(no subject)

[annissamazing]

My new "silent" air pump is far from silent. It's already driving me nuts and it's only been running for about 10 minutes. The bubbles would sound very pretty if it weren't for all that vibration! What to do. What to do.

Comments

two possible noise sources

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Take a foam pad (such as a sheet of the stuff you'd find in sofa cushions) or a mouse pad or a flat part from a sheet of packing styrofoam, and cut it a little larger than the pump base.
Besides deadening the noise, it shold also protect against black marks coming off the rubber feet/pump base onto your tank stand or table or what have you. (Yes, I can diagnose those black rubbery stains at 20 feet.)
If that doesn't kill the noise (and if it's as loud as you say) you can try a different pad.
If it's still noisy afte you tried various sound-deadeners like that, then a minor pump repair job may be in order.
Quite commonly, one certain part inside the pump has not aged well.
On many older air pumps you can unscrew the base, open it up, and examine things like the rubber diaphram which gets vibrated back and forth by little magnets on levers. This flexibility is what produce air pressure. Air is sucked in, one way, and pushed out by the regular breathing of these diaphragms. Before you take anything apart, look how it's assembled, which way bolts and lever arms are turned. Then you can take it apart to check if there's cracks.

Also, not every pump has these, but there may be tiny annoying little silicon flapper valves in the plastic base to which the diaphragms attach. Don't let them fall off and get lost before you have a chance to see where they are and which way they work. These flappers often come with the replacement diaphram parts. Such pumps won't work without them. I've been known to flip over worn flappers to get a fresh section that's still flexible when I could get new ones.

BOth the flappers and the diaphragms get old, crack. It's usually the diaphragms that make all that horrible noise.

To fix the really nasty Chinese cheap pumps is impractical.
Hint: no screws, it's glued in, there's no way to open up the pump.
Toss it. Get a Whisper or QuietOne or, if you don't need air lifts to make your filters work, then don't bother at all.
Simple, eh?
For Whispers or Quiet Ones or other common makes, you can order the correct diaphragm for your pump model at some of the warehouse site s(Big Al's, Dr. Foster & etc.) online.

But you may be in luck--if your pump is more recent and it came from a decent shop, they'll still have the repair rubber diaphragms (with flappers if that pump needs it) to replace it.

Good luck!