Looking for threads on Compressor Enclosures

[jon_beer]

Hi everyone - I'm trying to find some reliable info about building an enclosure for my compressor. It's a 17 gall oilless HF compressor my BiL gave me as a gift. I love it but it's loud! I'd like to build an insulated enclosure for it and am looking for some input in how other people have dealt with air circulation, heat buildup, and soundproofing.

My thoughts so far have been -

• 
  Air intake / exhaust vents need to be constructed of staggered right angles to break soundwaves.

• Fan cooling? I've seen pics of people using 4" computer fans to create airflow inside the enclosure. Is this necessary with moderate use? I use mostly nailers and air tools occasionally.
• Soundproofing materials: Planning on using either egg crate foam + Green Glue (brand name of this caulking type material used in the Green Glue system.) What have you used?

If you want to see more info and pics of the build, click in my sig.
Thanks in advance everyone!

Jon

 

[MrBalll]

Have some photos I can upload, but here is a quick video.

For the fans I built a three passage baffle system. Just 2x4's cut with 2in to allow airflow.
Nothing is sealed with caulking or glue or anything. I'm sure if I did that it would actually get even quieter.

 

[jon_beer]

Have some photos I can upload, but here is a quick video.

For the fans I built a three passage baffle system. Just 2x4's cut with 2in to allow airflow.
Nothing is sealed with caulking or glue or anything. I'm sure if I did that it would actually get even quieter.

Thanks MrBalll! The video is great - it really seems to make a difference. Much more than the enclosures people have built with egg crate foam.

do you have any pics of the baffle system?

 

[Crusarius]

I removed an old window that was useless. built a box that slid right into the opening. I left it with a 4" wide open groove on the bottom and added a couple louvers up high. The bottom opening was for drain the top was for letting the heat out. placed compressor in the box and closed the door. I also wired a light to the plug that was switched so I knew when it was turned on.

The compressor was outside of the garage. made a world of difference on noise. And the drain was really great not making a mess inside when it needed to be drained.

I live in upstate NY and the cold never bothered it. I just had to remember to drain it before it got to cold to drain.

 

[bdbecker]

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...mpressor+enclosure+site:www.garagejournal.com

A little way to make searching the forum easier...

Go to Google and type in "garagejournal:" and then your search term. In this case, I typed in "garagejournal: compressor enclosure" to find all the threads associated with compressor enclosures from the Garage Journal forum. There should be a link that says "More results from www.garagejournal.com" to get you to the page I linked above.

 

[Trey T]

So far, I haven't seen a good solution for enclosure w/ a professional look.

I would like an enclosure like the one below. There's a member that has one. I called the company to see if I can buy one as part replacement and it cost $700. Supposedly, it has a fan that's built into the enclosure.

 

[Bigbandguy]

I don't know what that IS but what it LOOKS like is a standard box store bin, possibly lined with insulation and mounted on top of a garden variety HF 26 gallon compressor. Looks like something to try!

 

[dffay]

Can it also be isolated on rubber feet? And, experience taught me to not use nails or screws when soundproofing something. The vibe travels along the shanks. Glue works do much better.

 

[jon_beer]

Crusarius, BDBecker, TreyT, Bigbandguy, Dfffay thank you for chiming in.

DBBecker - thanks for that great tip! Wish I had known that a while back

TreyT - well hopefully I can give you a professional looking one! Although first and foremost it needs to work well. Honestly I think that compressor with a rubbermade tote on top really looks like ****. But that just my .02

Dffay - I was thinking that the box should be sitting on rubber or felt - from what i remember changing materials is important to reducing vibration and increasing absorption.

 

[Slednut]

I built a box and put it outside.

 

[Trey T]

Lol ... you're not too fond of plastic material (or alike, such as fibgerglass or carbon fiber) are you?

 

[E.rodz]

here is a link to one of my youtube link explaining what we did to our 5 hp 80 gallon tank to make it super quite.works awesome and built out of 100% recycled materials.there is also more details on my garage build thread .

 

[Falcon67]

Based on what I did to block a lot of sound from my 60 gallon upright - NOT an oiless monster - I would say this as a minimum for a 2x4 wall enclosure (from inside out) -

Quiet Brace + 3 1/2" fiberglass + layer of Quiet Brace + layer of OSB or siding.

It's going to be really, really hard to quiet that noisy *****.

 

[MrBalll]

Didn't take any construction photos of the baffle, but here is what it looks like. The gaps between 2x4's is about three inches and the openings for the 2x4's are about two inches to the walls. I then just drilled a small hold in the side and fed the fan wires through.