I have to do something to bring down the noise of a large compressor in my shop. Is there a safe way to enclose it and deaden the sound (without starving it for air or overheating it)?
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The one thing that I have found to help deaden the noise is to use vibration reducing pads . The sound doesn't go away, but the vibration is reduced enough that if it happens to turn on in the middle of the night, the kids, and sometimes I can sleep through it.
try graingers or mcmaster.com
I use #7 on page 1359
http://www.mcmaster.com/#vibration-mounts/=46r6md
spend some time tuning up your compressor.. Mine is a great big 90 gallon tank model that was noisey as heck untill I spent a few hours tuning it up.. make sure the belts are properly aligned, Properly tightened.. I had one belt worn and that caused the other belt to squeal for a second. so I replaced them with a matched pair. Fill the grease cups with the proper grease (not just gun grease) change the oil in the compressor to synthetic.
Make sure all the metal guards etc. are tight and not in contact with anything moving.. One corner of the belt shield was free to flap and that made a lot of noise.. I brazed a stiffening rib into it and rebarzed the corner weld which made a surpising differance..
I took the standard air cleaner off and put a big automotive aircleaner on (a little fabrication is required) the big one is I took it off the ground and bolted it to a wooden pallet.
Check that all hoses etc. don't leak, replace worn fittings, to prevent recycling as much as possible.. You'd be surprise how often the compressor runs with even a tiny leak . I used the stuff used to blow kids bubbles to find all the tiny leaks and deal with them.. it used to kick off at least once a night.. now it stays charged for a month..
Now it doesn't even wake me when it recharges itself in the middle of the night.. I sleep almost right over it too!
I saw one shop in Reidsville, NC where the compressor was permanently mounted outside with a little roof over it.
You can bring in air but have it turn a few corners in your box.
Does the large cast iron pulley have blades on it for moving air over the cylinders?
Those blades will move air. If you want air to move over the cylinders just have an intake in your box end up there and then have another hole for the air to move out.
Will Rogers
Yeah, first thing to do is to get it on some sort of resilient pad.
Then you could build a wall behind it, drywall on the back side, unfaced fiberglass (maybe 2-3 layers packed), then pegboard on the face, or, better, a layer of screen and a layer of hardware cloth.