Noise Insulation for shop compressor?

[dragoneggs]

I have a 5hp 60gal upright compressor in my shop. Wondering about trying to knock down some of the noise.

One thought is to build a little outhouse attached to the back of the shop but I am concerned it will be louder for the neighbors. Also it would be in unheated space but I suppose I could vent some shop heat if necessary but this build could get a bit. expensive for what it is. If I new it would be just as quiet as now for the neighbors, I might do that as it would be definitely quieter for me and gain some valuable shop real estate!

My other option is to try to build a sound deadening enclosure and keep it inside. But this will take even more real estate and I wonder how effective it would actually be in reducing noise.

Looking for opinions, what others have done, etc.

 

[Code54]

Subscribed!

Been kicking around doing something with mine also - darn thing is loud!

 

[Mat4644]

We would be forced to build sound enclosures all the time for factory equipment to keep shop levels below hearing protection. Biggest issue was trapping heat. Just keep ventilation in mind. They can be very effective.

 

[ruffdog]

Fab up a air intake silencer for it.

 

[dragoneggs]

We would be forced to build sound enclosures all the time for factory equipment to keep shop levels below hearing protection. Biggest issue was trapping heat. Just keep ventilation in mind. They can be very effective.

Yes heat buildup vs. ventilation that is the noise path. This is why I am hoping for some ingenious solutions here.

 

[MossRoad]

There's a bunch of youtube videos on this subject. Seems the general consensus is you need to provide a powered inlet fan to force air into the enclosure for two reasons...
1. air consumption
2. cooling the inside of the box
And an exhaust port.

Other than that, most of them are just boxes with sound deadening foam on the inside walls.
Just make sure you have a way to easily get to the tank drain, on/off switch, pressure regulator, etc...

I'll be watching this thread. My compressor is ridiculously loud. I can hear 40-50' away from the garage even if the doors are closed.

 

[deserteagle71]

Do what I've seen some of the remote ranches around here do. Underground - kind of like a root cellar. Not just the compressor but their gensets (they run generators for power, no power lines where they are) a few feet underground. Amazing how a few feet of soil will dampen noise and vibration. Draw outside air of course, and the exhaust runs a ways underground also before being routed outside.

 

[dragoneggs]

Do what I've seen some of the remote ranches around here do. Underground - kind of like a root cellar. Not just the compressor but their gensets (they run generators for power, no power lines where they are) a few feet underground. Amazing how a few feet of soil will dampen noise and vibration. Draw outside air of course, and the exhaust runs a ways underground also before being routed outside.

That is interesting for sure and I like the idea... for me my building/property line constraints and an upright compressor make this very difficult at best.

 

[mrmikey]

I've got mine in my attached, unheated lean-to for my tractor. Have no problems in the winter other than occasionally my auto water drain will freeze up on me. You can hear it running from my neighbours place but it's not loud enough to make a difference. There's no way I would run it in the garage, the noise would drive me bonkers.................Mike

 

[dragoneggs]

I've got mine in my attached, unheated lean-to for my tractor. Have no problems in the winter other than occasionally my auto water drain will freeze up on me. You can hear it running from my neighbours place but it's not loud enough to make a difference. There's no way I would run it in the garage, the noise would drive me bonkers.................Mike

Yep... bonkers is an apt description. Good to know that the low temps aren't an issue... but what about condensation and rust?

 

[Doofy]

Underground sounds like a really interesting concept especially for a Gen Set. Note to self: Check it out!

 

[mrmikey]

.....but what about condensation and rust?

I've not looked inside since I installed it 5+ years ago so I can't say for sure. I can say I get very little moisture out of it, I've got the timer set for a 4 second blast every 10 minutes and the area where the blast hits shows no rust streaks or staining. There is obviously a stain where the exhaust blast hits because of the moisture exhausted but no rust stain at all.
I'm thinking why there's no rust staining is the short frequency of the blow off (10 minute cycle) doesn't give the moisture time to form rust on the inside of the tank, just my thoughts anyway LOL........Mike

 

[TMGT]

I put my compressor outside at my old house, my buddy has his compressors outside at his body shop. Only time he had an issue was when the auto drain clogged up and filled the tank with about 50gal of water!
Doesn't seem to have a problem in the winter, but it does get a lot of use so the heat probably helps.

Or just do what I did and get a screw compressor, nice and quiet! you can stand under it and have a conversation.

 

[Wagtail]

Underground sounds like a really interesting concept especially for a Gen Set. Note to self: Check it out!

I'm definitely not a fan of 'underground' due to moisture and, especially, heavy rain... and dragoneggs lives in the very rainy Pacific NW.

Last weekend I received 152ml of rain over 3 days. Everything is still sodden and it took this week for the 'moats' to disappear/soak into the ground. It's still 'mushy' to walk around... I'd have to pump out any underground facility.

 

[BukitCase]

Mark, here's a few ideas

17 Ideas on How to Build a Soundproof Box for Air Compressor

I can't say I agree with all of the choices there, just some ideas - also, here's a thread that went on during the 8 years or so I moderated construction on this site

John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum •

View topic - from shed to studio?

My screen name there is knightfly.

You'll need to join (free) in order to see any of the several sketches I drew for the OP; unfortunately, pics from the OP didn't survive. The techniques remain the same, you could just scale them down to fit your compressor.

I no longer have license to some of the software I used to use (not cheap and not doing that any more), but generally you should start with knowing what frequency components your compressor generates the most; can be done with a free android app called Spectrum Analyzer - next would be finding which materials/thicknesses, etc, will give best attenuation of those frequencies. If EITHER side of a double wall (aka Mass-Air-Mass, same concept as Mass-Spring-Mass, since air is a spring) is resonant at the offending frequency, there'll be nearly NO attenuation.

Don't bother to respond to that thread, the OP is long gone and I don't frequent there regularly any more either; got too burned out and too little progress on MY stuff.

Oh, if anybody tries to sell you "soundproofing" foam, RUN AWAY - most of it is NOT fire resistant, and insulation like Roxul's safe-n-sound works MUCH better.

If you like, PM or call me and I can dispel a few more myths... Steve

 

[BrokenTrack]

At work they just built us a new classroom and office space for a 20 booth welding program. They used R-11 insulation and 1/2 inch soundboard and we can carry on a conversation in the office or classroom without raising our voices with welders/tools/air handlers going.

 

[TMGT]

I love the Roxul products, used the safe n sound when I redid the downstairs bathroom to help quiet down certain errr, noises, since it's by the dining room.

When I reinsulated the attic in the house a couple years ago I used the comfort batts, very happy with their products.

 

[mikester]

Try googling rubber machinery feet

Amazon.com : machine leveling feet

This will reduce a lot of noise

 

[jwstewar]

what type of compressor and how loud? I've got a Quincy Q-5 that runs at 1800 RPM - note this isn't the QT-5 available from Rural King/Northern that runs at 3600 RPM. It isn't loud at all. Before you invest too much time and trouble in building a room, maybe solve your issue with just a new compressor. My compressor sets on 4 rubber pads and loosely bolted through two of them. You can have a conversation right next to it and talk in a normal voice.

 

[WranglerX]

Closet/outhouse is probable best solution, yes you can insulate it for sound, make sure it has ventilation (convection is fine).... Get drain valve assembly that automatically operates with unloaded so draining does not becomes issue....

Dale