Air Compressor Noise Mitigation

[mjwalsh]

All of us have air compressors & some of us have even resorted to the oil less compact air compressors. I have read that there are silencer-mufflers that an operator can put in place of the air intake filter that helps.

Can anybody describe how much lower of decibels a person can expect by doing that? I looked around town today & it looks like I will have to online order the special air intakes.

I think Rotary Screw (the quietest of all) might be out the range cost wise for most of us.

mike

 

[MEP001]

I don't believe that the noise from the intake of air is significant compared to all the other noise made by it running.

 

[Kevin Reilly]

Mike they are noisy. I've thought at times if I could run an intake pipe to the compressor from outside that might make a difference in the noise level. But all of our locations have small machinery rooms, so no matter where you are in there it's noisy if anything is running. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I now have hearing aids so at times I pull them out and put 'em in my pocket. Doesn't help much, but it reduces it a little!!

 

[Reds]

Mike they are noisy. I now have hearing aids so at times I pull them out and put 'em in my pocket. Doesn't help much, but it reduces it a little!!

I also have hearing aids. I ruined 2 of them from the spray mist coming out of the bays while I was working around the wash. So I now remove them as soon as I arrive at the wash due to both the noise and the damage to them. It makes it difficult to interact with customers, but it is what it is. I was going to get a set of noise reducing earmuffs to wear, but don't want to look like a space cadet.

 

[soapy]

I have one location that I put a large muffler on the intake of the compressor and it helped some but by no means is it quiet. I think the best thing you can do is to run the air intake line outside of the equipment room. You can take a car muffler, like a glass pak, and weld a threaded ends on it and attach it to the intake of the compressor to gain some noise reduction.

 

[CRHAMEL]

I have scene a lot of Manufacturing facilities have them on top of pallet racking... gets the noise up and away from ear level.....We have 2 screw type
air comp 50 HP and a 25HP (60AMP/480 30AMP/480) the recovery time is a fraction of a compressor style...and they are VERY quiet... Our compressors with the proper PM..should last us 20-30 years..they are pretty much like a roots style blower on a car...
Realistically the only down fall.... is the up front cost.....after that.. gravy
If you can I highly suggest a screw type compressor....

 

[Randy]

Oil less air compressors belong somewhere else and it’s not in a car wash. Those things are terrible, I’d never own one. They don’t last, there noisy because they have run at such a high RPM to build up air. The only good thing about them is they are cheap. I don’t think there is anything you could do to make one run quieter. I had a car wash guy here buy one just before Thanksgiving. He’s on the 2nd one now, they just don’t last. The slower an air compressor runs the quieter it going to be, it will run cooler and it will last a lot longer. Chris Hamel is right one of the best air compressors you can get is a Rotary Screw air compressor. They are expensive but will last a longtime.

 

[mjwalsh]

I have scene a lot of Manufacturing facilities have them on top of pallet racking... gets the noise up and away from ear level.....We have 2 screw type
air comp 50 HP and a 25HP (60AMP/480 30AMP/480) the recovery time is a fraction of a compressor style...and they are VERY quiet... Our compressors with the proper PM..should last us 20-30 years..they are pretty much like a roots style blower on a car...
Realistically the only down fall.... is the up front cost.....after that.. gravy
If you can I highly suggest a screw type compressor....

Chris & Randy,

What spooked me about the rotary screw is that I have read that they needed to run without intermittent stops & we have our slack periods along with closing up after 10 PM in the evening. I would still want at least some kind of backup. I agree I would never have an Oil Less as the main compressor ... but as more of a standby backup & if the regulators could be set so it only came on for very short periods of time. Amount of space needed for the smallest Rotary Screw is another consideration.

mike

 

[Earl Weiss]

What exactly is the end result you are trying to accomplish. Obviosly it's noise reduction or isolation but from who / what.?

Could you accomplish the same thing by making a small enclosure for the compressors (With exhaust and supply air ventilation as needed) using lumber and ridgid foam insulation?

 

[Kevin Reilly]

I also have hearing aids. I ruined 2 of them from the spray mist coming out of the bays while I was working around the wash. So I now remove them as soon as I arrive at the wash due to both the noise and the damage to them. It makes it difficult to interact with customers, but it is what it is. I was going to get a set of noise reducing earmuffs to wear, but don't want to look like a space cadet.

Reds There are some advantages to hearing aids as when your wife hits you with a project before you have your aids plugged in!

 

[Kevin Reilly]

What exactly is the end result you are trying to accomplish. Obviosly it's noise reduction or isolation but from who / what.?

Could you accomplish the same thing by making a small enclosure for the compressors (With exhaust and supply air ventilation as needed) using lumber and ridgid foam insulation?

I could see doing something for noise suppression if you were building new but for me, all we have are self-serve's and nowhere to build around to reduce the noise.

The other thing is we don't "live" at our locations. They are checked 3 to 4 times a day for cleanliness (My daughter runs them with an additional employee - and she is very capable of pulling a motor or a pump, changing a solenoid valve or run poly-flo. If she has a question It's a phone call) She makes my life easy!

She's installing a new motor that burned out in a wash that was built in 83! She understands single & 3 phase and I'm just there to double check for safety!

 

[Randy]

We only use belt drive air compressors. The oil less air compressors are nothing more than junk!! I came across a nice belt drive at a estate sale. It ran at such a high RPM that the first thing I did was change the pulley on the motor so it would run slower, it runs now at about half of the speed that it was running, but it puts out less CFM’s. It went from around 1200 RPM’s to 675 RPM’s and it’s a lot quieter.

 

[chewy007]

Chris & Randy,

What spooked me about the rotary screw is that I have read that they needed to run without intermittent stops & we have our slack periods along with closing up after 10 PM in the evening. I would still want at least some kind of backup. I agree I would never have an Oil Less as the main compressor ... but as more of a standby backup & if the regulators could be set so it only came on for very short periods of time. Amount of space needed for the smallest Rotary Screw is another consideration.

mike

This is very true about a Rotary screw needing to run, we installed one in a 5 bay SS with one IBA. The rotary screw compressor itself filled up with water in the oil because it never ran long enough to burn the moisture out. It Was a IR Nirvana unit with the total air system (dryer, filtration etc.) It was a real pain and the only way I would recommend one is if you have major volume in a tunnel for example. The IR T30 industrial line is hard to beat, we run two 15HP units with an alternator.