I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

PeterM wrote:
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

If you put it inside a shed or trailer that should do the trick. Of
course you don't want to spend any time inside the box with the thing
upon penalty of death. When i was on the crew we used to put our noisy
air compressor inside the work trailer. You could barely hear it. We
never bothered to ventilate and it worked fine. Carbon monoxide is
colorless, odorless, and quite deadly. You have been warned.

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:58:37 -0800, "PeterM"
wrote:

I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Do a google newsgroup search of alt.energy.homepower and you will find
a recent extensive discussion on quieting generator noise.

"PeterM" wrote in message
...
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! And then put a decent muffler on the
thing.

I saw a guy in a state park a couple years ago who had built a styrafoam box
to enclose his generator. He had fans on two sides, one blowing in and the
other blowing out. On those sides that had the fan he had a double wall,
spaced about 6 inches apart, where the fan blew air down between the two
walls to exit on the side. Kind of like this

______________
| air flow
|^ __________
| ^ |
| Generator |
|__________ ^ |
Air Flow ^ |
_____________ |

The idea was to keep the sound contained inside the box and not allow it to
exit through the ventilation.

The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just invested in a
replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

Nate

Sooo, was it quiet?

Phil

"Nate" wrote in message
t...

"PeterM" wrote in message
...
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! And then put a decent muffler on
the thing.

I saw a guy in a state park a couple years ago who had built a styrafoam
box to enclose his generator. He had fans on two sides, one blowing in
and the other blowing out. On those sides that had the fan he had a
double wall, spaced about 6 inches apart, where the fan blew air down
between the two walls to exit on the side. Kind of like this

______________
| air flow
|^ __________
| ^ |
| Generator |
|__________ ^ |
Air Flow ^ |
_____________ |

The idea was to keep the sound contained inside the box and not allow it
to exit through the ventilation.

The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just invested in
a replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

Nate



*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

"Nate" wrote in message
t...

"PeterM" wrote in message
...
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! And then put a decent muffler on
the thing.

I saw a guy in a state park a couple years ago who had built a styrafoam
box to enclose his generator. He had fans on two sides, one blowing in
and the other blowing out. On those sides that had the fan he had a
double wall, spaced about 6 inches apart, where the fan blew air down
between the two walls to exit on the side. Kind of like this

______________
| air flow
|^ __________
| ^ |
| Generator |
|__________ ^ |
Air Flow ^ |
_____________ |

The idea was to keep the sound contained inside the box and not allow it
to exit through the ventilation.

The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just invested in
a replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

Nate



"Phil Asay" wrote in message
om...
Sooo, was it quiet?

Phil


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*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
http://www.SecureIX.com ***

Not any more quiet than my factory installed Onan. But certianly quieter
than it was before the box was built. When he lifted the lid it was
noticably louder.

Nate

Nate wrote:
"Nate" wrote in message
. net...

"PeterM" wrote in message
...

I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! And then put a decent muffler on
the thing.

I saw a guy in a state park a couple years ago who had built a styrafoam
box to enclose his generator. He had fans on two sides, one blowing in
and the other blowing out. On those sides that had the fan he had a
double wall, spaced about 6 inches apart, where the fan blew air down
between the two walls to exit on the side. Kind of like this

______________
| air flow
|^ __________
| ^ |
| Generator |
|__________ ^ |
Air Flow ^ |
_____________ |

The idea was to keep the sound contained inside the box and not allow it
to exit through the ventilation.

The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just invested in
a replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

Nate



"Phil Asay" wrote in message
om...

Sooo, was it quiet?

Phil


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from
http://www.SecureIX.com ***


Not any more quiet than my factory installed Onan. But certianly quieter
than it was before the box was built. When he lifted the lid it was
noticably louder.

Nate


I put a small car muffler on a 4kw
Coleman and it helped, but if you need to
really quiet it down completely, you
need the "box." On the Coleman, anyway,
there is a lot of other noise besides
the popping coming from the exhaust. Some
of it comes from the engine cooling fan.

In article ,
says...
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

The city has had a gas-driven sump pump going outside our house for a
few months here after a storm drain collapsed. They built a wall
around it out of bales of straw, excellent sound deadening.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Books for Bicycle Mechanics and Tinkerers:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/bikebooks.html

Go to groups.google.com and enter the phrase "rec.outdoors.rv-travel
generator quiet" and you'll find a couple hundred messages about your
subject. Some know what they are talking about. Check for "neon john".
Another fellow, I've forgotten his name, is a sound engineer familiar with
motorhomes. I'll copy another that was informative.

Steve
www.wolfswords.com under the motorhome link



The major flaw in your plan is that moving the genset away from your
rig puts it close to your neighbors, who probably won't appreciate it.

