NO noise cabinet

[wussboy]

Thanks for the info crisspy. You may be right about the heat pipes transmitting noise, and it's something I've thought about, but I think it wouldn't be that bad in that the pipes would be tightly surrounded by rubber stoppers where they pass through the cabinet, so that would deaden some vibration, plus they aren't physically touching anything that is making noise, so the only noise they picked up would be if air vibrations made them vibrate, lastly, I'm planning on having the "cold" end being embedded firmly in water, so that should help to deaden vibration as well. I believe the guy in the heat pipe link posted a while back used some kind of refrigerant, which you may want to look into. It will certainly cost something, but maybe less than that pump you are planning on buying.

I don't think you can dissipate heat into the floor for several reasons. One, heat pipes work they other way best (hot bottom to cold top) so you'd really be fighting against gravity. Second, heat rises, so heating the cold floor would send hot air wafting up through your computer. But certainly not a bad idea. I bet people could use the cold concrete floors for cooling that lie under their computers. Certainly worth thinking about.

[hvengel]

I'm going to measure the frequency characteristics of my PSU when I get back home. I'm a music producer/electrical engineer so this what I'm good at.

What did you find?

[d_kay]

argh, must get a new cable to plug in my mike to the soundcard. And then I read some tests MikeC did on some PSU and that it probably wouldn't work reliable enough with modest equipment anyway.. but I'll dig into it this weekend anyway.

[Baudesign]

Hi everyone,

This is very valuable information that I have read here. I will give it a shot with the help of some loudspeakers maker, some friends of mine. The main challenge will be to muffle the orange tunnel in this picture:



I will keep you updated on this project. Will even build a Website. For your information, you might be interested in this loudspeaker construction project. I will try to achieve the exact opposite effect with my hot air tunnel: noise cancellation.

[peteamer]

Talking of 'exhausting' the air, utilizing software car/motor cycle manufacter's deliberatley 'tailor' the sound of the engine by design of the exhaust pipe.

Thus surely there is knowledge around to produce a system to cope with at least reasonably broadband frequencies.


Think how quiet a Rolls Royce is. Or Lexus Etc. Etc.

My Triumph 1200 and Harley's are tailored to have deep exhaust 'tunes'

Japenese stuff seems to go totaly the other way.

Here in the U.K. nobody would 'repack' their pipes to deaden the sound at test time

Don't be put off the exhaust idea.

By controling the spacing (perhaps liear/ perhaps variable) and diameter of the holes in the internal wall 'cherry bomb' exhaust do very well at becoming band pass filters.

They even can become like capacitors and amplify at certain frequencies only if you like.

Stick a low pass filter on that and you could have a great system.

Heavy external lining to the outside (sound deadening material) with fiberous material outside of that would help lessen any 'Can' vibrations 'escaping' to the air.

Not really saying any of this will help, but hopefully it might stir someones imagination to a great idea.

I have made an 'exhaust' by lining a long card board square 'tube' with 'egg box' foam and fibre padding to great effect.

Well, except I made it too narrow and therefore restrictive and it drove the PSU fan a bit harder.
Not much but enough for me to consider it a failure.

But it worked well other than it's failing

Might redesign it one day

Keep the ideas and progress coming, I think we might collectively get somewhere.

Apart from that, this is a great thread.

Full of what SPCR is all about.


Pete

[TazmanianD]

I was wondering about another possible solution that might work in some situations. It seems to me that the biggest problem here is dealing with the noise produced from the exhaust system of the cabinet. What if you ran a duct from the exhaust to somewhere else such as another room and then put a fan on the end of it, heck maybe even a small air conditioner? Then, you could put whatever fan you want on it and not worry about any noise whatsoever.

[albatros_la]

Maybe this is the final solution!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator
Yes, why not put the case in a small refrigerator? It's for sure cheaper than a 1000$ wood case... and there are fridges of any color and dimension outthere (or it could be build with an old refrigeration unit). You can set up a warmer temperature than the usual 4-5°C in order to avoid vapor condensation and the trick is done. Have anyone ever think at it? It seems a crazy idea, but maybe it works not so bad. The thermal insulation of the fridge would surely help to decrease the noise, even I don't know how much.

[TazmanianD]

I think other people have mentioned that idea before but any refrigerator you buy is going to generate more noise than the computer itself which defeats the whole purpose.