sound deadening material ..

[xpress]

hi folks, in tandem with thermowrap i was going to scatter around some pieces of sound deadening material in my newly acquired panel van.

is eDead good stuff? i can get 12" x 10 ft roll of eDead Original² for 17.95 plus 8 quid postage. is that enough to do a good job and is that a good price for it?

are there any cheaper places and alternatives for a homebrew budget?



also, i was going to fit velour headlining to the outside of the ply and then the sound deadening to the other side, then thermowrap, taped with the thermowrap tape and then tape plastic sheeting all round the side of the ply nearest to the metal panels of the van. would this be good enough as a vapour barrier or should i tape the plastic sheeting directly to the panels? thanks!

also, if you're reading this, how many metres of velour headlining/leatherette would i need to cover the ply with for a panel van? thanks again.

[pocolow]

You may be overdoing it with the plastic sheeting as a vapour barrier,just use the thermowrap. As for the material you use have you considered automotive carpet which is designed for caravans /campervans and has the advantage that you can glue it directly to steel (around windows/doors) When I lined out my camper(excluding the roof) I used about 8-9m2 and got it off ebay for about £60

[neil3965]

Hi there

No point putting the eDead stuff on the plywood - it needs to be stuck to the inside of the steel body panels. It works by deadening vibration in the body panels.

This link

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

has a lot of info on sound deadening.

[xpress]

ah i see. i thought that might be the case, thanks for confirming it. i guess the eDead works with the structure of the steel and absorbs the vibration directly, stops the resonating; a bit like a rubber insert on a snare drum in order to play it quieter. i didn't really want to get into sticking anything directly to the panels.

i will have a think about that tho, cheers

[slobbo]

I bought a load of stuff from http://www.ainsworth-insulation.co.uk/ spoke to a guy called Darren Cresswell. I got two sorts of deadening. One was a thin gooey sheet that goes on the sheet metal areas which stop vibration then a high density foam material that traps airbourne noise. Worked great and very easy to apply.

[xpress]

THANKS for the post bro. how much was the high density foam material, and if you could make a guess, how much do you think it would be to cover the back of my panel boards in it?

[slobbo]

Cant remember but give ainsworth a call they were very helpfull

[mikestef]

Hi there, I am very interested in this subject also ,There are a few good sites in the wiki but I am still confused with what would be the best option.I want to put some sound deadening in but then what way does the insulation go in after that?I know a gap is important,but not sure how to get that gap and what insulation is the best way to go.I've looked this up on other sites and forums and there doesnt seem to be one agreed best way .A step by step like the one they have on this site for how to paint your van with a roller would be great!So please anyone want to take the task on???The one on the wiki is good but dated and use all american products.By the way I am a big fan of this site it contains a world of info,I'm just at a loss for what to do with the whole sound-deadening-insulation thing.I will keep my eye on your replys and good luck!!Stefany

[slobbo]

It is an interesting subject. One not easily answered. It depends a lot on budget. The commercially available products designed for the job are always going to be better than some of the other cheaper insulation products people use.

Here is the science as I understand it.

Noise in your van is generated through vibration as well as from the road and noise from the surrounding area. To get the best acoustic deadening you have to eliminate both the airborne and vibration noise. To remove the vibration noise you have to cover the large areas of sheet metal with the thin mat that looks like tar or gooey plastic between two pieces of wax paper or wax paper and silver reflective film. This needs to be applied directly on the sheet metal (it comes with adhesive on one side). Inside doors, floor, interior panels etc. Obviously you don't want to leave it exposed as it is ugly stuff. Next you apply the high density foam. This you can get with adhesive applied to one side. Both of these products are easy to cut with a pair of scissors. The foam you apply on top of the other stuff. It is about 10mm thick so you apply it where ever you can that doesn't interfere. This is usually in the doors, side panels etc.

Here are some pictures of a Bay I kitted out.

This is over the engine bay and is the thins gooey vibration dampening stuff.

If you go on you tube and put in sound deadening it brings up some stuff as well. Here is one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7eIF4cgFx4

The Black stuff in the door is the high density foam over the top of the silver vibration stuff(not visible)

A close up picture of the cab door with both foam and vibration dampening stuff.

I used the Second Skin stuff as well. Tried the Spectrum stuff but didn't like applying that. The Damplifier stuff was good. The Damplifier was slightly better to use than the stuff supplied by Ainsworth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wn_fqnS ... re=related

[sonic23]

Rob - that high density foam looks just the job. I've been looking for something like that to go over the that panel under the bed seat that's above the transmission - as a lot of noise seams to come from here.
Tell me do you know if it's a closed cell type of foam (so then it won't absorb water)?
I've looked at some acoustic foam - the stuff you get in sound studios, but it's all open cell stuff so would probably act like a ruddy great sponge!

Rich

[slobbo]

It is just the trick. Closed cell. Was concerned about that myself.

[sonic23]

right then.....guess who i'll be phoning next week then?!!!

[xpress]

nice, thanks guys. the more the merrier. by the way, a wiki tutorial like the rustoleum one is a great idea yet i think people seem to have different ways of tackling this, but i think these approaches could be covered with pros and cons in there too.

i am not a fan of sticking things so i might go for putting the high density foam on the back of the ply panels that isn't seen. if that doesn't quieten things down enough i might look into taping the sound deadening eDead type mats to the panels strategically in various places, but not sticking them down completely and see if that improves things further.

[mikestef]

O.k things are becoming a little clearer for me too!Rob could you tell me what did you do after you had finished putting in the noise killer and foam,did you need to put in some kind of insulation over that again ?For instance would there be any areas of metal not covered that could form condensation?would it be a good idea to glue plastic sheets over the panels to stop this ?Oh and I know the question has been asked about how much it cost,but is the noise killer you used from Ainsworth similer to that stuff "roof fix"(think thats what it was called)that was recomended on that Youtube site you gave a link for?Sorry for all the questions!Thanks alot,Stefany

[HarryMann]

f that doesn't quieten things down enough i might look into taping the sound deadening eDead type mats to the panels strategically in various places, but not sticking them down completely and see if that improves things further.

Bonding to the panel is as good as essential to maximise the vibration damping effect, to do otherwise might well reduce some transmitted sound frequencies a bit, but could equally exacerbate panel resonance itself - it is this 'band-pass filter' effct of a panel that creates the most annoyance - a single frquency band being amplified and transmitted in isolation.