In my professional life before I dropped out of the rat race (the rats
were winning) I did a lot of work with VIP airplane conversions of
airliners. We made the first-class area of a 747 so quiet that the
customer bitched about the noise from the cooling fans in the
entertainment cabinet.

The main "trick" is to put absorption curtains around the source, and
to isolate the curtains from the vehicle structure. The most successful
scheme was to make an enclosure with acoustic tile mounted on honeycomb
wall board and then hang the enclosure on bungee cords from the ceiling
of the compartment in which the noise was being generated. The basic
principle is that the sound energy goes into holes the acoustic tiles
and rattles around in there while the softly suspended enclosure
isolates the sound from the vehicle.

For an RV, where cost is more critical than weight, you could do the
same using gypsum wallboard as the enclosure walls, with acoustic tile
applied to the inside surfaces. I have used this technique in a
townhouse where a new furnace was far too noisy for its location at the
top of the stairs. I figure we reduced the noise by about 70 percent.

By all means, use the best exhaust muffler you can afford, but for
mechanical vibration, an acoustic enclosure with noise-cancelling
mounts can work very well.

The ultimate solution would be an active, noise-cancelling audio
system, but that can get into mucho dollars. The concept has worked
very well on some turbo-prop airplanes. It produces opposite phase,
electronically generated noise which cancels out the source. The
drawback is that the electronics have to have about the same power as
the sound levels that penetrate the sensitive areas. Again, adequate
insulation is the key to making one of these systems work, otherwise
you need electrical power of similar magnitude to the source of the
noise.

There are many sources of information available on the Internet for
anyone wishing to pursue more details.

Frank Damp
Anacortes, WA

PeterM wrote:
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my
son's generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can
make it not so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a
exhaust fan, or something like that...Any help is appreciated

Hook up to the grid????

Try http://www.soundproofing.org/


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"PeterM" wrote in message
...
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

mass and travel paths of sound are key to blocking sound. Best would be a
concrete bunker. Not ideal for sure. You may be able to build a shed like
structure out of concrete or concrete block (Solid is better) put on a roof
and a little ventalation and your all set. Even w/o the roof it will cut
down a lot. Could make it blend with the house.

Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

* heavy metal case. Probably at least 12 gauge.
* Heavy coating of sound damping paint, probably powder-coated.
* Fiberglass sound absorbent on internal surfaces.
* sound damping metal shields around the engine. All panels are
coated with the same heavy sound damping finish.
* A huge muffler (all of the space to the left of the open bay) in a
fiberglass damped compartment.
* baffled air intake.

John

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:58:37 -0800, "PeterM"
wrote:

I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.johngsbbq.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Nate" writes:


The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just invested in a
replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

The noise on a noisy generator tends to come as much from the engine block
and related areas as from the exhaust. The world's biggest muffler won't
help that.

Brian Elfert

Based on what John experienced I changed out my broken Onan (SEE BELOW) with
a QuietPak 55G and am AMAZED at the difference ... as is the neighbor. The
generator compartment is next to his side door. During blackouts he mooches
electricity but otherwise he'd of complained about the Onan. The Generac
isn't hardly noticeable.

NOW! If they'd tighten the darn screws. The warranty shop that had to
tighten my screws said they are notorious for leaving the shop busted.

No matter, there is no competition. I wouldn't go with any other.

Steve
www.wolfswords.com under the motorhome tab, then under the generator tab

FOR SALE: One Onan 6k that works great, starts quick, and is otherwise in
perfect shape except for the voltage being at about 80 volts. It is
probably a shorted winding. I understand many models of Onan have the same
winding. Asking ... I don't know ... CHEAP! PICKUP ONLY near the real
Cleveland. Not far from the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, Cedar Point
Amusement Park (much better than those other parks), etc.

"Neon John" wrote in message
...
Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

* heavy metal case. Probably at least 12 gauge.
* Heavy coating of sound damping paint, probably powder-coated.
* Fiberglass sound absorbent on internal surfaces.
* sound damping metal shields around the engine. All panels are
coated with the same heavy sound damping finish.
* A huge muffler (all of the space to the left of the open bay) in a
fiberglass damped compartment.
* baffled air intake.

John

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:58:37 -0800, "PeterM"
wrote:

I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so
loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.johngsbbq.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo
Emerson

Nate wrote:
"PeterM" wrote in message
...

______________
air flow
^ __________
^ |
Generator |
__________ ^ |
Air Flow ^ |
_____________ |

The idea was to keep the sound contained inside the box and not allow
it to exit through the ventilation.

The whole idea seemed kind of silly to me. I would have just
invested in a replacement exhaust system with a good muffler.

