Temperature Control for Vacuum Enclosure

Tpoole1988 · March 13, 2025, 6:53am

Has anyone has found an effective way to keep their vacuum system cool within a sound proofing enclosure? I’ve recently committed to making my CNC setup quieter and more user-friendly.

Step 1: Enclose the vacuum system for noise control.

I just got a new Dewalt StealthSonic vacuum, and wow, it’s impressively quiet! I also built an MDF enclosure for the vacuum and my Dustopper. However, I quickly realized that the enclosure was getting quite warm—like REALLY hot (I measured 96°F inside the top of the enclosure with my Nest temperature sensor). It’s currently 61°F outside, so I can’t imagine how hot it’ll get in the summer! I’ve created 1/2 inch slits for warm air to escape at the top edges on 2 sides of the enclosure, but I think I need to add intake vents at the bottom of each side to improve airflow. Since I’ve already noticed how quiet the vacuum is, I’m considering swapping the front MDF panel with plexiglass doors. This way, I can keep an eye on the vacuum and any components inside without trapping so much heat.

If you have any tips or experiences with keeping vacuum systems cool in enclosures, I’d love to hear them!

_Michael · March 13, 2025, 5:22pm

I’m not an expert on sound control by any means but I did have an idea. Maybe someone with more knowledge can tell us if it would work?

This is a cross section of my idea. I’m thinking that most of the heat could carried away by the exhaust of the vacuum. So you’d connect a hose to the vac’s exhaust and it would pump it into the box on the back that has an open bottom. Maybe if the box on the back had some of those sound dampening blocks it would cancel some of the noise let out by the hose and direct what’s left down? Have to make sure any sound insulation, like foam, could take the heat. I’ve also seen sound cancelling walls that were cubes of wood at different heights. Maybe something like that could be made with wood scraps to cancel noise inside the ‘exhaust box’?

Like I said, I haven’t any real experience with this sort of thing, just an idea that popped into my head.

Tpoole1988 · March 14, 2025, 5:00am

Michael, the man with all the answers. I’m always glad when I see you’ve commented on one of my posts because I know I’m going to get some good material.

I love your idea, and it’s funny because I just picked up a Dewalt StealthSonic Vacuum to replace my super loud Ridgid ShopVac, aiming for something similar to what you suggested. The StealthSonic is impressively quiet, and after checking out some videos, I was ready to dive into your plan.

However, there’s a catch: the StealthSonic doesn’t have a single exhaust port like a traditional shop vacuum. Instead, it vents air from multiple spots on the top lid, making it impossible to capture and direct that warm exhaust air out. Even crazier, one of the 4 vents located around the top of the vacuum is actually bringing air in, so in a confined space with a low ceiling it’s immediately pulling back in the warm air expelled by the other vents. That being said, I’m thinking of setting up a system that channels the hot air up and out at the top of the enclosure while drawing in cooler air from the bottom.

My plan involves a quiet yet powerful exhaust fan that operates at 30 dB and moves 51 CFM, positioned at the top rear wall of the enclosure. I’d then add some 12”x6” air vents near the front on two sides at the bottom to pull fresh air in. It’s definitely an unconventional approach, but it’s the best idea I’ve got.

I’ve toyed with the idea of going back to the loud Ridgid Vac and doing what a lot of folks recommend: using an exhaust fan to push fresh air into the enclosure and vent the exhaust out an opening in the back. But honestly, I’m leaning towards sticking with the StealthSonic because even minor insulation makes it incredibly quiet! The only thing I really have to figure out is how to keep it from getting too hot. My best idea is to turn the enclosure into a vacuum that immediately sucks out the warm exhaust air and pulls in fresh air from outside.

I’d love to hear your thoughts or any other ideas you might have!

*Quick Edit - It is in fact pulling air in on one side and pushing air out the other, BUT I attached an image of my Ridgid Vac and it does the exact same thing. The Air Slits exist on both sides of the lid, with one pulling in air and one pushing out. One of those obvious things that guess just never occurred to me? I was under the impression that air strictly came from one end and got pushed out the other. I guess that’s part of the engineering/design with ShopVacs? So even if I were to put my Ridgid inside of my enclosure I would need to extract the air flowing out from the side of the lid… It’s odd that I’ve never seen that aspect brought up in any of the videos I’ve watched in regards to enclosure exhaust. They basically all say to hook a hose up to the exhaust end and you’re good.

**Edit to the Edit (Question Solved). I’m sure everyone knows this except for me, but that side to side airway run is designed specifically to cool the motor. I had no idea that there were two totally separate air-draws; one for suction and one to specifically cool the motor, but that is REALLY good to know.

_Michael · March 14, 2025, 4:17pm

Everyone but me as well. I took a quick look at my vac yesterday but missed the vents under the latches! Mine doesn’t have the ones in the back. It makes sense now that I think of it, kinda risky to cool the motor with air that might be full of dust!

That was my first thought and then I got ‘clever’ thinking that you could use the vacuum exhaust. My idea for covering any holes might still be valid if it ends up too loud. I’d try it without them first and see if the noise level is acceptable.

I appreciate the compliment on my ideas but take it from Primus “They Can’t All Be Zingers”!