I don't get all the negative attitudes here, you've identified a problem we all have, and proposed a solution. Thanks for making the video. When I'm paying an engineer (I am one BTW) to solve a noise problem, I'll get snarky if he's off base. Since you made a video to try to help me, I'm going to say "Thank You" Your free proposed solution is more any naysayer have done to make my shop a better place. Her's my contribution to the project, for what it is worth. I spent a lot of my professional life building industrial equipment and factory equipment. Workplace safety and comfort play into much of creating a productive and pleasant place to work. Uncomfortable people don't do good work, and get hurt more than those that are happy at work. Here's a bit of what I learned through the years of designing machinery that people have to work with. I think it explains why your system works better than you would think, as it doesn't reduce motor noise etc. Db is complicated. I'd give you a pat answer, how much quieter your muffler makes the shop-vac, but I'm afraid there just isn't any. Suffice it to say your improvement is significant and will make working around a shop vac less unpleasant. Loudness is perceived and subjective. The qualities of the offending sound factor into it's level of irritation as much as the energy it contains (Sound Pressure Level - also expressed in db). The surroundings effect it's characteristics, so the shop-vac outdoors is less unpleasant outdoors than it is in a shop with objects reflecting the sound back at the listener. The total energy contained in the sound is the similar, but in the indoor case, the effect is much more annoying due to it's physiological and psychological effects on the listener. There is an entire field of study dedicated to the subject. Sorry for the wordy explanation, but there's a lot going on when it comes to industrial noise control. What it all boils down to, is that your solution is effective not necessarily because it reduces the sound energy (which it most certainly does), but because it reduces a lot of the high frequency air noise, a type of noise that is particularly unpleasant to most people. This is the noise that bounces around a lot indoors and thus contributes more than you would expect to the unpleasant character of shop-vac noise. For example, the old fingernails on a chalkboard noise carries very little energy, and is far from dangerous, but is very high on the irritation scale. Thanks for your work making this video, I enjoyed it, and it gives me a few ideas on how to improve my shop. Subbed.

Great job. Now, a correction concerning dBs. Every three units of measurement is either a 50% decrease, or a 100% increase. Going from 94 dB to 80 dB is 14 points. You reduced the volume by more than 87%. That's a massive improvement.

I love the idea behind this. I am sure some others have suggested a few improvements. My only concern is that while watching the video, I could not see about 80$ of what was being built. and I felt that the most critical stuff to see how it is built did not get shown. I learn best by seeing what is done, so I missed a lot of the meat and potatoes of this build. Can you consider to maybe make another video to show the process better? Thank you.

Thank you for this- I now not only know how to quiet the vac but a basic ide of how to apply this to any situation. Well done.

Ritchie Aprille is really knowledgeable

Awesome, thanks for sharing

Thanks for the video. I’ll begin mine later today using these strategies. I’ll find out which ones actually work for me. 1. Box on wheels to be rolled outside when in use. Hose back into garage via opening under door. 2. Box lined with 1.5 inches of concrete on all six sides, plus air gaps, carpet glue, 2nd inner plywood layer, foam if needed. 3. Instead of making a muffler, using an actual car muffler inside the box. 4. Remote control operation. 5. Minor air pass through for motor cooling. 6. Dust cyclone on outside. I found your videos helpful for generating ideas. Thanks again.

Thanks! Great idea. You are correct because the decibel scale is logarithmic, meaning that each 10 dB difference represents a tenfold increase in intensity. By lowering the noise into the 70 decibel range you SUBSTANTIALLY lower the risk of hearing damage. And the hazard of an angry spouse when you run the shop vac at 7am on a Saturday morning! 🤣

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and in a way that any "rocket scientist will never wannabe", can easily learn ... you have a great way of captivating your audience, well you got me wanting more .

Thanks for the video. I watched it several times and then built a similar model with mods. I adapted a short 2” PVC pipe to the exhaust port (wrapped with a bike inner tube then screwed in place). This went to a PVC ‘U’ then the regular muffler. I put many holes in the 3” pipe. Then sliced the top of a 4” pipe & clamped it around the existing 2”-3” adapter. This 4” pipe seemed to cut the sound pretty well. I didn’t have a cap to check the sound of the original muffler, but without it it was too loud. Thanks again.

