Damping pump noise/sound

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dayhiker

dayhiker

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Jun 6, 2008
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Pell City, AL
My pump is shown below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85659721@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85659721@N ... otostream/

This is maybe 25 feet from the pool. The noise competes with the outdoor speakers. It's not obnoxious, but it is a pain.

Does anyone know of a material that is exterior grade that will damp out the noise?

My first thought on a solution is to build a wall with a door in it under the stair stringer. I would then curve the wall around the cartridge filter and let it die into the wall right by that window. I sure wish that window was about 12" to the right but the house came first. The door will be sized to get the cartridge out or maybe the curved portion would be removable to allow for cartridge removal. EIther way, that issue has been thought of.

Now that the pool and house are in (been in both less than a year) I'm now trying to finish out the landscaping under the deck and other projects along with this sound issue. Any help or suggestions would be great.
 
Before going to that trouble, I'd try a couple of things. I suspect you have two factors working against you: The coupling of pump noise into that post that sits on the pad, and the reflector effect you get from the corner and the stairs.

I would try to find a way to isolate the pump from the pad to help stop any noise being produced by vibration of the stairs. Maybe even isolate the post, but I don't know what kind of structurally safe ways there might be to do that.

The second thing I would do is put something on the walls behind the pump to absorb some of that sound so it can't be reflected. You might also want to try to put something irregularly shaped in front of the pump to disperse some of the sound that does come out. Maybe a spruce tree.

When our pool was originally installed, the pad was poured against the basement wall. When the pump was on, you could feel it when you were in the bathtub on the opposite side of the wall.
 
Any ideas of a sound material that can get wet?

I bet I could shore that stair, cut about 2" from the bottom of the post and then slide some sort of rubber material to damp the deck off that concrete. I'm a structural engineer, so I can check the safety part of it myself.

So the pump should also be placed on some sort of rubber or gasket material too?
 
dayhiker said:
Any ideas of a sound material that can get wet?

I bet I could shore that stair, cut about 2" from the bottom of the post and then slide some sort of rubber material to damp the deck off that concrete. I'm a structural engineer, so I can check the safety part of it myself.

So the pump should also be placed on some sort of rubber or gasket material too?
Click to expand...

I don't know about sound absorbing material that can get wet. Wet cardboard is a pretty good sound absorber, but the smell might leave something to be desired after a while.

It would be good if you could get your hands on a sound meter of some type. Sound power isn't linear with perceived volume, so some improvements by themselves might not be audible, but the sum of a couple of improvements might be a big deal.

I don't know how you could anchor the post so it couldn't kick out without tying it down. I'd mount the pump on something soft as step one, then put something behind it (heavy foam wrapped in soft plastic???) as step two. You could experiment by hanging furniture cushions as a temporary thing.

Another thing to consider if the stairs are an issue is mass. Heavier things vibrate less, so adding weight to the post might help.

I think one of the mods at PF put sections of rubber hose in his plumbing to break the sound path into the plumbing as well. He had no problems with that.
 
dayhiker said:
Here's a semi-decent photo of the pool and polaris pumps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85659721@N ... otostream/

They are sitting on bare concrete.
Click to expand...

The door of that main panel is a pretty good sound reflector I'll bet. A sound power meter could be your friend, even if you have to put a wall up, having the sound reduced before hand will be a help.
 
It looks like sound meters are around $100. The material for the wall wouldn't be that much. I think I'll start with the rubber material under the pumps and column and then re-evaluate. I will be starting on landscaping under the deck soon so I may decide I want a wall to shield anyway. The deck above is curved and cantilevered anyway, so a curved wall would actually mimic what's above.
 
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