How to stop radiator ringing/resonating?

[boggy]

Originally Posted by harrypurser

Can anyone help, please? I have just finished acoustically treating a room for mastering and it's great. Just one thing: the radiator (central heating) is resonating. Is there anything that I can use as a dampening material which will be OK on a heat source?

Your help will be very gratefully received!

we discuss this, couple of months ago, here: Acoustic damping for radiator

cheers!

[harrypurser]

Thanks very much - I must have used the wrong search terms.

[harrypurser]

It turns out that a double-layer of heavy towels is actually very effective!

[Syncamorea]

I'd missed that earlier thread. I have used elastomeric foam to quiet aluminum and copper fins on radiators. It is a hassle to configure and mount but it works like a charm. Basically, I cut the foam at the fin spacing and then pushed it into place. I used 4 pieces of foam and put one on each side of the radiator.

[harrypurser]

Ah, I will definitely pursue this idea - thanks! The towels work OK, but take the professional edge away from the room's appearance.

I'm not sure I understand exactly - would this kind of foam tape work, or would I need something thicker, please? Pack of 3 x Foam Insulation Tape 15M | eBay

[Syncamorea]

That product may work if you can get intimate contact between the parts of the radiator that are resonating. The stuff I used was cut from a large thick sheet of foam sort of like this:

Google Image Result for http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00OSIQgiZqETkm/Elastomeric-Foam-Sheet-Material.jpg

You want to be able to physically damp the vibrations and the what and how will depend on the design of the radiator - the dimensions and layout of the parts that are resonating. I've also seen people use foam pipe insulation used in residential construction where a thin donuts were cut and wedged between radiator fins. You don't want to impede air flow too much or it could interfere with heat transfer.

[harrypurser]

Ah, I understand now - thank you very much for your response, I will definitely get hold of suitable foam and try it out.