Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post

Gordon Hunter · Dec 10th, 2011, 08:14

Update from Mitch:

I’ve ordered my insulation and there was a slight change of plan after I spoke to the guy at custom audio designs. They no longer do the Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) sheets but recommended their Tecsound insulation and he says it performs better than MLV. I also looked at the technical aspects and it’s density also makes it better than anything I’ve found so far as a sound deadening material to apply directly to large areas. The tecsound SY50 has an adhesive backing on one side and an aluminium foil facing on the other so sticking this to a panel will do the same job as Dynamat in that it dampens vibration. I haven’t been able to find out what the density of Dynamat is but the tecsound 50 range is 5kg/m2, bitumen based products are between 1kg/m² and 2kg/m² and this 3M product is 3kg/m2 http://3mcollision.com/media/documen...deningPads.pdf so effectively you need less to dampen the panels. A price comparison for the dampening material without carriage is: Dynamat £44/m2, Automobiltrim’s sound damping pads £31.2/m2, Tecsound SY50 £10.50/m2 and considering you need less of the Tecsound SY50-ALU it seems like the obvious choice. Info on the Tecsound SY50 that I’ve ordered for the panels:

Tecsound SY50-ALU is a polymer-based, bitumen-free, high density synthetic soundproofing membrane, that offers good acoustic insulation coupled with an oil resistant, reinforced, aluminium foil facing. It has extremely high visco-elasticity as well as being extremely flexible even in cold temperatures.
This damping material is unique. Unlike most other foil faced damping sheets which are bitumen based, Tecsound is not only Class0 fire rated but it tolerates extremes of temperature. It will not harden and crack when it gets cold thus reducing acoustic efficiency. It is also 5kg/m² whereas many other bitumen based products are between 1kg/m² and 2kg/m² and therfor not as effective at damping thicker metalwork over 0.25mm.

For the front floor section I will be using the Tecsound T50 over Automobiltrim’s felt as the absorbing and isolating layer and for the rear I will use T50 bonded to the closed cell matt. Another advantage of floating a sound barrier over the absorbing layer that I didn’t mention previously is that the felt or foam will absorb noise travelling into the car and then again as it bounces off the sound barrier layer so the sound barrier layer also increases the effectiveness of the absorbing layer when used in conjunction with a barrier. One area I’m concerned with is added weight, to completely insulate everything will add quite a bit of weight so I still need to work out if I’m prepared to compromise some extra cabin noise and not insulate 100% and concentrate on the worst sound transmission areas. I will add new damping material to all panels and remove all old material and Darren has recommended then only using Thinsultae between the door cards and the door bodies and says a lot of new cars use this as the insulation in the doors, it will be a compromise as without the barrier the Thinsulate will not be as effective but it is suppose to be quite a good absorber of sound.

The Amazon will have quite a bit of wind noise due to the gutters, quarter windows etc and this noise will be difficult to block. I still also need to see if some Thinsulate, foam or felt under the roof lining would help reduce some of the wind noise.

A120 Tecsound 50 6m x 1.22m (7.32m2) £48.60 + vat http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/...c-membrane.htm

A130 Tecsound SY50 6m x 1.22m (7.32m2) A/Backed £63.43 + vat http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/...c-membrane.htm

Due to the weight of the Tecsound carriage is expensive as it needs to be by pallet and it cost £55 for my order so you need to make 100% that you order enough in the first order otherwise you will be paying for delivery twice if you need to order more material. For a cost comparison Dynamat would have cost me an extra £600 to order the same area coverage from Ebay. I’ll give a run down on exact amounts of each material used and the prices when I insulate my estate to give folk a better guide to exact amounts so you only need to buy exactly what you need.

If possible I'd like to do some sound readings when done to try and quantify the improvements but unless my work has a meter I can use it probably won't happen.

Cheers,

Mitch

Dec 10th, 2011, 08:14	#5
Gordon Hunter Ex 1800 Register Keeper Last Online: Apr 29th, 2022 17:04 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Central Scotland	Update from Mitch: I’ve ordered my insulation and there was a slight change of plan after I spoke to the guy at custom audio designs. They no longer do the Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) sheets but recommended their Tecsound insulation and he says it performs better than MLV. I also looked at the technical aspects and it’s density also makes it better than anything I’ve found so far as a sound deadening material to apply directly to large areas. The tecsound SY50 has an adhesive backing on one side and an aluminium foil facing on the other so sticking this to a panel will do the same job as Dynamat in that it dampens vibration. I haven’t been able to find out what the density of Dynamat is but the tecsound 50 range is 5kg/m2, bitumen based products are between 1kg/m² and 2kg/m² and this 3M product is 3kg/m2 http://3mcollision.com/media/documen...deningPads.pdf so effectively you need less to dampen the panels. A price comparison for the dampening material without carriage is: Dynamat £44/m2, Automobiltrim’s sound damping pads £31.2/m2, Tecsound SY50 £10.50/m2 and considering you need less of the Tecsound SY50-ALU it seems like the obvious choice. Info on the Tecsound SY50 that I’ve ordered for the panels: Tecsound SY50-ALU is a polymer-based, bitumen-free, high density synthetic soundproofing membrane, that offers good acoustic insulation coupled with an oil resistant, reinforced, aluminium foil facing. It has extremely high visco-elasticity as well as being extremely flexible even in cold temperatures. This damping material is unique. Unlike most other foil faced damping sheets which are bitumen based, Tecsound is not only Class0 fire rated but it tolerates extremes of temperature. It will not harden and crack when it gets cold thus reducing acoustic efficiency. It is also 5kg/m² whereas many other bitumen based products are between 1kg/m² and 2kg/m² and therfor not as effective at damping thicker metalwork over 0.25mm. For the front floor section I will be using the Tecsound T50 over Automobiltrim’s felt as the absorbing and isolating layer and for the rear I will use T50 bonded to the closed cell matt. Another advantage of floating a sound barrier over the absorbing layer that I didn’t mention previously is that the felt or foam will absorb noise travelling into the car and then again as it bounces off the sound barrier layer so the sound barrier layer also increases the effectiveness of the absorbing layer when used in conjunction with a barrier. One area I’m concerned with is added weight, to completely insulate everything will add quite a bit of weight so I still need to work out if I’m prepared to compromise some extra cabin noise and not insulate 100% and concentrate on the worst sound transmission areas. I will add new damping material to all panels and remove all old material and Darren has recommended then only using Thinsultae between the door cards and the door bodies and says a lot of new cars use this as the insulation in the doors, it will be a compromise as without the barrier the Thinsulate will not be as effective but it is suppose to be quite a good absorber of sound. The Amazon will have quite a bit of wind noise due to the gutters, quarter windows etc and this noise will be difficult to block. I still also need to see if some Thinsulate, foam or felt under the roof lining would help reduce some of the wind noise. A120 Tecsound 50 6m x 1.22m (7.32m2) £48.60 + vat http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/...c-membrane.htm A130 Tecsound SY50 6m x 1.22m (7.32m2) A/Backed £63.43 + vat http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/...c-membrane.htm Due to the weight of the Tecsound carriage is expensive as it needs to be by pallet and it cost £55 for my order so you need to make 100% that you order enough in the first order otherwise you will be paying for delivery twice if you need to order more material. For a cost comparison Dynamat would have cost me an extra £600 to order the same area coverage from Ebay. I’ll give a run down on exact amounts of each material used and the prices when I insulate my estate to give folk a better guide to exact amounts so you only need to buy exactly what you need. If possible I'd like to do some sound readings when done to try and quantify the improvements but unless my work has a meter I can use it probably won't happen. Cheers, Mitch