Why do leaf blowers exist in the first place?
Students’ Leaf Blower Suppressor To Hit Retail
Submitted 5 weeks ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to technology@lemmy.world
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/18/students-leaf-blower-suppressor-to-hit-retail/
Comments
istanbullu@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 5 weeks ago
To blow leaves.
MonkderDritte@feddit.de 5 weeks ago
I often see those things with a sack on public workers here. They suck leafes. 🤯
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
So annoying twats can be annoying.
arin@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Electric is so much quieter. They have them in Singapore
CarlCook@feddit.de 5 weeks ago
The gardener in my last apartment replaced all of his powertools (mower, blower, trimmer, …) with electric ones powered by an accu-pack he carries on his back. This is an absolute game-changer! I could actually sit outside again and even do stuff for work, when he was there.
Natanael@slrpnk.net 5 weeks ago
This thing influence how air moves through it, so it would make electrics more silent too
snail_hunter@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
Pretty sure when I saw the original post talking about the design, they said the students were only working with electric leaf blowers. So this was designed to make electric leaf blowers even quieter.
simplejack@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
This was designed for electric leaf blowers, not gas leaf blowers.
Electric leaf blowers are much much better, but they’re still loud, and that’s what these students were attempting to address.
DistractedDev@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
The video in the article shows them testing with an electric leaf blower.
jawa21@lemmy.sdf.org 5 weeks ago
If it were me that designed this, I would license out the design for manufacturers to use in their production models instead of making some kind of attachment that is unlikely to work on all models. That seems much more likely to achieve the goal of reducing noise from leaf blowers long term. Get like 3 manufacturers on board that could even charge a premium, and you have reduced the noise potentially forever while still making a tidy profit.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
It was a collaboration with the company. They probably helped fund it for exclusive licensing to start.
0x0@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
I still say replace them with rakes.
eronth@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I get what you’re saying, but leaf blowers are also commonly used for cleaning up extra grass clippings from the roads, etc.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
And sand/dirt after a windstorm, at least in my area.
nullPointer@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
seems like snake oil. whe using my electric leaf blower all the noise sounds to be coming from the big fan at the top of the device and not the nozzle
Lemonparty@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Now pretend your electric blower is actually a super loud and inefficient two stroke motor.
The movement of air isn’t noisy, the motor is.
Anise@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
Ah spring! Flowers blooming, bird songs… BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA… Goddamn leaf blowers.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Yeah, I thought this was for those pieces of shit.
I’m sure electric ones are being used around my city, but that’s not the ones I notice.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
There’s no way this won’t affect the final CFM or Velocity of the air.
This would be no different than running it at a little less than 100% power, but wastes that energy instead.
Why else would they not provide any technical detail, even a wind velocity test would be huge FFS.
protist@mander.xyz 5 weeks ago
I don’t know, it sounds like it slightly redirects only the air at the margins that contacts the blower tube, which reduces turbulence. The noise reduction is due to the decreased turbulence, not a reduction in airflow. If I had to guess, the actual reduction in airflow is probably negligible, and they don’t describe it in more detail because they’re trying to commercialize it
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
So they could provide the testing data to prove it. Even the numbers, don’t need a full detailed video.
The lack of proof to their claims is concerning.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
They wont release anything because the design is being sold to black&decker, yay
Voyajer@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
As soon as it’s out to market someone will clone it and have an STL available
A_A@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
no.
see my comment above.SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I’ve read the article attached, the article linked, and the video linked as well.
Not one talks about anything technical other than it doesn’t decrease the power, so where’s the stats to prove it? You can’t silence or muffle something without a tradeoff, we ignoring basic physics here?
So what does your comment prove?
PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Companies know they can make tools quieter. They didn’t do it because louder sounds more powerful to consumers.
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
I’ll wait until I can 3d print my own. I’m not paying for a hunk of plastic.
Two2Tango@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Lol what do you put into your 3d printer?
pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
A string of plastic, not a hunk =F
k_rol@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
But a rake is not powerful, you want proof? It barely makes any noise!
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Not gonna 3d print a rake.
Philharmonic3@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Why isn’t there video of this yet? I didn’t care at all what an article says. Show me the video
jettrscga@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
There’s a video at the bottom of the article. https://youtu.be/ISgHpUDeLBw
hobovision@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
MAKE GAS LANDSCAPING TOOLS ILLEGAL
Give away free electric tools if they trade in their gas ones. It’s so bad for health to be huffing 2 stroke fumes all day every day.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
“Electric leaf blowers are already far quieter than their gas-powered peers, but they still aren’t the kind of thing you’d like to hear first-thing on a Saturday morning. Looking to improve on the situation, a group of students from Johns Hopkins University have successfully designed a 3D printed add-on that manages to significantly reduce the noise generated by a modern electric leaf blower without compromising the amount of air it’s able to move.”
