[All] Silent Giant air pump question
Jeff Medkeff
As I mentioned in the past, I have returned to the fishkeeping
hobby after a several-year hiatus enforced by military service.
A lot has changed in the years since I was in the hobby,
including in some cases the brand names.
Way back when, say late 1970's or very early eighties, I was
very partial to an air pump with the brand name Silent Giant.
I am unsure if they made more than one model, but the thing
supplied a decent amount of air through one outlet and was very
quiet. It was cylindrical, about 8" tall and 5" in diameter.
The things must have weighed about 5 lbs.
Now I go to shops and read the mail order catalogs and find
that the pump of choice seems to be in the Whisper line.
Curiously, despite the name these pumps make enough noise
to fool me into believing a backhoe is in operation nearby.
Whatever happened to my old beloved Silent Giant? What was
the technological feat that made them so quiet? Am I stuck
with an adequate-air-pressure/industrial-strength-noise-
making Whisper? Is there anything quieter?
--
Jeffrey S. Medkeff Bitnet- medkeffjs@hiramb
PO Box 1098 Internet- medk...@hiramb.hiram.edu
Hiram, OH 44234 Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight. But
U.S.A. Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right.
tn...@isuvax.iastate.edu
>
>
>Whatever happened to my old beloved Silent Giant? What was
>the technological feat that made them so quiet? Am I stuck
>with an adequate-air-pressure/industrial-strength-noise-
>making Whisper? Is there anything quieter?
>
>
I happen to still have a silent giant that I use from 1978, and haven't
overhauled it yet. It pumps close to the same amount of air as my
new supra IV. They were hard to beat. Now as to why they were so quiet.
They had about 2 to 3 lbs of small oil coated gravel in them surrounding
a tin can that has the diaphram in it. Quiet but not very easy to work on.
I have no idea if anybody still makes it, but they sure last. Like I said
I have a Supra IV also and it is very quiet also. But rather expensive.
Hope it helps.
Greg.
Tom Miller
in Mexico. It seems they had a wee bit of trouble with the government
and paying employees so they went out of business (to put it nicely).
There is a copy-cat called something like Silent Pet or Little Giant.
Not as good, but you DO get the gravel. :)
You can make your own Silent Giant by putting a pump in a container and
filling the container with small gravel. You would need to punch some
holes in the container or the lid for the electrical cord and the air
line tubing but it could be done. Attach some foam to the bottom, too, it
will cut down on the vibration.
I know how you feel about the loss of Silent Giant. It was a sad day
for me when I got rid of my 8 Giants. I kept one around for sentimental
value.
Dave Bashford
[...]
>Way back when, say late 1970's or very early eighties, I was
>very partial to an air pump with the brand name Silent Giant.
>I am unsure if they made more than one model, but the thing
>supplied a decent amount of air through one outlet and was very
>quiet. It was cylindrical, about 8" tall and 5" in diameter.
>The things must have weighed about 5 lbs.
[...]
>Whatever happened to my old beloved Silent Giant? What was
>the technological feat that made them so quiet?
[...]
When I bought my aquarium used several years ago, it came with two
Silent Giants like you describe. When they finally died and I went to
rebuild them, I was told that the company had gone out of business. I
also _vaguely_ remember someone saying that the Silent Giants weren't
designed to be rebuilt anyway.
If I remember right, they were a normal diaphram-type pump housed in a
tin can about half the size of a soup can, all nestled in "5 lbs" of
gravel. Sounds like a relatively easy DIY project. Knowing me, I
probably still have one laying about if anyone's interested.
--
db
bash...@srs.loral.com (Dave Bashford, Sunnyvale, CA)
wil...@indyvax.iupui.edu
In 1968, I inherited 4 Silent Giants from my father-in-law. Two were
of the old cylindrical style and 2 were of the "modern" slightly conical-but-
flattened-on-the-top style. I have no idea how old they were but 3 of them
worked great. Over the years they began to lose pressure and, not really
knowing anything about them, I simply put them on the shelf. Years later,
when setting up some tanks for my kids (and having had my fill of the
then-available vibrator pumps), I said, "what the hell" and took one of those
old babies apart (I should add that in the mid-70's I saw an ad or something
for Silent Giants that said if you mailed your old ones to their plant in
Arizona, they would refurbish them FOR FREE. I did that with two of them and
got two looks-brand-new ones in return. They pooped out in the mid-80's).
Anyway, when I got into the one, I discovered that the tubing had grown
brittle and kinked from exposure to the oil in the gravel lo those many years.
When I replaced the tubing, that pump blew air like it was brand new. I took
the other pumps apart (I only had two left -- one disappeared somewhere over
the years) and found the same problem, fixed it, and had two more "new" pumps
for my trouble. The diaphragms seemed to be ok.
Moral: If you've still got an old defunct SG on the shelf, pull it
out and check the tubing from pump to exit port (it's not hard to get that
gravel back in there, either). Good luck. lrw.
Naomi Walker
>In article <...> medk...@hirama.hiram.edu (Jeff Medkeff) writes:
>[...]
>
>>the technological feat that made them so quiet?
>[...]
size little giant for my pond, and am having problems finding a
replacement. That Fish Place sells the smaller pumps. Mine has
a flow of 4200 gph. Anyone know a phone number for Little Giant?
--
Naomi Walker (aka N7FSA) na...@anasazi.com
Phoenix, Arizona
To get the full value of joy,
you must have someone to divide it with. ---Mark Twain
Thomas D.Gasser
>From: na...@anasazi.com (Naomi Walker)
>Subject: Re: [All] Silent Giant air pump question
>Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 15:17:55 GMT
>In article <1993May7.1...@scf.loral.com> bash...@srs.loral.com (Dave
>Bashford) writes:
>>In article <...> medk...@hirama.hiram.edu (Jeff Medkeff) writes:
>>[...]
>>
>>>Whatever happened to my old beloved Silent Giant? What was
>>>the technological feat that made them so quiet?
>>[...]
With nostalgia, I went to the basement last night to look for MY Silent Giant.
I got it with a bunch of other used equipment and it didn't work. I pulled
it apart and reconnected the hose that had fallen off and it now works great.
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* Thomas D. Gasser *
* Department of Neurosurgery ******* ****** *
* University of Minnesota *** *** *** *** *
* (612) 624-4427 *** ***** *** *
* E-Mail: THO...@STAFF.TC.UMN.EDU ***** ***** *
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Jeff Medkeff
THO...@staff.tc.umn.edu (Thomas D.Gasser) writes:
> With nostalgia, I went to the basement last night to look for MY Silent Giant.
> I got it with a bunch of other used equipment and it didn't work. I pulled
> it apart and reconnected the hose that had fallen off and it now works great.
As the originator of this thread, I am getting pretty jealous....
You all seem to have old Silent Giants laying around that have
been resurrected in response to the followups. Alas, *I* have no
old Silent Giant to ressurect, so I listen to THAT NOISE all
the time.....
Bzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz.....