Foam Noodles for dampening?!?!

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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liquid_celica
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Foam Noodles for dampening?!?!

Post by liquid_celica » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:25 am

Hey all.

I was at my local 98 cent store called muraki and they were selling foam noodles, like the ones you swim. with for a buck. I picked one up and put my ear to it and the most i heard threw it was a whirl type noise and muffled noises from the customers. I wonder if this would work as a dampening source? It would be hecka cheaper then acoutipak and damptek. Common, a 1 for like 4 sq. foot of foam!!! Anyone wants to try this or have an opinion?

Noizz
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Post by Noizz » Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:55 pm

hey u know what i realized? those noodles you swim with would work pretty well in HD dampening i think...

picture the HD with half cut noodles wrap on its sides. then you could leave it on the bottom of the case, or shove it into the cdrom bays.

the foam you cut in half or in 3/4. theres always a hole in those noodles, but i don't think that wiould be big enough for a HD, so cut room for the hd, and wrap the half noodle around the side of the HD (longitudal), i think using a 3/4 like a pac man would be better, because it would cling onto the sides.

try to fit into the 5.15" or 5" or watever i duno the exact measurements of those cdrom bays ok.... :wink:

because the material is kinda soft i think it might be able to have a good fit with the bays and hold the HD pretty well, while dampening the vibration?

might look like this?
(===)

Those foam sheets that u swim on might be good for sound dampening too?

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Tue Oct 05, 2004 3:57 pm

i'd put some kind of sink on the ends before i do that foam mod.

DrCR
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Post by DrCR » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:42 pm

Noizz wrote: Those foam sheets that u swim on might be good for sound dampening too?
Oooh, now that's an idea.

Yeah, right on DryFire. Better be careful or you might end up with a toasted hard drive! The only time I fully wrap hard drives is when I'm watercooling them. Heatsinks should work depending on the surface area covered, the only bummer being the HS could conduct the vibrations.

DrCR

________

liquid_celica
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Post by liquid_celica » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:19 am

interesting....I actually am going to plan to do something about the foam noodles. i was thinking of buying two (which is way more than i need) and lining the side panels of my case and sandwhiching my HDD with heatsinks. I'll post results in a week

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Wed Oct 06, 2004 1:19 pm

welli was thinking that you use some wide (long) ssinks so it works something like this:

(::----::) So your hd is still pretty much in open air and has more cooling area. Or you could pas them thourhg the foam and just sit it on the bottom of the case.

edit: owned by smilies

Noizz
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Post by Noizz » Wed Oct 06, 2004 4:56 pm

i'ld try it but then i don't have enough time on my hands right now... and im waiting for my moding supplies to come in. if i try it out i'll post results too

i'll try to find those sheets of foam u swim on and test them out too, better than spending a ton of money on the nexus damptek stuff

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:52 pm

hmm i wonder where to find a noodle this time of year...

winter is not the perfect time to buy swimming stuff.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:47 pm

DryFire wrote:hmm i wonder where to find a noodle this time of year...

winter is not the perfect time to buy swimming stuff.
Australia? :D

Failing that, I'd check out your local pool supply store.

liquid_celica
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Post by liquid_celica » Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:12 am

The local swim stores may cell them for like 5-10 bucks each...i don't really know. I dont know if australia has a 98 cent store equivalent to the US but that's where I am getting mine.

BTW. Should I line the casing with this stuff or just use it as HDD absorbing?

Putz
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Pipe Insulation for HDD

Post by Putz » Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:27 am

The foam noodle idea made me think: If you're liking that idea as it pertains to HDD damping, there is a very cheap alternative that might work in some circumstances. Check your local hardware store for pipe insulation. It is available in many sizes, and it's usually around just $1/metre.

I happened to have some lying around in my residence room, and I also had a spare hard drive sitting on my desk this week...
Image
Obviously you'd cut to length and put some on both sides, and possibly use a different size, but there's the idea. It grabs on medium-tightly --enough if it's in tight quarters and/or the computer's not being moved.

imaputz
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Post by imaputz » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:08 pm

Since it's primary purpose is for insulation, wouldn't that keep more heat in? Especially since most HD heat is from the sides. I'd assume you'd have a fan blowing over the HD.

liquid_celica
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Post by liquid_celica » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:58 pm

i would image this would be an affective cooling method as well.

In theory, when placing this in front of a fan along with side attached heatsing, the foam would act as a tunnel along as a dampener. The tunnel would channel the cool moving hair at a more condense and cooler flow past the HDD allowing for a cooler HDD. That would be very very nice. Since i prefer to damp and foam my HDD rather than suspension, this would be a nice tool. That's it....going to my local 98 cent store.

mr pink
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Post by mr pink » Fri Oct 08, 2004 4:09 pm

They may float too when I finally get around to watercooling my system.!

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:41 pm

I"d put some sort of spacer between the dirve and noodle.

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