On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:24:43 GMT, "James Sweet"
wrote:

The big and heavy I would agree with for any compressor
adequate to drive a die grinder, but *noisy*? It may be that you have
the wrong air compressor. The oilless ones tend to be *very* noisy, but
the oil wetted ones, with a belt drive from the motor to the compressor
tends to be very quiet in comparison. Yes, there are bursts of chugging
from time to time, but no problem from my point of view at least. I
would not have one of the oilless ones in my shop.

Ah crap, I didn't notice the crossposting until now, I won't keep this
thread going beyond this, I thought I was only replying to
sci.electronics.repair which is something that rarely requires air.

Au contraire, mon frere... ;-) It's still relevant.

You have to evict the dust bunnies from inside the gear before you
can start fixing it. And what's the easiest way to do it?...

I do have an oiled belt drive reciprocating compressor, it's a LOT quieter
than the oilless junk but it's still quite loud. Part of the problem is
where it sits in the corner, the sound is amplified and echos.

Build a sound cover around it that buts up to the wall. Plywood box
with acoustic ceiling tiles glued to the inside, and make a labyrinth
channel vent on top for air circulation that is also lined with
acoustic tile - air goes through, sound bounces off the walls and
dies.

If you really seal it tight to the wall and floor, put a second
labyrinth trap down low with a muffin fan or two for air flow.

-- Bruce --