How can I quiet a noisy air conditoner?

[A. Y.]

Hello,



I had just bought a Friedrich model XQ06J10 air conditioner. If you listen to the jingle in their ads, Friedrich's air conditioners are "ultraquiet." This model, however, which is from Friedrich's "XSTAR" line, is not billed as "ultraquiet" according to Friedrich's brochure from its web site.



Anyway, regrettably, my unit makes an awful racket which you can even feel at your feet (my floors are concrete). The fan makes a loud high pitch sound at its fastest speed. At its slowest speed, however, the fan is still very noisy but it makes a weird low pitch howling sound. Then all bets are off when the compressor comes on.



How can I dampen this noise?



I had installed the unit in a transom which goes through the wall at the bottom of my window. This is not the same as a sleeve made for a particular brand of air conditioner. Rather, it is a sheet metal opening about 28" x 16". I rested the unit's case on the bottom of the opening and attached it to the sheet metal frame with sheet metal screws. I attached it to three sides of the frame: the bottom, the right side and on the left side, which I attached to an "L" bracket that I mounted to the frame. I did not attached it at the top since it didn't seem necessary. (The frame is only about four inches deep.)



I cut out the inside sheet metal panel to fit around the air conditioner's case and reattached it to the frame. In this way, the air conditioner looks like it's mounted thru a sleeve in the wall.



So, what do you suggest I do to quiet this noisy beast? I wear ear plugs, but it's not enough. And since I live in an apartment building, I'm concerned that my neighbors below and above me might be bothered by it. I don't think it's defective, but I shall ask Friedrich.



Thank you for your attention and assistance.



A. Y.

[Boborther]

A.Y.

There is a possibility that the compressor is defective. Usually older AC compressors are loud, it is unusual to have a new compressor that is so bothersome to you. I would definitely have the AC unit checked by an expert.
If ventilation is not a serious problem, you could actually wrap the compressor in some of the closed cell foam mat, and that would help a lot.
I would also suggest that you construct a baffle that would fit over the area of the air conditioner where the air is exhausted into the house, and then line this baffle with some of the closed cell foam which would absorb much of the AC noise as is exits the compressor.
A.Y. you might want to give me a call and we can discuss your situation further. Thanks for the interesting post.

Bob Orther
Super Soundproofing Sales/Technical Associate.
Ph: (760) 749-7049    FAX: (760) 749-6384
URL: www.soundproofing.org
e-mail: boborther@soundproofing.org
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