help with loud pump

[dnjan]

the used pump he bought was super silent in the store.

It is very possible that the pump noise is being amplified by the "hollowness" of the stand. One check would be to see if putting a large piece of soft foam (temporarily) in the cabinet makes it quieter.

 

[mfinn]

Im confused. Theres alot of talk of using more spaflex. Why? I have a mak4 return pump and i barely hear the thing. He bought it ised. Hes been saying he thinks its the fan. My suggestion, buy a new fan or whatever to fix the fan noise. I dont know jack about iwaki pumps other than theyre ugly, but if you ask me, replacing a fan or the shaft would be a better fix than buying a new pump(s) or using more spaflex hose. I thought spaflex lowers the gph? Am i wrong? What is this "box" that its sitting on? Why is it on a box?

Those types of pumps weren't built with the idea of doing much in the way of repair. I've heard of taking fan cooled pumps and removing the stock fan and replacing it with a homemade shroud and computer fan, but IMO it's pretty much a mickey mouse type diy.
As far as the spa flex, it's a improvement over standard pvc with right angle 90's. It is suppose to improve flow.

 

[mfinn]

In a environment that has alot of ambeint background noise, such as a place that has many hundreds ( maybe thousands) of gallons of water moving, circulation pumps, skimmer pumps, etc., a pump may sound very quiet, until you get it home and fire it up in a truely quiet home. Add in a unhappy spouse....................

 

[APch1ll3n]

I do have spaflex on my tank connecting to the Iwaki pump after i bought the use pump. It helped but like I said. I believe its the fan. Hunter you are correct when we are at the store it was dead quite. When I got home and hooked it up it was also dead quite with a slight minimum humming from the pump. Slight problem; the pump wasn't running. In other words no water was moving. I tapped the pump a couple of times than the fan kicked on and walla!!! Water started moving and the noise came to be...

Again it is a used pump. I do understand its not a new pump for the price of a pinto.

 

[APch1ll3n]

The box i mention is nothing more than a cardboard box that I cut to fit in between the pump and stand to block the sound through the vent holes in the stand. The cutout box does not block the airflow of the fan. It helped with the sound alot.

 

[HUNTER01975]

my vote is still to make a better mount.
I was thinking rubber feet on the pump to a board and then making a rubber foot for the bottom of the board so the pump would be double insulated from the cabinet. i was also thinking we could use some screw on barb fitting and run silicone hose from the out side of the pump up to the union.

also i am super interested in hearing yours run and comparing it to mine. I am just hoping mine does not end up being all crazy loud compared to yours cause then i will go crazy trying to make it quieter..lol

 

[mfinn]

my vote is still to make a better mount.
I was thinking rubber feet on the pump to a board

Skip the board and go for thicker soft rubber.

 

[HUNTER01975]

Skip the board and go for thicker soft rubber.

A nice large chuck of fire hose would be perfect..