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Machine Air compressor muffler

Machine
One thing that greatly reduces noise is sound isolator pads under the compressor and bolting it down. Basically this damps any vibration running through the machine being amplified through the tank (think nice big bass speaker).
+1

I put bonded rubber isolators (PA Surplus) under the feet of my 60 gal vertical and apart from quieting it, it also stopped it from walking around the floor! The isolators are mounted on a plywood base.

D :cool:
 
Has anyone added an intake muffler/filter their compressor to lower the noise?

Even re-piping the intake for a steel tube pointed downward, filled with plastic mesh scrubbers with the filter on the extreme end is very helpful for sound. In High school, we only had #4 steel wool available, but it rusted severely after a few years... but that was Ontario... oh yeah, you have the damp, too!
 
I wonder if you could rig up a muffler using a couple of 20-litre paint pails. It's on the intake, so no temperature concerns. Some PVC pipe, a few fittings. and stuff the pails with stainless steel wool. If you think about a 350 Chev (or 302 Ford, or 348 Hemi, I'm agnostic), it's sucking in 300 CFM through a simple filter, but the simple filter has a huge impact on the amount of intake noise.

Stainless steel wool is actually pretty cheap from these folks:

 
I wonder if you could rig up a muffler using a couple of 20-litre paint pails. It's on the intake, so no temperature concerns. Some PVC pipe, a few fittings. and stuff the pails with stainless steel wool. If you think about a 350 Chev (or 302 Ford, or 348 Hemi, I'm agnostic), it's sucking in 300 CFM through a simple filter, but the simple filter has a huge impact on the amount of intake noise.

Stainless steel wool is actually pretty cheap from these folks:

Hmnn I'm wondering if the compressor would ingest steel wool particles if that was used on the intake? Maybe plastic mesh like @Dabbler suggested would be safer?
 
I wonder if you could rig up a muffler using a couple of 20-litre paint pails. It's on the intake, so no temperature concerns. Some PVC pipe, a few fittings. and stuff the pails with stainless steel wool. If you think about a 350 Chev (or 302 Ford, or 348 Hemi, I'm agnostic), it's sucking in 300 CFM through a simple filter, but the simple filter has a huge impact on the amount of intake noise.

Stainless steel wool is actually pretty cheap from these folks:

I was thinking about using a length of 4” pvc pipe.
 
DANGER ROBINSON! DANGER!

Steel wool, moisture, potential aluminium dust (along other dust) and high volume of air.

Does anyone else see the potential hazard??????

Simple baffles of various dimensions that redirect or the air flow /sound with too much restriction is best. Want something better, active sound control, noise generator to actively cancel the offending sound wave.

Hey don't shoot the messenger.
 
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Hmnn I'm wondering if the compressor would ingest steel wool particles if that was used on the intake? Maybe plastic mesh like @Dabbler suggested would be safer?
Good point. I suspect one of these would be a good start, stick inside the previously-mentioned 4” pvc pipe.
 
The setup i was talking about was an old school sloww rpm 30ish cfm pump. They had a kia muffler connected with some rubber hose and plumbed out the the wall. You could barley hear it inside or out. Obviously this will take experimentation with you own setup.
 
I would love to make my compressor a lot quieter, it's a 3 cylinder run by a 3hp motor over 30 gal tank. All PA units that we put together years ago. Extremely loud, should build an out building for it and install larger lines, it won't run a large impact gun worth a damn. More projects.
 
It's on the intake, so no temperature concerns.

@David_R8 - I am ashamed of myself. Because we started with exhaust mufflers, I immediately locked onto output silencing like mufflers. But it isn't. It's intake. I can only blame it on old age blinders. Thank you @whydontu for the 2x4 to my head.

Go to your local auto junkyard and buy a plastic box filter intake system with a square paper filter design. They are designed to handle huge airflow (waaaay more than a compressor) and the box design and folded filter design will slaughter the intake pulses (noise). The bonus will be cleaner air. The boxes are double ended so you can also run outside air in if you want.

Don't forget to time the pressure increase so you know what the losses are - if any.
 
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Squatch, to add to that, would using an intake with a reservoir on it be of any advantage?
As an example, the intake off of my 03 Tundra, it's got this box off the side of the pipe, I'm assuming it's for noise.
When I swapped it out for an aftermarket kit, the sound of the engine changed dramatically.

s-l1600.jpg
 
Squatch, to add to that, would using an intake with a reservoir on it be of any advantage?

Yes. It's a sound tuning box. Typically an attempt to make the engine sound meaner or quieter depending on the vehicle model market target.

A single box system should be plenty for a compressor application. Playing with tuners is too complicated for this application. Then again, it might also be fun!
 
Just remembering how we used to run our muscle cars with the breather cover turned over so the whole country could tell we were on the road, Im thinking I would just start with any big old air box with an intake air filter inside it to achieve what y'all are looking for.
 
Yes. It's a sound tuning box. Typically an attempt to make the engine sound meaner or quieter depending on the vehicle model market target.

A single box system should be plenty for a compressor application. Playing with tuners is too complicated for this application. Then again, it might also be fun!

I think this might be an interesting approach.


Look at this article. The second muffler design is a wave cancellation muffler. A compressor runs at essentially a fixed rpm so the air pulses will be consistent. It is intake air so you could use plastic. It wouldn't be hard to put something together with 2" and 4" PVC pipe. A tiny bit of math would get you in the ballpark for lengths. "the length of the two paths differs by 1/2 wavelength"

Chris
 
Loud pipes save lives.

There is no scientific proof to support the claim and several studies debunking it. Here are a few references:

Canada Moto Guide referencing several reports including the Hurt Report of 1981 etc.

Study Report of The Romanian Pro-Motorcycle Association for the National Development of Motorcycling
Scientific measurements carried out on bikes with up to 110dB (A) sound levels shows at 15 meters the bike cannot be heard in the car and is in a frequency band that makes it hard to locate the source.

"In conclusion, Loud pipes save life ... is a false statement! The sound produced by a motorcycle is not heard by the drivers of the cars in front or is heard too late to be able to influence the drivers` decision. What do we have left? Let's be seen, not heard, and this can be done by following all the rules imposed by preventive driving. Bonus, we will have much less headaches and we will not bother the other traffic participants ... useless, as the measurements show."

Video of testing:

Article published by Autoweek about the Romanian research study:

Adventure Rider article on the same study

Motorcycle Accident Attorney Theodore Spaulding

Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations Discusses the science of noise emission directivity from rear facing exhausts, basically the sound propagates behind the bike, not ahead of it.
 
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