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View Full Version : Out of sight, out of mind-



Kev Williams
01-29-2016, 4:40 PM
2 of my laser's blowers, the HF 'green' ones, have been outside in our basement stairwell for 13 years. They're pretty quiet, even with both running you typically only hear a light hum from the motors from 50' away, and barely any air-noise. I also have a larger HF blower and a giant 60 gallon compressor that are in an insulated plastic shed next to end of the house, the compressor's been there for going on 20 years, the blower about 10 years.

For 47 years we've never had a single complaint from a neighbor about anything. So I was taken aback the other night when a neighbor behind me, came to our door to complain about the noise! And this neighbor has lived there for nearly 10 years himself..?

I figured I'd get complaints about the SMELL before noise! So I assured him I'd take care of it...

It's been awhile since I've actually listened to the blowers run, and from inside, all the fans in all the machines running drowns out the blowers. So I turned on the blowers, and opened the basement door, and I was greeted to a blower with the housing rattling pretty badly, and squirrel cage bearings that were screeching... Not horribly, but when quiet out around midnight, it would be plenty loud enough to be heard several hundred feet away!

But I haven't noticed it! I simply can't hear it, and -- out of sight, out of mind...

Was an easy enough fix, I finally gave the ULS laser to my BIL, and it's blower- the older one- is still very quiet and still in place, so I just connected the LS900 to that one.

So, I decided I'd better check to see if the compressor and big blower are making funny noises, since I never hear them either! (thankfully, they're not!)

Probably time to check on the water heater, furnace, etc... ;)

Gary Hair
01-29-2016, 6:11 PM
It would have been easier to give your neighbor some ear plugs...

Dee Gallo
01-30-2016, 9:24 PM
Good point, Kev. I have mine outside too and it's really easy to NOT open up the enclosure and check it. I have to force myself to do it about every other year...during the summer! I've been lucky that each time there is nothing to clean or repair, but sometime... Maintenance is key to our survival.