Tips on silencing our Vita-Mix
We've been using them for years... tried the Blendtec which was MUCH louder...
Most of ours are in counter on rubber pads... staff always instructed to close lid before starting and waiting for full stop before opening. BUT STILL...
I did see Coffee Bean in L.A. had this little in wall deal with mini folding doors... but of course the doors were broken after a week.
Anybody know of some magic we can perform?
Thanks
Marek
Cayman Islands
Most of ours are in counter on rubber pads... staff always instructed to close lid before starting and waiting for full stop before opening. BUT STILL...
I did see Coffee Bean in L.A. had this little in wall deal with mini folding doors... but of course the doors were broken after a week.
Anybody know of some magic we can perform?
Thanks
Marek
Cayman Islands
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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We put ours in a cupboard below the sink :)
-bry
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Permalink Reply by Marek on
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We use ours 300 times a day ... So hiding it a little impractical .... There would also be an overheating issue ...
In counter properly installed should be vented from the underside or it can overheat ... We've done it...
Bit thanks for the suggestion
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Marek said:We use ours 300 times a day ... So hiding it a little impractical .... There would also be an overheating issue ...
In counter properly installed should be vented from the underside or it can overheat ... We've done it...
Bit thanks for the suggestion
I suspect that Bryan unplugged it before putting it under the sink... this would take care of the overheating issue :)
The only downside is that they probably had to drop the blended items from their menu, since the blender no longer worked.
Is that how it went, Bry?
Have you ever tried putting an absorbent "sound eater" panel behind them, or even making a little open-sided, open top enclosure? Wouldn't eliminate the problem but might reduce it. The trick would be finding something that was water resistant and easy to clean.
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@Brady: Nope, fully functional.
@Marek,
Opening a cupboard door isn't any different than opening a door inside of a wall is it? If your blender can overheat in a cupboard you need to move your space heater out of that cupboard. :) How small an area do you think I'm talking? It's like 3x3x3 under there. Anyway... it works great for us. Then again, I doubt we use our blender 300 times a year let alone 300 times a day. I think I'd kill myself if I made 300 blended drinks a day, haha.
Anyway, back on topic... The main thing is going to be getting it below counter height. I'm not talking sinking it into the counter a little bit, I'm talking getting it like a foot off of the ground. Having it that low will use the counters between the baristas and the customers (your front bar) to knock out the sound before it reaches the customers, that way it won't disturb them as much. Oh, I guess the noise dampening could be more for the baristas hearing orders now that I think about it.
I attached a picture so you can see our silly under counter blender. If you really wanted to kill the noise you could put foam on the cupboard doors too.
If nothing else, try applying foam to the noise surround/lid. Sure you can't see the pitcher anymore, but why are you standing there staring at the pitcher while the blender is running anyway, right?
I dunno... The snarky, annoying (and completely impractical in your situation) answer is just to point at a Starbucks when they order a blended. We do that sometimes when they order a Fuzzy Wuzzy Foo Foo Blended.
-bry
Brady said:
Marek said:We use ours 300 times a day ... So hiding it a little impractical .... There would also be an overheating issue ...
In counter properly installed should be vented from the underside or it can overheat ... We've done it...
Bit thanks for the suggestion
I suspect that Bryan unplugged it before putting it under the sink... this would take care of the overheating issue :)
The only downside is that they probably had to drop the blended items from their menu, since the blender no longer worked.
Is that how it went, Bry?
Have you ever tried putting an absorbent "sound eater" panel behind them, or even making a little open-sided, open top enclosure? Wouldn't eliminate the problem but might reduce it. The trick would be finding something that was water resistant and easy to clean. - Attachments:
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downsize.jpg, 77 KB
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Stephen Root on
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Do you have sound enclosures? If your model can fit them and you don't have one, I reccomend it.
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Hello Alexander;
Ja mon, we have sound enclosures (see attached) and for Bryan ... As you say, you don't use it 300 times a year and have a non commercial version ... We have two 160 pound a day commercial ice machines going non stop and two Vita-Mix MP's running pretty much non stop. Because they are in counter mounted, they do indeed need to be vented... they come with a hose for this purpose. The cabinet they are mounted on is a 48" double door cabinet... and the interior of that cabinet can become VERY warm... every once in a blue moon we will get the overheated motor shutdown message on a blender... we simple swap it out with a spare while it cools down.
So uh, no... we will not be unplugging ours and hiding them under the counter. But again... thanks for the suggestion.
