Quiet a small engine? (exhaust)

[Bennylava]

Anyone ever added a bigger muffler (or something) or otherwise made a small engine run quiet? I have a power washer that I'd like to be able to use at my house, but sometimes I want to use it at times when its not really neighborly to be loud. Sometimes I like to wash the boat, or a car when the sun is going down, or has been down for an hour. Its nice to not have to work in the heat of the day, here in TX.

So I was wondering if any of you guys knew exactly how to make a small engine like on a power washer or a lawn mower, be quiet. I'm assuming that you just put some kind of bigger badder muffler on it. Not real sure where to buy such a thing though.

 

[shoe1]

They are hard to find, just about have to make them. Then you run into engine noise. They size the muffler sound to cover up engine noise. We tried quieting down some generators years back and found engine noise still real loud.

 

[BFBOB]

Trying to quiet down an air compressor, I found most of the noise was coming from the intake. A bigger, multi chambered air filter cut it way down. Yes, I had to build it myself.
It may be fairly easy to add air filtration on the intake side - just be sure it's bigger in area than the original or you could have a half-choke situation.
As shoe1 says, air cooled engines directly radiate mechanical noises other than the exhaust/intake.
That's what killed the BMW air cooled liter-class motorcycles. No matter how quiet the exhaust/intake, they still wouldln't pass fed noise standards.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Put it in a cone with the open end facing up. Hay bales work pretty well.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Exhaust noise. Intake noise. Noise from case and shrouds.

They're just noisy. Multiple cylinder engines are quieter. Water cooled is quieter. Electric is better yet.

Can you pressure wash inside? Put up a concrete fence? Build an enclosure?

 

[Bennylava]

Naw, can't do any of that stuff. But, some 1 inch tubing, and a used junkyard muffler or one of those little ones from the auto parts store might help. I figured you'd still have engine noise, but hey, I'll take what I can get. If I can drown out some of the sound, I'll take that vs none of it. And hey maybe do some better air filter like bfbob said. After this gas power washer is used up, maybe I'll switch to electric.

Have you guys ever seen those weird (well I think they're weird) bicycles with a small engine on there? I've been around a few and I swear I can never hear them things running. Or if I do its very quiet. And they all seem to have an elongated muffler that is as big as, or bigger than the little engine.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Years ago I used steel plumbing pipe on my lawn mower. Ran a ****** out the side then an elbow and another ****** at some point used a reducer to get to a larger pipe size.
I originally had it facing up and forward, it was almost as good as a muffler. When I was mowing it rotated due to vibration and gravity. When pointed down the end was about 6" off the ground and it was super quiet.
One downfall to it was that if I left it sit in one place it probably would melt asphalt or started the grass on fire.

 

[Bennylava]

Is there such a thing as a low noise power washer? Maybe someone sells one. That is gas.

How about electric? What is the best electric one for home use?

 

[Showkey]

Want quiet..........Buy a Honda engine ?

 

[Wamsutta]

Some small engines have several muffler options; Briggs & Stratton is that way.

 

[Packard V8]

Yes, small engines can be quieter. All it takes is heavier, larger, longer exhaust and muffler and intake air filter housing and cylinder shrouding. When you're done it will be very quiet and very heavy and so expensive no one would buy it. That shouldn't stop you from building it yourself.

jack vines

 

[theoldwizard1]

Yes, small engines can be quieter. All it takes is heavier, larger, longer exhaust and muffler and intake air filter housing and cylinder shrouding.

Lots of videos on YouTube about quieting a small engine (most generators). Add a big muffler helps, but not a lot.

If you really want quiet, you need an insulate box, but then heat and air flow are an issue.

4x Quieter generator in 10 seconds (Skip to 5:00 mark.)

MAKE GENERATOR 90% QUIETER... Fast and Easy Also simple. You could make a DIY version of this pretty cheap.

 

[Bennylava]

Yeah it looks like you gotta buy 'em already quiet. If you buy one that is loud, it will always be loud.

 

[Wamsutta]

^
Is there any chance your loud engine is a Briggs & Stratton?

 

[LawnBoy-5247]

In my experience there is not a whole lot you can do especially with modern engines without pipe threads in the exhaust port.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

 

[jonesg]

In my experience there is not a whole lot you can do especially with modern engines without pipe threads in the exhaust port.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

Yeh you can do a lot but it wont do much.
Its easier to make a shade from the sun than re-engineer an engine.

 

[bpjr]

Larger mufflers help but you may have to use a pipe extension from the block to make one fit.

 

[Bennylava]

^
Is there any chance your loud engine is a Briggs & Stratton?

It sure is.

Are the other brands significantly quieter?

 

[Wamsutta]

It sure is.

Are the other brands significantly quieter?

If it's a Briggs & Stratton, I can look it up in my parts lists and see which mufflers are available for it. I have quite a collection of parts lists on the computer. You'd have to give me the numbers off the engine though. Each model engine has its own parts list.