Basically, that is what he did, put the generator inside a muffler. It's
pretty much the same principal that a muffler works with, using baffles to
absorb the sound vibrations.
--
Jon
JPinOH

PeterM wrote:
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my
son's generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can
make it not so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a
exhaust fan, or something like that...Any help is appreciated

Was the generator free standing or mounted in the RV?
--
Jon
JPinOH

Neon John wrote:
Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

What is the sound level rating on those? Onan has 66db as about the quietest
that they carry.
--
Jon
JPinOH

The noise on a noisy generator tends to come as much from the engine block
and related areas as from the exhaust. The world's biggest muffler won't
help that.

I know this for a fact because I tried to quiet down a 5000 watt generator I
used during a outage at home.
I have no idea what Honda did to make their engines quiet but they don't
make ½ the noise my Tecumseh does.
And they start first pull.........unlike mine.
--
JerryD(upstateNY)

PeterM wrote:
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my
son's generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make
it not so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust
fan, or something like that...Any help is appreciated

Buy a better generator.

Lon

Neon John wrote:
Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

What is the sound level rating on those? Onan has 66db as about the quietest
that they carry.
--
Jon
JPinOH

How about a Muffler? Or extend the exhaust pipe somewhere.
On sound proofing a resilliant channel will catch the sound and quieten it
http://www.supressproducts.com/?gcli...FSmSLAodtX4MKA


"Lon VanOstran" wrote in message
...
PeterM wrote:
I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Buy a better generator.

Lon

Marvel wrote:

How about a Muffler? Or extend the exhaust pipe somewhere.
On sound proofing a resilliant channel will catch the sound and quieten it
http://www.supressproducts.com/?gcli...FSmSLAodtX4MKA


"Lon VanOstran" wrote in message
...

PeterM wrote:

I just got back from a vacation, and my neighbor mentioned that my son's
generator is too loud. I'm wondering if there is a way we can make it not
so loud. build a wall, buy maybe some igloo thing, with a exhaust fan, or
something like that...Any help is appreciated

Buy a better generator.

Lon




Top posting moron.
PLONK

Lon

On 23 Mar 2006 00:04:21 +0100, "Jon Porter"
wrote:



Neon John wrote:
Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

What is the sound level rating on those? Onan has 66db as about the quietest
that they carry.

I don't know. Sound ratings are kinda BS anyway because so much
depends on how you measure it.

I do know that the Generac is quieter than an EU3000 at full load. At
a crafts show I parked my concession stand beside a guy selling
hot-transfer tee-shirts. He powered his trailer (lights and heated
presses) from an EU3000. Our generators sat nearly side by side. When
his presses were heating, the EU's noise drown out mine almost
completely. Mostly exhaust noise I think. At partial load with the
eco-throttle turned off (it would trip when the heaters turned on when
on eco-throttle), they were about equal.

I didn't have a dB meter with me, just the good old Mk 1 ears. But
several of us vendors stood around marveling at how quiet the Generac
was. The tee-shirt guy was kinda envious since my quieter generator
made almost 6kw, about twice what the EU can do. I was running more
resistive loads than him plus I had a 15kbtu air conditioner. While
he was sweating over those hot presses, I was luxuriating in cool
comfort :-)

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.johngsbbq.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo Emerson

So you are saying that a 27HP engine running slow so that it is putting out,
say.....14 HP, is quieter than a 14 HP engine running full throttle.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

Neon John wrote:
Yes it is. I've written extensively about this in recent years. You
might want to try the google archives.

If you want a quick tip, look for marine acoustical treatments.
They're much more advanced than RVs.

You might also want to look at the photos he

http://www.johngsbbq.com/Neon_John_s...Quiet_home.htm

to study how Generac did it with their QuietPack line of generators,
the quietest ones I've ever laid ears on! Major features:

What is the sound level rating on those? Onan has 66db as about the
quietest
that they carry.

I don't know. Sound ratings are kinda BS anyway because so much
depends on how you measure it.

I do know that the Generac is quieter than an EU3000 at full load. At
a crafts show I parked my concession stand beside a guy selling
hot-transfer tee-shirts. He powered his trailer (lights and heated
presses) from an EU3000. Our generators sat nearly side by side. When
his presses were heating, the EU's noise drown out mine almost
completely. Mostly exhaust noise I think. At partial load with the
eco-throttle turned off (it would trip when the heaters turned on when
on eco-throttle), they were about equal.

I didn't have a dB meter with me, just the good old Mk 1 ears. But
several of us vendors stood around marveling at how quiet the Generac
was. The tee-shirt guy was kinda envious since my quieter generator
made almost 6kw, about twice what the EU can do. I was running more
resistive loads than him plus I had a 15kbtu air conditioner. While
he was sweating over those hot presses, I was luxuriating in cool
comfort :-)

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.johngsbbq.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo Emerson