Show me your compressor cabinets

[Jawn]

Have any of you ever built a cabinet to enclose your compressor?

I have my eye on a manufactured workbench from home depot, but the thought has crossed my mind that I should build one and kill two birds with one stone... i.e., stash the compressor under it. Then it occurred to me that noise could be reduced by enclosing the compressor under it (of course, I'd still have to provide sufficient ventilation for cooling).

My compressor is an old craigslist special, approx. 20 gallon horizontal tank portable unit (oil lubed). The garage is in a rented townhouse. That means no outbuildings, no drilling holes in the wall to put the compressor downstairs, etc...

Pics of anything similar you've done? Suggestions?

 

[Jawn]

What's that sound? Oh, it's a "bump"!

 

[BWS]

No AC cabmet here........but iffin you're trying to kill some noise,look into a bigger,better inlet filter.Alot of the noise is coming out of there.

Also,if you're thinking about compressors,noise,whathave-you......might as well plan in some form of moisture control plumbing.....which in my pea brain is priority #1.Having a proffesional inclosure is all fine and good.But the more heat you can "dump" the better.Building a cabmet is sort of shooting yourself in the foot?Not that it can't or shouldn't be done.......just really look into getting rid of the heat,not trapping it in.Best of luck,BW

 

[Jawn]

No AC cabmet here........but iffin you're trying to kill some noise,look into a bigger,better inlet filter.Alot of the noise is coming out of there.

Also,if you're thinking about compressors,noise,whathave-you......might as well plan in some form of moisture control plumbing.....which in my pea brain is priority #1.Having a proffesional inclosure is all fine and good.But the more heat you can "dump" the better.Building a cabmet is sort of shooting yourself in the foot?Not that it can't or shouldn't be done.......just really look into getting rid of the heat,not trapping it in.Best of luck,BW

Inlet filters will be a trick. The compressor I have was not designed with such in mind (at least, nothing more than a small block of foam wedged into the compressor head). I have thought about building some kind of adapter that bolts onto the head covering the intake port. You're right, I'm sure that'll help. Maybe I should try that before going further.

 

[Cheeky81]

I've put two of these on the intake on mine and it got the noise down pretty well.

 

[zruvalcaba]

I've put two of these on the intake on mine and it got the noise down pretty well.

What are "those"? Do you have a link? I'm also looking to reduce noise on my compressor.

 

[Cheeky81]

They are pneumatic silencers.

Normally they are used to reduce noise generated by the release of exhaust air from a valve port, but they also work the other way.

And since the inside is made from some kind hard foam material, it also acts as a filter.

They are designed for flow from inside to outside; that's why there is a cage on the outside. With the opposite flow if there would be too much of under pressure and theoretically the foam like material could break and be sucked into the intake of the compressor. That's why I'm using two to reduce the under pressure the compressors intake creates.

 

[chillrich]

Would these make direct drive compressor noticeably quieter too?

 

[KCarGuy]

I Have a 60 Gallon CH Compressor that is not that loud...but Quieter is always Nicer.
So I bought a few 1" Black Iron Fittings and added about 13"-14" of Pipe to each inlet, then screwed the Filters back on.

WOW...what a difference that made!
Really took some of the noise away.
Its really loud without the filters, OK with them in place, and Nice with extended intakes.
I am seriously thinking of setting it up so it gets outside air.

Now...Oil Less Compressors are another story all together.

Here is a (dark photo) of before and after...

 

[Jawn]

I Have a 60 Gallon CH Compressor that is not that loud...but Quieter is always Nicer.
So I bought a few 1" Black Iron Fittings and added about 13"-14" of Pipe to each inlet, then screwed the Filters back on.

WOW...what a difference that made!
Really took some of the noise away.
Its really loud without the filters, OK with them in place, and Nice with extended intakes.
I am seriously thinking of setting it up so it gets outside air.

Now...Oil Less Compressors are another story all together.

Here is a (dark photo) of before and after...

I think you've convinced me, I need to come up with a way to seal off the intake to a pipe fitting and put such a intake muffler / filter on it.

 

[E.rodz]

here is a sound incloser for my 80 gal 5 hp compressor super loud and obnoxious moved the intake to the otherside of the wall. put two fans on to the top to **** out the hot air they are controlled by a themastatic 110 controller.the inside is covered with egg carton foam.after the encloser was finished the noise was about a tenth. BUT it was loud on the other side of the wall so I used two glass pack mufflers and put a air filter on the end and holy @#$# what a difference.

