Quieting a generator

[Mike in Ohio]

Rented a camper for an upcoming event at mid-ohio race track. They have no "hookups" for campers, so I will have to run my Troy-bilt generator to power the camper. I need to quiet it down some to run the ac at night and not keep other campers awake all night. Youtube shows mostly insulated enclosures to keep the noise down. Have any of you guys got any other ideas about how to quiet it down some?

 

[no704]

Get a Honda.

 

[finn]

Get an inverter generator. Honda is excellent, but pricy. There are dozens of other inverters out there that are good, but Honda is the gold standard. Did I mention expensive?

My Champions are probably close to ten years old, and work well.

 

[LopezBart]

At Burning Man a common approach has been a 3/4" plywood box open in the direction you want the noise to go. It's hard making an inexpensive "contractor" generator quiet.

 

[908Jim]

For the cost of building an exclosure, insulating it, and cooling/ventilating it, you can probably almost buy an inverter generator that will be much quieter than an open frame synchro screaming at 3600 RPMs. Home depot also rents Honda Inverter generators. 3000 watt is $88/day or $350/week here in NJ.

I recently bought my own inverter and the low idle when lightly loaded is really refreshing. If you're thinking about doing this event again in the future, I'd probably bite the bullet on an inverter generator.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Thanks guys, hopefully this is a 1 time deal, one of the guys in this group has a 5th wheel that we usually use, but this year he got transferred to Texas for the summer and is living in his camper on the company dime. It is cheaper to rent a class c, than to haul his back and forth for a weekend.

My nearest neighbor is almost a mile away so the noise when the power is out isn't a problem here at home. Just trying to be considerate of other campers this year, and be able sleep in comfort.

I have some 2" foamboard in the barn that I think I will experiment with to see how much it quiets it down.

Thanks again.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Thanks guys, hopefully this is a 1 time deal, one of the guys in this group has a 5th wheel that we usually use, but this year he got transferred to Texas for the summer and is living in his camper on the company dime. It is cheaper to rent a class c, than to haul his back and forth for a weekend.

My nearest neighbor is almost a mile away so the noise when the power is out isn't a problem here at home. Just trying to be considerate of other campers this year, and be able sleep in comfort.

I have some 2" foamboard in the barn that I think I will experiment with to see how much it quiets it down.

Thanks again.

Foam board may make the noise worse.

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks guys, hopefully this is a 1 time deal, one of the guys in this group has a 5th wheel that we usually use, but this year he got transferred to Texas for the summer and is living in his camper on the company dime. It is cheaper to rent a class c, than to haul his back and forth for a weekend.

My nearest neighbor is almost a mile away so the noise when the power is out isn't a problem here at home. Just trying to be considerate of other campers this year, and be able sleep in comfort.

I have some 2" foamboard in the barn that I think I will experiment with to see how much it quiets it down.

Thanks again.

There is really nothing you can do that will make it appropriate for a campground. Regular generators are just too damn loud and even if you could redirect enough of the sound, you'll just have a cooling issue

Inverter or battery pack.

"upcoming event at mid Ohio"? Looking at even the long range forecast, it looks like 50's and 60's at night through at least July. Is all this really worth it for a/c at temps where open windows should suffice?

 

[firebirdparts]

I have been thinking about going at it with a better exhaust muffler. Briggs flathead at 3600 here. It’s never urgent for me.

 

[gmcgeo]

Rented a camper for an upcoming event at mid-ohio race track. They have no "hookups" for campers, so I will have to run my Troy-bilt generator to power the camper. I need to quiet it down some to run the ac at night and not keep other campers awake all night. Youtube shows mostly insulated enclosures to keep the noise down. Have any of you guys got any other ideas about how to quiet it down some?

I have an Ecoflow Power station (Delta 2s) and 2 400w solar panels that go with me camping. So far, im loving the set up. It does run my ac for an hour or two. I bought them when the price came way down a year ago. now they are back up to over 1500 for the delta 2 max.

