Upgrade your radio foamy ear plugs to custom molded ear plug

Jay Lutz

Jay Lutz

Well-known member
I tried to make the foamy type earplugs work but I could never get them to keep out the noise. When I finally upgraded to custom fit earplugs the improvement was amazing.

I ran across this ad and it seems to me to be a great DIY way to upgrade....note that I haven't actually tried it as I bought mine from a Racing Radios. For just $15 you get the kit for both ears...just make a hole in the center for your current transducer and RTV it in place. Or use them to prevent you from waking yourself up while snoring!

If you try it and it works please share with the rest of us. Kit is available online and retail at Cabellas and Gander Mountain locations.

http://www.radians.com/main/p-282-radia ... plugs.aspx
 
Thanks for posting that. A few years ago we had a company from Boulder come to work and made something similiar for my team. They mixed the goo and pushed it into the ear with a syringe. First they put a little cotton ball with a string on it in the ear. I have 2 sets that are different lengths in the ear for different noise levels. It's been a few years, but I think they were around $50 a set so this is a deal.

I'm going to order a few sets so I can modify them for my radio at work and for my racing radios.
 
Jon,

I think the only trick will be forming the hole and getting the transducer in there (and out of the foamy) without damage.....but what do I know....I'm just dumb engineer!
 
But hopefully not a deaf engineer! :lol:

Kidding aside - this looks good, I may try just for noise reduction, I've always found the foam ones to have spotty performance when not inserted super carefully - which I never seem to have time to do on the grid!

Might also be good for my 9 year old son, who basically refuses to wear the foam kind on alleged comfort grounds

Al
 
I've used these for a few years. No radios, but better than foam for noise reduction. On eBay for around $12 delivered.
 
Al Seim":367l0ary said:
But hopefully not a deaf engineer! :lol:

Kidding aside - this looks good, I may try just for noise reduction, I've always found the foam ones to have spotty performance when not inserted super carefully - which I never seem to have time to do on the grid!

Might also be good for my 9 year old son, who basically refuses to wear the foam kind on alleged comfort grounds

Al
Click to expand...
I'm sure he'll just shrug, but ask him if he wants to wake up in the middle of the night to his ears ringing like mine do. Had tinnitus since I was 25 from loud stereos since I was 16, working in factories at 19, and playing in/around cars since I was about 8. yeah, it's annoying. I lose a lot of sleep and have constant headaches. "Oh it's just noisy for a second, no need for earplugs" I always said. now I say "WHAT???" a lot. :(
 
Ditto to what Matt93SE said. My ears are ringing as I type this. Make sure you and your kids use earplugs around race cars. Both of my kids have mild tinnitis also and they always wore earplugs when they raced but I never made them wear them when they grew up at the track.
 
Found this last night. I have NO idea if they are good. Just started searching after this thread came up. I've always wondered why the custom plugs were well over $100. I had a set of the expensive ones but I actually outgrew them and one ear transducer stopped working.

http://www.earfuze.com/

I'd love to know if anyone has used these.
 
Another approach is to install thin motorcycle helmet speakers inside your helmet. They can remain plugged into the helmet wiring and require no action on your part, beyond putting the helmet on. I have used these for the last couple of years, and found them quite satisfactory. The main negative is that they do little to block out noise, but the ones I use are quite a bit more efficient than the earbud types, so I just wear foam earplugs and turn the volume up. They are held in the helmet by stick-backed velcro, which seems to work. Depending on the helmet, they may push some on your outer ear, but I haven't found that objectionable.
 
Eric P":1iq5hkwm said:
Found this last night. I have NO idea if they are good. Just started searching after this thread came up. I've always wondered why the custom plugs were well over $100. I had a set of the expensive ones but I actually outgrew them and one ear transducer stopped working.

http://www.earfuze.com/

I'd love to know if anyone has used these.
Click to expand...

The only thing I am see with these is that they are stereo headphones and most radio setup use a mono headphone connector. A simple converter or putting a new mono end on would work.
 
Just ordered a set off Ebay for the whopping total of $11.37, including freight. If they work half as well as my $180 set (with transducers of course) at keeping noise out............ this could be the deal of the century.
 
Just another data point. I have the custom ones, the semi custom ones, and the foamy ones.

The customs were made by having a local audiologist make molds and sending the molds to Race Electronics.

They are awesome and believe it or not, I can hear the car (mechanical noises, tires, etc) better with them in than without them. The reason being that without them the pressure level is so high that sounds are distorted. With them in, they can be heard.

The semi custom and foamy ones are useless for blocking out sound.

-Kyle
 
Kyle,

I agree with you 100%. You think the foamies and semi custom are working pretty well eliminating background noise until you step up to the custom......night and day........or for the computer science types.........0 and 1.
 
Received the kit, mixed the goop per instructions last night. Fit to my ear is even better than the $180 set from Racing Electronics (which was quite good). These REALLY keep a lot of noise out....it will be intersting to see if anyone does the next step to insert the radio transducers and test them. I will use them just for earplugs.
 
Ditto Jay only the previous night. I will try to insert the transducers next weekend. I bought a second set and if i can't punch a hole i may try to cast them in place.
 
What about these transducers? Is there a cheap source for them that you guys know of?
Really hoping to not have to pay a boatload for my radio setup..
 
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