Noisy central heating blower

[babzog]

When the central heating blower for the Opel 3 firepalce comes on, I hear a loud humming noise from the basement. It doesn't sound bad when I go and stare at the unit, I think it's a combination of motor noise and vibration transmitted directly into the floor above.

Any way to isolate the fan from the wood framing above? Any other way to suppress the noise? The whistling of the air going around the fireplace is tolerable, but that constant drone from downstairs sounds awful.

 

[babzog]

Bump.

Has no one had to deal with noisy central heating blowers? Do you just put up with the noise?

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Could be the bearing is starting to wear out, could just need cleaning.

 

[michaelryba]

I don't think theirs a lot of people with that particular stove & issues like you have tend to be particular to a specific stove.
I have an insert with a blower that has gone through some phases of making noise from vibration. Does your stove have a manual override so you can turn it on without any fire and do some detective work? My blower uses some thick rubber washers/bushings to absorb vibrations.
I've even used some small chunks of bark wedged into a particular spots to try and figure out just what was vibrating & what may be causing it. Good luck.

 

[babzog]

Doubt it would be a bearing as it's a new install (unless the motor is defective). I saw them pull it out of the box. There are no rubber washers or anything between the mounts and the floor framing (it's not a blower in the fireplace, it's a separate blower that, in my case, is mounted near the main house heating ducts). Putting my ear to the blower unit when running, I can hear the noise is definitely coming from there.

I guess I was more interested if folks with any kind of setup like this (any manuf) - fireplace with central heating blower - have run into this and how they overcame it. Can't be the first one to run into this, can I?

 

[woodmiser]

My forced air unit is hung horizontally from the floor joists in my crawlspace. It has rubber isolation pads where the unit contacts the angle iron brackets.

I had another unit installed in an addition a few years back. He installed it on top of cinder blocks. I think I like that better.

 

[Hanko]

check your flux capacitor

 

[woodmiser]

check your flux capacitor

They have them here ...

http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=28

 

[babzog]

There are no isolation pads in the blower connection as you can see in the attached. Should I find some kind of material to put between the brackets and the blower or the brackets and the framing? What sort of material should I use?

 

[Lumber-Jack]

check your flux capacitor

They have them here ...

http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=28

That thing is expencive, but it sure got good reviews.
However, it may not help Babzog.

 

[woodmiser]

Look for something like this..

http://www.rubber-group.com/isolationmounts.html

 

[babzog]

The shop's installer came by yesterday to hook up the blower to the plenum. I also had the guy put some rubber pad material between the brackets and the wood framing. Screwed the rubber to the frame, then the bracket to the rubber using smaller screws that wouldn't penetrate. It has cut down on the noise significantly! You can now only slightly hear it when standing directly over it in the kitchen. My Dad also suggested I put some 2" foam insulation in the floor joist cavity above the blower to further deaden the sound. Will try that after the New Year has come (and the hangover has worn off). LOL