 

[Youngandfree]

Put a bigger motorcycle muffler on it.

 

[WisJim]

If you do make an insulated box to sound reduction purposes, us mineral wool insulation rather than foam board. Foam board, as mentioned, may make the sound worse (more rigid material vibrating in the box), while mineral wool is often specified for sound reduction insulation, such as between apartments, etc. Better muffler may also help, but you might also need fans for ventilation for cooling the inside of the box.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have some 2" foamboard in the barn that I think I will experiment with to see how much it quiets it down.

I will get awfully hot inside there ! You need a large piece of metal spaced about 2" away from the side where the exhaust is (so air can reach both sides of this deflector). You want 4"-6" on each side and above the generator.

Allowing the noise to go straight up (no top) is good, but you need to make it at least 6' (8' better) tall so the noise is above everyone's head. Better, put a lid on it and space the box about 6" off the ground. The noise will have to bounce off the lid, get deflected down and then out.

You will likely need some cooling fans.

 

[Mikes61]

I have been thinking about going at it with a better exhaust muffler. Briggs flathead at 3600 here. It’s never urgent for me.

Many years ago I had a contractor type 5000w generator that I wanted to quiet down. I took it to a muffler shop and had a car muffler installed in place of the stock muffler. It did nothing for the noise. All the noise comes from the engine. That was a waste of $100.

 

[WILD-BILL]

My thoughts as someone who raced every weekend running a generator 24/7.

First, I can all but guarantee that others out there will be doing the same yet will have never given disturbing you or others a second thought.

Second, Place the unit a bit away from the MH and with the TV on and AC running you're likely to barley hear the Gen.

Third, After a while, It will become background noise that's easy to ignore and even forget it's there until it's not and you have to go out and put gas in it. (OK, This one may only come after years of doing it LOL)

 

[txvwnut]

The easiest way to quieten that generator up is to go to Harbor Freight and get one of the Predator generators. Yes you can build an enclosure but you still have to get the hot exhaust out and that requires openings to let cold air in and hot air out which pretty much defeats the purpose of the enclosure.

What Bill has said is spot on. At every racetrack you will always hear that one generator and it will be usually set on the opposite side of the trailer so that guy doesn't have to hear but it ends up on your side of the trailer where you get to hear it. Before I had an inverter generator I would place it at the front of my tow rig as most of the tracks I race at had head first parking so there was no one in front of you which got it away from the business end of the pit setup. Also if you can put it on a grassy area that will actually help a little to absorb the noise.

My thoughts as someone who raced every weekend running a generator 24/7.

First, I can all but guarantee that others out there will be doing the same yet will have never given disturbing you or others a second thought.

Second, Place the unit a bit away from the MH and with the TV on and AC running you're likely to barley hear the Gen.

 

[PopcornSutton]

Try to set up on the fringe areas and get RV extension cords and get it as far away as possible. Your gen set wasn't meant to be in a box.

 

[Jon h]

When I was in the military we used to dig a hole to put them in. Only takes a few minutes. Worked great. I’ve done it before while camping. Of course it all depends on where ya are.

Regards’
Jon h.

 

[dcg9381]

My Champions are probably close to ten years old, and work well.

If you're going to use your existing open frame generator, all you can really do is put it in an enclosure. Hopefully you can set it up with enough airflow. I had issues in Texas with "factory" generator bays in Class-C RVs, they 150+ degree temps on the road would caused problems that Indiana built RV enclosures were not designed to deal with.

If you're going to get "another one" (eventually):

1) Get the absolute smallest size that you need. Noise is directly related to displacement.
2) Closed frame is more quiet than open frame.
3) Inverter gens have come way down, they throttle down at low load... At normal loads, they're really not that much different from another closed frame generator.

Champions are my go to bang-for-the-buck. The 2500 is a lot more quiet than the 3500 (both inverter). When you go over 5k, things get loud fast. Probably won't matter at a motorsports event.

