Using Fiberglass?

MistaMuShu · Post by **MistaMuShu** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:29 pm

I don't know much about the properties of fiberglass, but I have these huge rolls of cloth fiberglass lying in the garage. Anyone know or can think of a way that this could help silence my computer?

moparchris · Post by **moparchris** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 3:33 pm

hmm, you could make up molds and build ducts out of it

..just an idea. i have quite a bit of it around here for my boat but i never really thought of using it for much else

CRT_Leech · Post by **CRT_Leech** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:47 am

If you are not too concerned with the looks of your case, you could encase the outside of your case in fiberglass to increase it's density, which would cut down noise.

Inside your case, you could layer it, maybe? I don't know how good it would work, compared to foam, probably nowhere near as good, unless you used resin to work like the above suggestion, to increase the density of the case.

MistaMuShu · Post by **MistaMuShu** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:16 pm

i totally don't mind how my case looks. I just need a cheap solution to quiet. What do I use to make it harden? You mentioned resin?

ckpurvis · Post by **ckpurvis** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:36 am

If you're talking about the cloth fiberglass like you'd use for insulation, it will be an excellent thermal insulation also. It also can release fiberglass filaments when agitated, moved, or cut. You probably want to invest in a mask when working with this stuff. It is really, really, really nasty to inhale. (Think asbestos)

Some of the fiberglass insulation I've seen has a paper or plastic liner on one end; if you mask the edges off properly you should be able to contain the loose fibers. I know that they play havoc on lungs, and they'd probably be bad to have running loose in a computer case. Tiny glass fibers would probably be hellish on your motherboard.

CRT_Leech · Post by **CRT_Leech** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:38 am

[quote="MistaMuShu"]i totally don't mind how my case looks. I just need a cheap solution to quiet. What do I use to make it harden? You mentioned resin?[/quote]

I was thinking of the fiberglass as in sheets (like a thick cloth), used with resin, to make boats, funny cars, and Chevrolet Corvettes.

If it's the stuff used to insulate a house, ack. I would start thinking of a box enclosure, using the insulation as a sound deadining material, but, inside a computer case, I would not do it, personally, for the previous posters reasons.

You could probably wrap it around the outside, though, without too many issues, though, I don't know how effective it would be.

hyperslug · Post by **hyperslug** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:13 pm

I've heard it's a real bad idea for health reasons so I'd recommend against it. I don't understand the temperature insulation arguments though. I thought the fact that aluminum cases do not cool any better than steel cases was an indicator that heat does not leave the system through outside convection over the case. I could line the inside of my cases with styrofoam and it shouldn't make a difference.

MistaMuShu · Post by **MistaMuShu** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 9:59 am

Yea, now the fiberglass sounds dangerous and not worth the effort. Thanks for all the replies! I think I'm going to try to find some eggshell foam material, and other packaging material, and drop my entire tower into it's original box, and fill the box with the materials. Hopefully, thermal issues won't come up

koody · Post by **koody** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 10:27 am

Actually there is a cheap way of building your own silencing material. I have not tried this myself but I've seen it mentioned and praised by several people.

Take pieces of cardboard (the type that is used in cardboard boxes with the "wavy middle", like the stuff used in this odd project http://www.dekorte.com/Library/CubeCase/) and cut it in to pieces suitable for your isolation.

Now notice how the middle of the cardboard is like hundreds of pipes. Use some epoxy and plug one end of those pipes with it.

Next get some fine grained sand (sand blaster sand is exellent) and fill the pipes inside the cardboard with it. When you have filled the tubes in the cardboard with sand it's time to plug the other end with epoxy.

Better looks can be achieved by taking some rubber mats and glueing those on to the cardboard or by simply spraypainting the cardboard.

Now you have some heavy cardboard filled with sand. Use it as you would bitumen. I'm told that this is much more effective as a dampening material than bitumen and easier to work with too.

If you do this REPORT BACK TO SPCR!

moparchris · Post by **moparchris** » Wed Jun 30, 2004 7:51 pm

pfft dangerous - BAH! your talking about woven fibre material right ? i know people who have worked on boats and building and restoring cars that are glassed, its safe as, ya gotta be careful of the resins though if your sanding it down you should wear a mask (preferably one of the replacable filter ones)

i dont think it would be that great at insulating sound, i recon some sortof foam would be better and alot less effort

if you do use it i'd reccomend using polyester or epoxy resins, ive never used polysester before but its cheaper but apparently not as strong (not really anything to worry about on a computer) but ive done quite alot of work with epoxys and theyre probly the best thign to use...

what i was thinking is if you anted to amke ducts that would probly work pretty well, nice FRP mouldings for ducts in your computer, they'd be strong, you cou;ld paint them and shape them to prettymuch any shape, you could make up a mould to make it but again i dunno if its really worht the effort

something cheap i heard that works real good apparently is using cardboard egg containers lol, theyre a bit big so i dunno how you'd use them hehe

MistaMuShu · Post by **MistaMuShu** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 10:32 am

i'm going to play with the cardboard box idea as soon as I get some free time, and collect some materials. Thanks koody

I'm probably going to lean towards an even simpler idea and just drop the tower in one box, and then dropping that box into another box filled with insulating material. As for optical drives, I'd probably just cut a hole in the front, and plug it with foam unless I use it.