Thanks. Very good and smart comments and conclusions. Always is good to learn something new. 👍🇺🇸🙏

Nice one, i made 1 also for my shopvac. Mine is way smaller, but it really works.

Great idea and a great outcome. May I respectfully suggest-and this will require some non-linear editing-showing the finished project at the beginning, so people can anchor their brains in what you’re up to. Say, “Here’s what we’re building today,” THEN explain and demonstrate the build (as you did), then demonstrate the final product in action (as you did). Loved the real-time decibel readings, which added credibility to your presentation. Thanks for putting this together!

Thanks! That was awesome I appreciate it

I had been thinking of building a sound reduction cabinet, but was worried about the vac overheating on long runs. This seems like the way to go. Do yo think you would get additional reduction by putting more foam in the outer sleeve in addition to the center?

Thanks for the video. This should be pretty easy to put in place. Thank you.

Serves its purpose well

Absolutely a genius creation

thanks for this! Solved a problem for me.

Nicely Done! Brilliant! I plan on building one of your mufflers. I liked your solution and your cool low key attitude in the presentation and non threatening way you introduced the math. Also liked that you used easy to find materials and building techniques. I also liked what others below said about making more holes for less restriction since the array of small holes, though the same total area, will have more restriction. basic rule of thumb is the air restriction goes with the cube of the diameter difference. It's actually not that bad in this case since the formula only goes where the diameter is much less than the hole length. It would be complicated to calculate. However a good guess is that you would need twice the number of 1/2" holes to not measurably restrict the air flow. I like Scott Marshall below am a practicing engineer. one last note reducing the sound by 3dB is cutting the sound power in half. while reducing the sound by 10db reduces the sound power by 10dB reduces the sound power to 1/10. However that being said, the ear is logarithmic so it sounds like the sound is 1/2 is loud, so in the end you are right on and the sound you here is reduced by 50%. More importantly the hearing damange potential goes with the sound power, so as far as hearing damage over time your Brilliant muffler reduces that by the full 90%. Sorry for the long message I did not have time to make it any shorter. Thank you

Awesome job. I love it. Its a problem that we all have and this is a great solution for it. May not be the best, but its still functional and thats the point. It works... thank you for this idea.

That was awesome!! Thanks for sharing. My shop vac is very loud as well. I will certainly give this a try. Thanks!

Great concept, thanks.

Things I learned : how to apply math for the size of the holes I need on my spray bar on my aquariums’ filter outlets. No more trial and error. (Um... let’s try five 1/4” holes... nope, try again...) Decibels is a logarithmic scale. That made me go do a little research myself and I learned a lot. Thanks for the video; it’s not always about what you can use, but what you learned.

Thank you, great video. My SV is a noisy sucker too. I will be building one of these mufflers soon.

Thank you for the knowledge. I am unlikely to complete this specific project, but 5-10 years from now I will encounter another piece of knowledge in a seemingly unrelated field and this videos knowledge will click together with my future problem like a final missing puzzle piece you find under the couch. I don’t want to be immortal, except I occasionally wish I could live long enough for all my stray/loose ends of knowledge to be tied to something personally and physically relevant.

This is definitely one of the most useful and well presented shop videos that I have seen. I appreciate the basic math that you used to figure out the requirements for the construction of the muffler. I agree with several others that your demonstration of the construction was not very well presented since much of it was just out of the frame in the video. However, knowing what you were supposed to be doing helps to fill in the blanks. Also, others have noted that the way sound is measured and with the meager audio quality it is obvious that the reduction was very significant. Thank you for going to the trouble to present this video in a very educational manner.

You got it. 10dB halves your volume. Cool vid. Thanks

I may build one just because it’ll look cooler than my neighbors standard shop vac. I’m just curious if you measured the airflow before and after to confirm your calculations?

Even if I made one of these mufflers for my shop Vac, I would still have to use my 'ears' because when I would have my vac running, it would be because I would also be using my loud mitre saw or my planer ( a real screecher) or maybe the table saw or my belt sander; although my table saw is not a screecher like the mitre saw and planer. Anyway...I applaud your creativity and using science to explain why & how it works.

