A year ago or so we needed to set up a generator in a field to power stuff
for a church "tent event". Needed to be really quite so that the service
wouldn't be disturbed. As a quick and dirty sound deadener, I made up a 4'
square, three sided box with a top, out of two 4x8 sheets of waferboard cut
in half. I stapled used carpet pad (the stuff made from lots of chunks of
recycled foam) on each inside surface. That really worked. From 50' away
with the open side facing away from the tent, you couldn't hear the
generator at all unless you listened very carefully. If you know someone
getting a carpet replaced, scrounge the foam pad. Works really well as an
acoustic sound absorber, and it's free.

We saved the enclosure for future use (it knocks down) but had to strip off
the foam - the guy who donated it was replacing his carpeting because his
cat ****ed all over it. It did keep curious kids away from the generator
during the service, though. What a smell.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Ignoramus24281" wrote in message
...

A while ago I posted some questions on soundproofing a generator. For
details of the generator, see

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/onan/Diesel/

particularly, check out the "Enclosure" link.

Unshielded, the genset produces 85 dB at 10 feet.

I finally have satisfactory results. The enclosure itself reduces
noise by 5 dB. If I put another sheet of plywood in the direction that
I need to block the most (my neighbors), the noise goes down to 76 dB,
giving the total of 9 dB reduction in the needed direction.

The other directions are less important because the house and the deck
and the shed are going to shield/scatter most of the noise. (see the
link on the above mentioned page to see where the genset will go).

I am going to call it a success and stop the soundproofing work. Maybe
I will add some sound dampener substance to the engine panels.

On a related note, I sealed the top with epoxy, and will probably use
"deck treatment" on the rest. This enclosure will be normally covered
by a heavy duty tarp, when not in use.

Thanks to all!

i