 

[Rc_Guy]

Why not check with a rental company and rent an EU7000IS Honda generator?


Probably more than building an enclosure, but I’m guessing the enclosure gets thrown away or thrown on a brush pile after the race.

 

[Firebrick43]

Putting a quieter muffler on a non enclosed generator helps very little.

An air cooled small engine are noisy and sound like a bucket of bolts without the exhaust noise.

The mufflers are usually sized to be a decibel or two over the sound of the mechanical noise of the engine to cover it up as owners will think their motor is coming apart.

An enclosure is pretty complicated noise path and design is critical to not overheat the engine. Foam board doesn’t absorb the noise you need a soft foam or press fiberglass hvac board to absorb the sound.

 

[RalphInCA]

My thoughts as someone who raced every weekend running a generator 24/7.

First, I can all but guarantee that others out there will be doing the same yet will have never given disturbing you or others a second thought.

Second, Place the unit a bit away from the MH and with the TV on and AC running you're likely to barley hear the Gen.

Third, After a while, It will become background noise that's easy to ignore and even forget it's there until it's not and you have to go out and put gas in it. (OK, This one may only come after years of doing it LOL)

Ignore this advice.

We live in communities and everyone needs to work together towards a better society.

Not be part of the problem just because someone else is part of the problem.

 

[mike93lx]

My thoughts as someone who raced every weekend running a generator 24/7.

First, I can all but guarantee that others out there will be doing the same yet will have never given disturbing you or others a second thought.

Second, Place the unit a bit away from the MH and with the TV on and AC running you're likely to barley hear the Gen.

Third, After a while, It will become background noise that's easy to ignore and even forget it's there until it's not and you have to go out and put gas in it. (OK, This one may only come after years of doing it LOL)

Everyone else being inconsiderate ***** and doesn't mean it's OK. It's so easy to be better than that

 

[Rc_Guy]

Ignore this advice.

We live in communities and everyone needs to work together towards a better society.

Not be part of the problem just because someone else is part of the problem.

I agree, we go to food festivals with our food truck and people run 100 foot cord from their food truck and put their generator 100 feet away from their food truck and I tell the organizer that my opinion is if they’re generator is too loud to be right next to their food truck then it’s too loud to use at this event

 

[dcg9381]

Thanks guys, hopefully this is a 1 time deal, one of the guys in this group has a 5th wheel that we usually use, but this year he got transferred to Texas for the summer and is living in his camper on the company dime. It is cheaper to rent a class c, than to haul his back and forth for a weekend.

How big of a generator do you need? In Texas, 2ACs on a 5th wheel are very common and frankly without 2 ACs you're not going to cool very well. These things are like R-7 at best in most cases and it's HOT right now.

Make sure you dump ALL other power drawing devices - fridge and electric water are the main things. Run both on gas.

You really want a generator with a 14-50R. Watch your **** if you have a 5k-6k unit, especially if it's not with a 14-50R, some of those won't pull 2ACs at the same time, typically the ones without the 14-50R. They sometimes have "oddball" breakers and you can only count on 80% of that breaker.

If you want to do a 5th wheel with 2 ACs "quietly" (as possible) you're probably looking at buying "linkable" inverter units in the 2500-3500 range.

 

[Rc_Guy]

How big of a generator do you need? In Texas, 2ACs on a 5th wheel are very common and frankly without 2 ACs you're not going to cool very well. These things are like R-7 at best in most cases and it's HOT right now.

Make sure you dump ALL other power drawing devices - fridge and electric water are the main things. Run both on gas.

You really want a generator with a 14-50R. Watch your **** if you have a 5k-6k unit, especially if it's not with a 14-50R, some of those won't pull 2ACs at the same time, typically the ones without the 14-50R. They sometimes have "oddball" breakers and you can only count on 80% of that breaker.

If you want to do a 5th wheel with 2 ACs "quietly" (as possible) you're probably looking at buying "linkable" inverter units in the 2500-3500 range.

I thought he said it was a class C, not a fifth wheel?