The third photo might give you some indication of why we can't hide our blender... BOO !!! - Attachments:
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Blender.JPG, 262 KB
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2.jpg, 113 KB
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Busy.JPG, 269 KB
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Hey Marek, how many different blended drinks do you offer? There was a community member here (don't remember who) who really liked the results they got by using those frozen drink machines - the kind they use for slushies and frozen lemonade. Perhaps your volume is enough to justify a couple of those, though you'd probably have to pare down your variety a bit. My understanding was that they allowed you to get good results without powders and mixes, so the savings there would pay for them quickly. They are also quiet and you can dispense the finished beverage right from them without any prep, so there may be a labor savings as well.
Barring that, I still think that some acoustic material on your back wall and to the side of the unit would help. You have it surrounded by super-reflective material now, so its really a worst-case scenario.
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Hi Brady;
Yuck! Mixes, powders... That's like serving instant coffee ...
All of our smoothies are made with fresh fruit, no additives of any kind ...
Then of course there are blended coffee drinks ...
My only choice here is sound tamping material ... Good suggestion ... Doing some research on that now ...
Thanks
Marek
PS: Reason we do so many smoothies is ... It's always summer here ...
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You misread Brady's post... he said without powders, not with. I think his option is probably your best bet. They're basically refrigerated augers.
Given the photos you provided... I repeat, get them below the counter line. I understand they are "in counter." I get that. I worked at a bar that did probably 200 or so a day, so I'm accustomed to that kind of volume and the problems that come with it. I also worked for a music venue and recording studio so I understand how to make sound do what you want it to. Getting the blenders below the counter line (like a foot off of the floor) will do wonders. Just because they aren't on the counter doesn't mean they aren't accessible, think about under counter fridges.
Those plastic sound enclosures are pretty worthless when it comes to sound dampening (as you're experiencing). Not sure what type of blender you thought I had in the photo, but it's pretty comparable to the MP you have, we just took the sound enclosure/lid thing off because the wood from the cabinet kills pretty much any and all noise. It's a VitaMix T+G... the predecessor of your specific type of MP. The MP is the loudest blender on the market in my opinion, (and I've worked with pretty much all of them at this point) and the one we have, the T+G, really isn't any different than any of the other ones.
What are the requirements for the surfaces around your blender? The counters and splash guard the way they are (hard, polished surfaces) are going to be the worst when it comes to sound dampening. Putting something like foam or carpet all the way around that blender is going to help. Also, put something on the underside of the shelf above it and the wall behind it. Get some self sticking foam inside of the lid.
Think of it like putting blankets on a speaker. If for some reason you can't turn the music down, but it's still too loud, what are your options? Move the source of the sound down low and put something foamy on it. This is why when you go to a rock concert the speakers are up high completely unobstructed. Obstruct the sound and you should be fine. The front counter would be a great obstruction.
Another thing... what about just building a little wooden surround to go around the whole area? You could match the wood to your cupboards so it wouldn't look too awkward. Put a hinged door on it for quick opening and closing... Or maybe use glass? I'm trying to picture a Jamba Juice in my head and how they set things up, but I haven't been in one in years.
I'd ask other smoothie shops in your area. Are there other ones around or is it just you?
??
-bry
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Found the guy - Mitch Buckner. Here's a blended drink thread where he discusses his approach.
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Hello Bryan;
Thanks for the suggestions but again, they're not in any way practical. Carpet, spray foam... health department would be all over me in nano-seconds. There are also OSHA codes 34" (counter height) to be contended with... and with regard to augers... you can't premix fresh fruit smoothies and have them churning in an auger... that's just God awful.
Customers always have their own combinations... some of which are pretty weird.
I was hoping there was some magic trick/formula that somebody had come up with... guess we'll just have to turn the music up. Maybe we can get Dyson to make a blender... hey, ya know... what's his number... that ain't such a bad idea...
Those premixed smoothie solutions, we've looked at the best of them and they are pretty much all sugar... the vast majority of our smoothie customers come from the gym and are very aware of what they are putting in their bodies.
We pride ourselves on fresh fruit.. purchased daily... and no additives (other than ice)...
Cheers
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A studio I did some work in last year used an approach that may work for you. He'd made acoustical wall panels that had absorbent material on the back but they were faced with wood veneer. They were mounted on standoffs on the wall. I guess the absorbent material captured some of the sound that bounced off of the wall. The face was also curved slightly out, which may have helped prevent standing waves and helped dissipate some of the sound. Something like that may absorb some sound yet still be cleanable enough to keep your inspector happy.
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