First two sentences of the article.
ThankYouVeryMuch@kbin.social 5 weeks ago
I don't know mate, I wouldn't replace my electric tools–drills, grinders, saw... with gas ones. But these outdoors tools are a different kind of beast. I've only used an electric chainsaw and it was an absolute crap, maybe there are better ones but it was crappier than the smallest and shittiest gas chainsaws I've used, and a cord around you in that setting isn't great either.
Wrench@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
The problem with electric gardening tools is they aren’t that feasible for contractors.
Batteries don’t last long and take a long time to charge, so it’s just not an option when you’re working all day. Corded means at every location, you have to figure out outlets, extension cords, fuss with tangles and obstructions, etc.
If you’re doing your own lawns, yeah, you can probably get into a workflow that works for you. But a lot of people hire out of landscaping.
Thorndike@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Look again! I have a dewalt chainsaw, and I love it. I burn about 13 cords of wood each winter as it is our primary heating source. It runs and runs and runs.
I think the key is to keep the chain sharp. I use the timberline sharpener, and it gets the chain razor sharp, which means less stress on the motor and longer battery life.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Somebody tell Kate Blanchett
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
So it’s taking some of the air out of the stream, slowing it down, and putting it back in the stream… How does this not affect the performance?
NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
The best invention against leaf blowers so far is the scrapyard.
feinstruktur@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Let me help you with the correct wording: ‘Power to noise’-converters. You’re welcome.
scottywh@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Good. I fucking hate leaf blowers.
boatsnhos931@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Soo… this slows down/twists the air therefore affecting the performance? Are the majority of people who use leaf blowers regularly really going to buy/use these?! I think the leaf blower droning is almost a relaxing noise to me but those god forsaken commercial mowers are a little annoying
Cybermonk_Taiji@r.nf 5 weeks ago
The leaf blower is the worst sound ever created and you are literally Satan.
boatsnhos931@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I prefer Lucifer 🤣 just saying chain saws and weed eaters are pretty rufff
A_A@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
was posted 3 days ago in /c/Technology, here :
lemmy.world/post/15468260
what they did :
NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
This “conversion” from decibel to per cent is more than ridiculous.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Why? dB is logarithmic so it’s difficult for people to picture how loud something is, if that’s the only number given.
A_A@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Well, 93.75% to be more exact. Did you recalculate it yourself ?
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Just saying it doesn’t decrease the power is a norm claim without providing anything technical to support it.
I’ve read multiple articles and videos and yet this very crucial information is intentionally not included.
The claims are false, you can’t suppress or mute something with a tradeoff, unless they have somehow magically figured out physics anomalies.
mosiacmango@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Are you saying novel mechanical engineering designs are impossible? That the mechanism of a leaf blower is so near perfection, that a well funded team of 4 mechanical engineering students could not, without VIOLATING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS, have simply found a better mechanism?
I agree with your “show me the numbers” critique, but I find your complete disregard of what may be a better answer without any data at all to be equally foolhardy.
xenspidey@lemmy.zip 5 weeks ago
You being downvoted is pretty crazy… Your statement is valid
KidnappedByKitties@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
There’s a relevant physics anomaly called a Helmholtz resonator, or more broadly waveform interference.
Natanael@slrpnk.net 5 weeks ago
Destructive interference is a thing. The energy m the vibrations doesn’t go away, however you CAN shift that energy into different frequencies and destructive interference done correctly will effectively shift it into so high frequencies that the vibrations are better compared with heat than with sound (what is heat convection if not extremely high frequency sound? :)
CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
12dB is literally nothing when the lawn dudes are blasting 60-100db
storables.com/…/how-loud-is-a-leaf-blower-in-deci…
tty5@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Decibel scale is logarithmic, which means 10db change is reducing perceived volume by half.
morbidcactus@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
12 dB is a pretty decent reduction if your goal is hearing protection, 100->88 is also bringing it to something that absolutely needs hearing protection to something that’s borderline acceptable for an 8 hour shift depending on your local laws, mine say 4 hours but still, way more comfortable to use.
gdog05@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Eh, I’ll take it though. I live in a fairly quiet part of town but the street has gotten pretty busy in the last could of years. And visually, I guess the street seems to open up making drivers get… spicy now and then. The fucking motorcycles, man. These noisy fucking middle-aged infants making 130 decibels while only going 15mph make me see red. I’d gladly take the lawn equipment noise.
Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Decibels are a logarithmic scale, so it scales exponentially. Because of this, reducing by just ten is actually very significant and would reduce the perceived volume by half, and would reduce the actual sound pressure even more than half.