How to make your shop vac quieter: hold the meter further away when taking the measurement.

Very nicely done. Thanks for the video. Gonna try it to see if I can get the same results.

Thank you for the video, it looks like the muffler is on the exhaust side. True? How much of a CFM reduction do you have W/ the cyclone on the input? How much more do you have with the muffler? What keeps the foam muddles from being sucked blown out of the muffler?

Really great!!

Love the idea, any number of improvements could be made, with a bit of imagination. But you definitely made it quieter. Thanks!

Great information, thanks for putting this up. Question: I'm curious to know how much suction is reduced by adding the muffler. Any device that restricts air outflow - which a muffler would most certainly do - has to affect inflow as well. A simple measurement of air inflow with an anemometer with and without the muffler would be very telling.

this was the single hardest video to watch on youtube.

Nice video Question By baffling the exhaust does it reduce the suction

Good idea. I need a diffuser more than a muffler, I hate the outflow blowing everything behind me into next Tuesday. For the sound, I just put on ear protection.

That's a great video, thanks, now I know how to make a muffler. My recommendation is to do a few more holes than you think you need because the other thing that makes a difference on airflow is going around corners etc. So you might have the right surface area of the holes but it will still restrict it greatly. Pulling a figure out of my ass but 25% more than you think you need. Even without having a muffler and just the outlet either straight or at 90 degrees will make a big difference to outflow and therefore suction. Where there is room I always use 2x 45degree elbows with a little straight run in the middle instead of 1x 90deg bend. Thanks again for the video, this project is on my list 👍🏼

good video specially science part explanation help to measure us for our sound dampening projects 👍

I appreciate the math and sharing ur experience. The math leaves nothing to chance or shade tree engineering!

Great stuff.

Thanks!

Thanks for the video and the explanation of the theory behind it. I have a ShopVac Ultra and besides the hole for the suction hose, the only other hole it has is for using it as a blower, and of course it's closed with a threaded cap when using the vacuum port. So I'm not sure where to connect the muffler in my unit. Which port are you using to attach your muffler? thanks

Very good idea

very creative solution.

hi, I wasnt sure if you had a hole drilled in your larger outer pipe. it looked like a window. please explain if I am seeing right. it wasnt mentioned in the video. thanks. Great video and helpful information btw

Greasing the bearings helps too. I'm gonna give my vac a little tlc this weekend. Thanks for the tip! Now I'm thinking....what else can I muffle? 🤔

Great video and simple, easy solution! Not sure where I missed it, but what did you use to make the observation window in the outside housing? Perhaps warmed up some plexiglass?

It works. Tip focus the camera on the work. Less talking head video. Confess fast forwarding to get to the result

Noise canceling ear buds , u can take them anywhere ?

Nice project!

I like the project and idea in general. Unfortunately, I've yet to find any "muffler" solution that didn't impede the draw to the point where I was dissatisfied with the performance. I solve my issue by throwing on a set of "Worktunes" and rocking out while I clean up.

i realize this is an old video but i just found it.. my question is: did you step the diameter up from 2.5" to 3" or 4"??? thanks

He's right on point I'm a plumber and PVC cement does not taste good

very cool great idea

Great video and great solution to lower the noise. If you or anyone here can answer this question. The large outer pvc pipe I see a large hole cut out but it looks like some plastic transparent film is covering it. I didn’t see you cutting that huge hole was it might to be there or did you just cover the hole up to use it for this project. Thank you to any one that answers.

Spray all your parts inside and out with Flex Seal might help absorb some of the sound and try using steel wool instead of foam noodles.

I'm shocked by how well that worked. I would have thought most of the noise was coming from the motor head and not through the exhaust. Unlike an ICM where there are actual explosions going on upstream of the exhaust..

Great idea! Does your foam not decrease the volume of air through the muffler and thus impact airflow or did I miss something?

Pretty cool, but how badly did you restrict air flow suction?

Has the airflow (volume) been checked with and without muffler?

