Isolation and Vibration Products in North Carolina and South Carolina

With current building techniques employing longer spans and thinner floors, today’s buildings are more susceptible than ever to noise, vibration, and related problems from HVAC equipment and seismic and wind events. Hahn-Mason offers a complete range of products and services to protect buildings, equipment, and occupied spaces from the unwanted intrusion of vibration, noise, and seismic energy.

Occupant complaints associated with building vibration typically take one of the following forms:

• Building occupants perceived the level of vibration as concerning
• Mechanical equipment transmits vibration energy through the building structure and is then radiated as noise throughout the building
• Building vibration causes issues with sensitive equipment or instrumentation

Vibration can be isolated or significantly reduced from the original form with resilient mounts between the equipment and the supporting structure. The isolators must be selected to compensate for floor stiffness and mounting configuration. Hahn Mason can assist with isolator specification and selection.

Hahn Mason Air Systems is proud to be an integral part of the North and South Carolina building construction and mechanical equipment industry with 84 years of experience, serving you from our 9 local offices and warehouse locations in Charlotte and Charleston. We represent one of the finest isolation and vibration product manufacturers in VMC Group and are proud to offer their technology on your next project.

ASHRAE classifies isolators by Type. Hahn Mason offers a full range of isolator types.

Type 1 – Rubber Pads

Elastomeric mounting pads are available in several materials and layers. These pads are typically field configurable and can be installed in multiple layers to meet the application needs. The pads require no fasteners or cementing. Pads are available for seismic applications where bolting is required.

Generally, Type 1 isolators provide excellent high and low-frequency sound attenuation.

Fabri-flex isolation pads are available for high frequency sound attenuation under extremely high load applications. These pads are made of multiple layers of high quality fabric bonded together by specially formulated elastomeric compounds making them extremely durable in most installations.

Type 2 – Rubber Mounts

Type 2 elastomeric isolators provide effective vibration control for use directly under HVAC, power generation, and electrical equipment in conjunction with the equipment’s mounting holes.

Isolators can be mounted with or without bolting to the equipment. No bolting is required under equipment with no lateral or severe vertical motion. Isolator designs are available with steel retaining bolts and provide excellent vibration isolation and seismic restraint.

Type 3 – Spring Isolators

Type 3 spring isolator are designed to isolate low frequency vibrations in air handling units, fans, chillers, and other HVAC equipment. Spring isolators are recommended for use directly under HVAC, power generation, and electrical equipment in conjunction with structural steel bases and concrete inertia bases.

Spring isolators are free standing and laterally stable isolators. Designs are available that require no bolting or have welded steel mounting plates that can be directly mounted to structures.

Type 4 – Restrained Spring Isolator

Restrained spring isolators have hold-down bolts to limit vertical movement. These isolators are typically applied with equipment with large variations in mass and subject to wind loads to restrict movement.

Isolators have non-skid, ribbed elastomeric pads bounded to the top and bottom of the housings for increased stability under equipment that does not require bolting. Models are available that have internal limiters to prevent metal-to-metal contact.

Type 5 – Isolation Hangers

Isolation hangers are used for suspended pipe and equipment and have rubber, springs, or a combination of spring and rubber elements. These are cost-effective solutions for the isolation of suspended equipment.

Vibration and noise transmission will be isolated from the rest of the building with isolation hangers.

Things to Consider When Choosing and Designing Vibration and Isolation Solutions for Your Next Project

There are many factors to consider when choosing and designing Vibration and Isolation Solutions for your next project. Fortunately, the specialists at Hahn Mason can walk you through every step to ensure your equipment performs without Noise or Vibration issues. We will work with you to determine the following:

• Determining the makeup of the supporting structure
• Vibration Criteria or Desired Static Deflection
• Type of Isolator Required