 

[dcg9381]

I thought he said it was a class C, not a fifth wheel?

Thanks, got that backwards. Most rental C's are 30A. There are 50A Class-C's with 2 ACs but I don't see them in typical rental fleets.

 

[Jazz1]

hope someone has a Champion generator like i got to drown yours out…the noise has to go somewhere so a insulated box may not help unless you have no neighbours in one direction..

 

[finn]

hope someone has a Champion generator like i got to drown yours out…the noise has to go somewhere so a insulated box may not help unless you have no neighbours in one direction..

All open frame construction generators are noisy.

Champion makes some construction generators, as well as insulated enclosed inverter generators popular for campground use, or wherever noise is a consideration.

Nobody is recommending an open frame construction generator. He already has one of them.

The recommendations all go to inverter generators which will idle down in times of light load, and have insulated housing for noise control.

Even Harbor Freight sells inverter generators suitable for campground use.

 

[mike93lx]

hope someone has a Champion generator like i got to drown yours out…the noise has to go somewhere so a insulated box may not help unless you have no neighbours in one direction..

My champion generator is incredibly quiet

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Thanks again guys, our site is the last in the row, woods on 2 sides, track on one side, other campers only on 1 side. The gen may not even bother neighbors, I guess we will see. As wild Bill said I think most people are running them.

 

[CraigStu]

Well heck, w/ that site info in mind, back to a long cord to the gen on opposite side of the other campers.

 

[Racer_X]

I have been thinking about going at it with a better exhaust muffler. Briggs flathead at 3600 here. It’s never urgent for me.

I've seen lots of people at drag strips with 10 foot high vertical exhaust pipes coming out of their generators. They attach them to their trailer for stability.
Putting the noise way up high makes it a lot more quiet at ground level.

 

[tipsy]

If you are renting a camper could you also rent a nice quiet Honda generator?

 

[duneslider]

Are generators even allowed to run at night? I don't stay at campgrounds often but when I do they have quiet hours after 10pm usually. I was even in one place where some "happy individual" came over and shut off my honda right at 10pm. I thought that was a bit of a douche thing to do.

You can get quiet generators pretty cheap nowdays. I have been super happy with my WEN 3600, almost as quiet as my little honda 1100. The wen even has electric start, and starts right up everytime (actually easier than my Honda).

 

[mike93lx]

Are generators even allowed to run at night? I don't stay at campgrounds often but when I do they have quiet hours after 10pm usually. I was even in one place where some "happy individual" came over and shut off my honda right at 10pm. I thought that was a bit of a douche thing to do.

I bet campgrounds at a race track don't have the quiet hours requirements of most campgrounds.

 

[duneslider]

I bet campgrounds at a race track don't have the quiet hours requirements of most campgrounds.

Somehow the race track part didn't register...probably no quiet hours there...

We camp at races a few times a year and there are always generators running. I also camped up in the mountains one time and someone down the way had a loud generator that they would leave running all day, even when they were gone, not sure if they had animals they left in the trailer when they were gone or what but it was nice when it would run out of gas late in the afternoon before they returned. We at least had quiet for a couple hours.

 

[mjeff87]

I keep an old 6000 neighbor hater open frame genny down in the shed as a backup to the main house generator. When I run it (rarely, mostly just to test it) I set up a folding table on its side in front of it. I have precut pieces of plywood I use to loosely enclose it, allowing for plenty of air intake and exhaust. It doesn't silence it, but it does substantially reduce noise which I think my neighbors appreciate. Like mentioned upthread, the majority of the noise comes from the mechanicals in the engine, not from the exhaust/muffler). Deflecting it helps.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Thanks again guys, between us we have 3 generators, I bought a decibel meter on amazon, gonna pick the quietest one and just go with it. There will be a bunch of guys running old 2-stroke dirtbikes at all hours of the night, so the gen might not even be noticed given our site placement.

This is the event we are going to: https://vintagemotorcycledays.com/