Nice use of available materials. How much did the added resistance cut the suction? More holes and less baffling might help airflow.

Very nice job. Did I miss something? How did you make the body with the window on it?

Great video and instructions. What is the purpose of the window in the pipe body (see the video at 4:32)? Looks like you have covered it with clear plastic. What is the next step for greater sound reduction?

If most of the sound is created by the motor, is there a way to sound proof the housing instead of the exhaust option? Maybe spray foam the whole vac on the outside (leaving the vents open). You could then change the shape of the vac this way also. Add some better accessory holder. A coffee thermos holder. Customize the finish color. Add racing stripes, etc.

Cool idea. Thanks for posting this. I may just build one of these. Also, unlike the whining below about your presentation being "too technical", I appreciated your inclusion of your calculations for determining how many 1/2" holes to drill. It's clear from the comments that a lot of people are unaware that the decibel scale is non-linear. That's not your fault, but you could have headed off most of those comments by mentioning that in the video.

The video would be much more valuable if I could see the parts you're working on. Most of the time it's off the bottom of the screen. It would be interesting to know what the difference in the vacuum performance.

What did constipating the outflow do the suction of the shop vacuum? In order for the suction to remain constant, the air you displace to create the vacuum must go somewhere. If you impede the air flow, ipso facto the suction must diminish.

Thanks.

Good video my friend, never understood the noise was from air flow more than the motor.

I bought a Fein.....66 dBa, and then built a silencing box. I have check to see if it’s actually running.

This is good shit!

That muffler is interesting... I have a pool noodle with a 2.5 inch inside diameter which I think would be nearly as effective. Thank you for proposing this idea.

Which app was used to measure decibels?

Yes it is loud

Loved you in the movie Ghost

that is a significant reduction in noise. I am curious, how did it affect the airflow?

Is the muffler capped off .where is the air getting out

Ridgid makes a muffler for the shop vacuum. I have one. It plugs into the exhaust port like the muffler that you made. It does a good job of reducing the noise, but also reduces the suction and airflow of the vacuum. The one benefit is that it diffuses the exhaust so it doesn’t blow as much dust around. Ever been in a smaller room trying to vacuum up dust while the exhaust port is helping to blow it into a cloud?

My Zuni-Saw,Bandsaw(20”),6x48” sander ! I have super tenitis !! Little late !!

It looks like the foam stick would reduce the airflow a lot or am I missing something?

What I would of like to seen is the vacuum force before and after the muffler was added to see if there was any loss.

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An additional measure would be to build a closed cabinet around the whole vac and line it with a sound absorption material like Rockwool. Great video thanks.

Most important thing about the construction "...move your coffee cup well away because PVC cement does not taste good. We don't want anything to get in the way of good coffee!" Good design and math. Yes, even though it sucks, math does matter in life.

What size are the pipes you are using? 2 and 3 or 2 and 4 inch? Really want to try this. When might you be posting your next version? Thanks for the inspiration?

Hi. There is a large hole on the outer pvc. But its not mentioned. Pls explain

IF you made it longer ? Would it make it quieter?? Or restrict the exhaust ?? GREAT VID. !!

My rabbits say thank you! 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

What about that hole in the side of the big pipe that's covered with some kind of plastic what size is that hole what's it for... I saw you talking about everything else but you never mentioned that hole on the side of the big pipe I take it that's for the exhaust to come out but what size is the hole

Really appreciate this video and the length you've gone to create your vision! I did want to ask what impact insulating the inside of the vacuum with say acoustic treatment like dynomat or other materials would be. Could this help?

What size is the pipe size

I think the majority of the noise is from the motor. Rigid now makes a small muffler attachment that reduces the noise a little bit thst came with my vac. I feel like it chases the pitch of the noise.

Well a 10dB drop( or rise in volume )is perceived as a 50% reduction( or gain )by the ear. Nice work!

would using steel wool filler as a baffle make it quieter???

Ear buds is my easy solution with any combination of noises from vacuum, table saw, air compressor etc

Excellent Thank you for sharing

I’m curious how much this muffler will affect the vacuum of the shop vac. ? If any 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for the video !!!