So I have a ~20 year old GE Nautilus builders grade edition dishwasher in my condo that was installed when the place was built in 2000. The dishwasher is a beast and (knock on wood) I have not had any issues with it in the 2 years I have lived here. It along with the multiple Nautilus dishwashers I experienced over the years (they were apparently an early 2000's apartment complex favorite) have always cleaned exceptionally well but were always incredibly noisy. Well I finally figured out why when I pulled my current machine door apart to clean out a gunked up rinse aid dispenser - ZERO insulation or sound deadening mat in the front door, just the plastic inner door panel and the thin sheet metal exterior.
So ordered a box of Noico 80 mil sound deadening mat designed for cars (much cheaper version of Dynamat) for $12.99 on Amazon and a $6.99 roller meant to buff the mat onto the mating surface and went to work once it was delivered. Took me ~1 hour to do the full panel of the sheet metal door and ~65% of the plastic interior door, glad I did not get 2 boxes because I would have had a lot of excess.
So here are the noise measurements I took before and after using a app called NIOSH SLM on my iPhone. Both were empty loads when it is loudest, can't wait to see how quiet it is with a full load.
Top at latch:
Before:
Phone at latch - 77 db
1' away from latch - 64 db
After:
~1" latch - 74 db (3db reduction)
1' away from latch - 60 db (4db reduction)
Mid way down center of door:
Before:
~1" from sheet metal - 69 db
1' away from sheet metal - 67 db
After:
~1" from sheet metal - 64 db (5db reduction)
1' away from sheet metal - 62 db (5db reduction).
Bottom at door and motor cover plate gap:
Before:
~1" from panel gap - 73 db
1' away from panel gap - 70 db
After:
~1" from panel gap - 68 db. (5 db reduction)
1' away from panel gap - 66 db (4db reduction)
Overall:
This was probably the best $20 I have spent to limp this dishwasher along until I can gut and remodel my kitchen which is still 1-2 years down the road. I could probably get some further noise reduction replacing the quite expensive ($52+$10 shipping) perimeter door seal that is hard as a rock but it does not leak so I'm good with the noise reduction the sound deadening mat.
Anyhow just wanted to share my experience, was not sure what to expect going into this project but ended up quite pleased.
So ordered a box of Noico 80 mil sound deadening mat designed for cars (much cheaper version of Dynamat) for $12.99 on Amazon and a $6.99 roller meant to buff the mat onto the mating surface and went to work once it was delivered. Took me ~1 hour to do the full panel of the sheet metal door and ~65% of the plastic interior door, glad I did not get 2 boxes because I would have had a lot of excess.
So here are the noise measurements I took before and after using a app called NIOSH SLM on my iPhone. Both were empty loads when it is loudest, can't wait to see how quiet it is with a full load.
Top at latch:
Before:
Phone at latch - 77 db
1' away from latch - 64 db
After:
~1" latch - 74 db (3db reduction)
1' away from latch - 60 db (4db reduction)
Mid way down center of door:
Before:
~1" from sheet metal - 69 db
1' away from sheet metal - 67 db
After:
~1" from sheet metal - 64 db (5db reduction)
1' away from sheet metal - 62 db (5db reduction).
Bottom at door and motor cover plate gap:
Before:
~1" from panel gap - 73 db
1' away from panel gap - 70 db
After:
~1" from panel gap - 68 db. (5 db reduction)
1' away from panel gap - 66 db (4db reduction)
Overall:
This was probably the best $20 I have spent to limp this dishwasher along until I can gut and remodel my kitchen which is still 1-2 years down the road. I could probably get some further noise reduction replacing the quite expensive ($52+$10 shipping) perimeter door seal that is hard as a rock but it does not leak so I'm good with the noise reduction the sound deadening mat.
Anyhow just wanted to share my experience, was not sure what to expect going into this project but ended up quite pleased.