I can't see how you'd damage anything with a setup like that. My guess is it's just the noise and nothing more. Shorten the chain, muffle it with fabric and/or an inner tube (you mentioned 'an old inner tube' in one post... I use pieces of inner tubes to make "rubber bands" for SCUBA gear, but I just buy them new at WallyWorld and chop them up) and you ought to be good to go. If that doesn't work, you might consider earplugs or sedation for the people upstairs...