DIYbanter - View Single Post - How Quiet Can I Get From Boxing a Noisy Shop Vac?

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wrote:
I want to box in a noisy shop vac (from Ridgid) to minimize its noise
to _very_ low. I have come across many designs like that in books and
in this newsgroup, and I believe boxing in a shop vac should cut down
the noise significantly. I have a couple questions though:

- How quiet should I expect to get from boxing it in? Will it be
quiet enough that I can use it at 6:00 o'clock in the morning on my
boat (parked on my driveway) inside the boat cover? Please note that I
live in a 1/4 acre property and my neighbor's house is practically next
to my driveway. What's the dB level that I can cut down to anyway?

I have my cheapo shop vac inside a plywood box. It's carpeted all over,
it has a series of holes drilled at the top back, AND I made a little
air chute that channels the air down to about the bottom of the box.

It cuts the noise about in half. Maybe a little more. When I show it to
friends, they listen to it with the door shut and say "Yeah. That's
nice. I guess it's quiet." Then I open the door and they go "WOW. Okay,
I see what you mean. Shut the door."

So, it helps but it doesn't make it whisper quiet. When I had the shop
in the basement though, SWMBO said said there were times she didn't
know it was on, as opposed to not being able to hear the tv.

It's been in that box for a couple years now. No problems. I keep the
planer on top of the box and it's got a power strip on it. Instead of
the shop vac underfoot, I've got a workstation with a shop vac inside
it. One of the better shop improvements I've made.

The carpet makes the difference. I used cardboard for a while till I
found some clean scraps, and the carpet really damped out the sound.