Mounting isolation/cushioning: What did you do?

E

Ed Haney

New member
I got my CV last week and I am now mounting it. In CV's installation instructions and pictures there is no mention of putting any isolation/cushioning material between the wall mounting support (side brackets and wall back plate. However, in viewing a number of the installations in the Photo Gallery (thanks much guys), I saw several installations that had some foam between the side brackets (2x4s) and the main horizontal mounting frame plate (MDF) which supports the motor.

I have decided to put some foam on top of the 2x4 brackets. (Its the dense stuff that I am walking on in from of my workbench to cushing my joints for standing. A Sam's purchase made for this use.)

1. The instructions recommend securing the 2x4 brackets to the motor mounting frame. If you used an isolating material as discussed above, did you secure the 2x4 brackets to the motor mounting frame plate?

2. If so, what method did you use to secure the motor mounting frame plate? It can't go anywhere except forward away from the wall if it was left un-secured. I would think that using screws would be too rigid, but that loose bolting or adding a stop at the end of the support bracket would work well. Has anyone just left this mounting float on the isolation without securing it? If so, has it moved around?

3. Has anyone actually proved (know for sure) that using the isolation material actually reduces noise and vibration? (Intuitively I would think that it would reduce vibration transmission and therefore noise, but is there any proof "in this pudding"?)

Thanks in advance from this newcomer. Can't wait to getting this thing going.

Ed
 
Ed,

FWIW, I've done a decent amount of sound isolation work in the past. Two things...

1) If you compress the foam very much at all, any isolation you get from it will be negated.

2) If you statically secure (IE, screw) the motor assembly directly to the mounting brackets, you will negate any effect the foam might have had. The sound will just use the mechanical coupling of the screws to travel from one piece to another.

If you really want to perform additional isolation, you could use something like:

Sound Isolating
Hangers

Notice that the hangers have a metal section with rubber mount inserted in. The mounting bolt goes through the rubber mount, so is not statically tied to the metal hanger.

I replaced the entire upper motor mount assembly on mine with custom box I made out of plywood and used 4 of these to hang it from the ceiling. I'm still in the process of getting mine put together and everything, but I'll take a pic of the motor mount tonight and post so you can see what I'm talking about.

Note - the hangers linked to above can handle up to 225 lbs, but is only acoustically rated for 36 lbs. So you need to use 4 of them to hang the ClearVue assembly.
 
The 4 mounting bolts with rubber tubing provides some isolation. That's all I have.

Some people indicate that they have vibration transmitted to the wall, although mine does not seem to have any issues. Mine is mounted to 10' tall 2x6 studs along an an exterior wall. The exterior wall is stucco which probably adds some mass to help dampen any potential vibration. Also, it is in the garage of a 1 story house, so there is nothing above that would be super sensitive to vibration.

Steve
 
I used isolation mounts too - they were from McMaster Carr:

IMG_0078.jpg
IMG_0080.jpg
 
Aegwyn11 said:
Picture as promised.
Click to expand...

Like your idea.

By looking at the way you took the picture it seems that the motor is quite enclosed by your new box. The motor does create lots of heat, I would make sure it has plenty of room/air around it so it doesn't overheat. Mind you this is from the viewpoint of how you took the pic, maybe it has more free airflow then what is seen from there.

I could be completely off on this too - maybe some other posters could clarify it better for you if this matters or not. :)
 
Crafted said:
Like your idea.

By looking at the way you took the picture it seems that the motor is quite enclosed by your new box. The motor does create lots of heat, I would make sure it has plenty of room/air around it so it doesn't overheat. Mind you this is from the viewpoint of how you took the pic, maybe it has more free airflow then what is seen from there.

I could be completely off on this too - maybe some other posters could clarify it better for you if this matters or not. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment :). I looked at the design of the motor a bit before I built the box...it appears the motor cools itself by pulling air in near the shaft and exhausting towards the other end. Assuming this to be true, the box has the same airflow capabilities as ClearVue's original hanging plate. I built the box so that the hole the motor pokes through is quite big (used the original hanging plate from ClearVue as a template). Also, the top of the box is entirely open (as in it doesn't have a top at all). The weight of the motor actually sits on a piece of plywood dado'd into the side pieces...the bottom of the box you see in the pic is just for appearance...not structural at all. Maybe I'm wrong on the cooling, but if so, I can add a fan above the motor very easily.
 
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