I need to silence my compressors

[rcx132]

I had the compressors running half the day yesterday, it's really unfair on my neighbours, they put up with so much already.

I'm thinking of moving them to the far side of the garage, further from the houses, and the garage will block some of the sound.

At first I thought about buying one of these... But now I have three compressors (one big, two small) they won't fit and I'm also thinking something sound proof, moving the compressors out back alone won't fix the noise.

If I go for sound proofing, the popular solution is to make in the inlet and outlet ports go around a corner like this. Is this still the best way? Anyone had much luck with it? Note the grey sound deadening pads.

I'd try to make something pretty:

Ideas for low cost forced air solution? A regular bathroom extractor won't cut it.

At my last workshop, the compressor pump was in a box inside the workshop with a bathroom extractor. The extractor wasn't cutting it. The box was not insulated and made little difference, but being inside the workshop made it quiet enough for the neighbours. This workshop doesn't have space so the compressor is outside.

To save on doing a concrete slab I was thinking of using fence post stakes and concreting them in. The cabinet would then be suspended above the ground.

 

[rikrobson]

Id think about making a wee wooden hut for them.you can get accoutic battens whick hace closed cell foam attachet to the wood.
Would an cooker extraction hood work being built into the root of the hut. Its designed to cope with a bit of heat.
The other problem is that while youll be reducing the noise from the compressor youll be adding the noise from the cooling fans.

 

[rtbcomp]

I extended the inlet to mine with some vacuum cleaner hose and put the filter in the top drawer of a filing cabinet - that cut down the noise appreciably. It would be a good idea to suck the air in from outside the box anyway because it will be cooler, the efficiency of the compressor will be much reduced if you try to compress warm air.

Pay attention to the juxtapositions of the compressors - you don't want the fan on one motor blowing air against the fan of another, or one sucking in the hot air from the motor next to it.

I also put about an inch of sand underneath the compressor, that stopped noise being reflected up from the floor.

As well as soundproofing the box mount the compressor on rubber feet.

 

[rcx132]

I extended the inlet to mine with some vacuum cleaner hose and put the filter in the top drawer of a filing cabinet - that cut down the noise appreciably.

Yes I saw your solution. Could be that moving the compressors out back and silencing the inlet would be enough alone, save me building a custom container.

 

[Burdekin]

It's hard to absorb all the sound so probably best to block it. A wee shed made from concrete blocks is probably your best bet.

 

[rtbcomp]

It's hard to absorb all the sound so probably best to block it. A wee shed made from concrete blocks is probably your best bet.

Use rough textured blocks and don't paint the inside, that will absorb some of the noise.

Yes I saw your solution. Could be that moving the compressors out back and silencing the inlet would be enough alone, save me building a custom container.

Doubt it, there's still quite a bit of noise from the actual pump, and you'll need to build something to keep the weather and thieves off.

 

[rcx132]

It's hard to absorb all the sound so probably best to block it. A wee shed made from concrete blocks is probably your best bet.

I considered that, though would still need sound deadening pads on the doors.

you'll need to build something to keep the weather and thieves off.

If I do a wooden enclosure I'll have to fit a ground anchor and chain up the compressors inside, and put in a sensor from the garage alarm.

 

[Burdekin]

Fit the door facing away from your neighbours if possible and you could always fit two doors if necessary. I have two compressors in a room at my workshop and you hardly hear them from outside so I wouldn't over engineer something. Take rtbcomp's ideas for isolating the compressors and a block shed or a timber double skinned shed and then it should keep the noise down pretty well.

 

[rcx132]

Fit the door facing away from your neighbours if possible and you could always fit two doors if necessary. I have two compressors in a room at my workshop and you hardly hear them from outside so I wouldn't over engineer something. Take rtbcomp's ideas for isolating the compressors and a block shed or a timber double skinned shed and then it should keep the noise down pretty well.

Oki I won't over engineer, but no harm in putting in precautions. Like I said, last workshop just having the compressor inside was enough.

 

[galooph]

As a rough rule of thumb, back when I was involved with fire alarm systems, we worked on standard 30 minute rated fire doors dropping siren sound level by 30dB. They're definitely better than standard doors for that.

Worth costing up how much soundproofing is going to be compared to switching to a rotary vane compressor. They're loads quieter than piston compressors. The garage a few doors down from my workshop switched over to one recently and I couldn't believe the difference in sound!

 

[Wallace]

What compressors do you have, belt driven or direct drive?

 

[rcx132]

What compressors do you have, belt driven or direct drive?

The big one is your bog standard 3HP, 150L single phase industrial belt driven. The two little ones are your bog standard DIY direct drive compressors.

 

[Maker]

Bury it inside an IBC?

 

[rcx132]

Bury it inside an IBC?

Underground ?

 

[rcx132]

Bury it inside an IBC?

I'm giving this thought !!

 

[Maker]

Underground ?

Yeah, I was gonna try it but the neighbors peed me off one too many times so now I relish the opportunity to make noise.

I think it might be difficult to stop it filling with water anyway.

 

[Gareth J]

Compressors are not so sensitive as many things but if you insulate and enclose something like this, the risk is that under continued use, unless the airflow is well thought out, things will get hotter than they should. Whether just warm, life shortening hot or failure hot depends on lots of things.

The best way to be sure is to physically separate hot and cold "zones" so no air that has already passed over the machine and been warmed can go back into the fan and pass over it again. This is kind of tricky on a retro fit like this though so the next best us to just throw lots more air than it needs at it with forced ventilation. However, this is inefficient and noisy.

 

[Wallace]

The big one is your bog standard 3HP, 150L single phase industrial belt driven. The two little ones are your bog standard DIY direct drive compressors.

Those direct drive compressors can be ridiculously noisy, Pondy did a lot of good work silencing one here.

 

[dannyp]

i would think the most cost efective option would be trade the direct drive compressors for a belt drive, makeing less noise is easyer than trying to manage noise

 

[Toleman]

If your local to Bedfordshire I've got 6 blocks of rockwall acoustic insulation you can have.

It's left over from me being a nice neighbour with surround sound.