan's air intake. You may want to study the cowling and figure out where that air exhausts and monitor the temperature of that air flow VS the surface of the cowling. Confirm that the cabinet top and soundproofing foam isn't obstructing air intake for the cooling fan. A little more head space in that cabinet could let turbulent air from the vacuum exhaust keep the air at the very top of the space (where the heat will collect) stirred up better so the cooling fan doesn't always get the warmest concentration of air inside the cabinet. Or if there's already plenty of head space, a 3D printed chute of some sort could scavenge some vacuum exhaust flow and direct it over the top of the vacuum. Another chute could help the cowling exhaust to get entrained in the departing air slipping into the baffle space. Anyway, just a few thoughts. Good luck.
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to write all of that. You are right on the using the extra plywood to double up the walls instead of more baffles. I was pretty much at my max size with what I had and since I was only using ½” thick I wanted to maximize the density for added soundproofing. Both foam panels I’m using are either fire resistant or fire retardant, this was a happy accident because I didn’t even think of that until I was in the middle of building the box.
I did reposition the vacuum in the box so that the exhaust is blowing directly at the baffle opening instead of the back of the box hoping it would create a more efficient airflow and that did drop the temp by about 5 degrees, but I really like your suggestion of a chute that could direct a strong airflow to the cooling fan. That’s something I’m going to work on. Thank you!
Results are great of course... but I'm not sure about the trade-offs. There's the heat issue, but then the fact that you end up with a 3'x3' immobile shop vac. I've seen a design for generators that uses offset louvres that basically reflect the noise downward into the grass, which of course would need some kind of substitute material for concrete.
I’m trying a few different things to help with the heat. When I tested it I had the exhaust pointed towards the back which meant the air had to circulate around the box before it could find it’s way out. I turned the vac so the exhaust is now pointed toward the first baffle opening and it’s helped a lot. I also never moved that vac it was dedicated to the dust collection system but the huge box is a big trade off especially with the dust separator sitting on top. I really want to move that so the top of the box can become a work surface.
@rightsidedownstudio Makes sense. I hate how loud my shop vac is but adding the remote wireless switch has made it so now ita barely on longer than it takes to make a cut so the noise doesn't last as long. Baffle design is cool. Reminds me of a Bose subwoofer.
Great Stuff!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Please tell me those temps are Fahrenheit.
yeah it's Fahrenheit
Why not use the exhaust to cool the motor. It's like a leaf blower so grab a short hose direct it at the motor. The wind blowing on the motor would help. You could even make a heat sink. I think this would work best if you could vent it outside and bring fresh air in.
That's a really good idea! Thank you
I built an un-baffled, basically sealed vacuum enclosure for the 16 gallon Ridgid shop vac, and I could run it for hours. Yeah, it'll get hot, but I ran it like that for at least 3 years- long enough for the enclosure to start rotting. It's still going just the same as the day I got it.
Point being, don't worry about it overheating. It won't. And if somehow it DOES manage to get too hot (it won't) Ridgid has the lifetime guarantee on their vacuums.
I wouldn't worry about it
If you can vent it outside, a good portion of the noise goes with it. I did it with a HF dust collection system. It was a little loud inside, but outside it was ridiculous.
@@SaintFredrocks You can still exhaust it outside, just direct it across a heat sink of some sort on the way. Im working on a similar system myself so I love all these ideas coming together (bonus of outside ventilation is that those nasty micro particles are taken care of as well)
The beginning 😂!!
Thank you!!
Soundproof is a strong word for 2" foam! If anything, it'll just reduce slightly lower frequencies that the thinner material. Those foams are for acoustic treatment, reducing reflections, not stopping sound from going through the material (it's actually better if the sound does go through, as it would reflect off of the surface behind it, and travel through the foam twice).
Still nothing for low and mid frequencies though, which to be fair, are the worst offenders of the shop vac. A lower pitched sound is far less offensive!
The motor temp would concern me, it needs its own air inlet.
I’m trying a few different things to help with the heat. When I tested it I had the exhaust pointed towards the back which meant the air had to circulate around the box before it could find it’s way out. I turned the vac so the exhaust is now pointed toward the first baffle opening and it’s helped a lot. I was going to play around with a few more things before I post an update video
102 Fahrenheit (39 Celcius) I wouldn't be too concerned about, although with having such a high average, small fluctuations could cause it to spike.
Since the only air inlet you have on the box is from the vacuum line, there's no air movement to cool the motor itself. What I could suggest to look into, is to either put some forced airflow into the enclosure (like a 4" PC fan on baffled inlet), or to set up an isolated internal/external heat transfer unit, like a heatsink with cycled flow internally and externally.
A PC fan would be a great idea! Thank you
Really can't see 102 being too high, I mean people in AZ use shop vacs.
Just no.
K