 

[Jawn]

That is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Twiggss]

I Have a 60 Gallon CH Compressor that is not that loud...but Quieter is always Nicer.
So I bought a few 1" Black Iron Fittings and added about 13"-14" of Pipe to each inlet, then screwed the Filters back on.

WOW...what a difference that made!
Really took some of the noise away.
Its really loud without the filters, OK with them in place, and Nice with extended intakes.
I am seriously thinking of setting it up so it gets outside air.

Now...Oil Less Compressors are another story all together.

Here is a (dark photo) of before and after...

pretty neat

here is a sound incloser for my 80 gal 5 hp compressor super loud and obnoxious moved the intake to the otherside of the wall. put two fans on to the top to **** out the hot air they are controlled by a themastatic 110 controller.the inside is covered with egg carton foam.after the encloser was finished the noise was about a tenth. BUT it was loud on the other side of the wall so I used two glass pack mufflers and put a air filter on the end and holy @#$# what a difference.

at the glasspacks..that is awesome.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That's awesome in so many ways.

 

[Hammer1963]

I Have a 60 Gallon CH Compressor that is not that loud...but Quieter is always Nicer.
So I bought a few 1" Black Iron Fittings and added about 13"-14" of Pipe to each inlet, then screwed the Filters back on.

WOW...what a difference that made!
Really took some of the noise away.
Its really loud without the filters, OK with them in place, and Nice with extended intakes.
I am seriously thinking of setting it up so it gets outside air.

Now...Oil Less Compressors are another story all together.

Here is a (dark photo) of before and after...

Definitely giving this a try. I wonder if running both pipes into one larger filter would decrease the noise. I may go that route and see what happens

 

[KCarGuy]

I was thinking of doing just that.
Run 2 into 1 and connect that up to a Chrome 11" air cleaner that I have laying around.
But, I do like those glass packs and intake filter!!!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Does all this piping make the motor strain to breathe, hereby ultimately shortening its life in any significant way? Those glass packs ARE a cool looking fix. Stupid question coming: The glass packs are on the intake or the exhaust? I assume the exhaust except if so what is the purpose of the cone filter on there?

Edit: NEVERMIND! if course its the intake, it HA to be cause the "exhaust" is the compressed air, duh! Sometimes I open my mouth and put BOTH feet in it! But again, on the intake wouldn't TWO glass packs full of glass material act as filters so the cone filter should be unnecesary? Or shouldn't the cone filter be between the mufflers and the intake to keep out tiny bits of glassfiber out?

 

[Jawn]

IIRC, glasspacks are just an open perforated tube with fiberglass packing around the outside of that tube. IE, you can see right through 'em. They'd muffle the sound, but would in no way act as a filter.

 

[Vernmotor]

here is a link to more pics of the build
http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff92/vernmotor/compressor shed/

 

[Jawn]

Vernmotor - very nice. I suspect that enclosure makes a huge difference.

 

[bd8134]

Mine is a bit more basic. A few holes cut in the back for intake and exhaust. Putting the compressor in the cabinet makes it a lot quieter.

 

[romafern]

here is a sound incloser for my 80 gal 5 hp compressor super loud and obnoxious moved the intake to the otherside of the wall. put two fans on to the top to **** out the hot air they are controlled by a themastatic 110 controller.the inside is covered with egg carton foam.after the encloser was finished the noise was about a tenth. BUT it was loud on the other side of the wall so I used two glass pack mufflers and put a air filter on the end and holy @#$# what a difference.

Respect! Nice. Just a question, adding those mufflers, does it mess up the compressor in any way? Long term? Thanks!

 

[ert01]

I would be concerned with glass fibre getting into my compressor head... A glasspack is made for exhaust so when it starts deteriorating, there was no concern about the fibre in the design since it would just get blown out the tailpipe. When using it as an intake I could see some negative effects over the longterm. It would probably work better if the filter was after the glasspacks rather then before.

But that is purely speculation... The OP would be the best one to comment on longevity.

 

[Richard D]

Does all this piping make the motor strain to breathe, hereby ultimately shortening its life in any significant way?

I'm wondering the same thing. How far away can you place the filter, 20'+?

 

[TxPowderCoater]

^^^stick yer' shand and spamming up yer ****.
and Rodz, your cabinet is pimp, does it draw cool air from the floor to help keep the compressor cool or what do the fans pull on?
I would think the glasspacks would last damn near forever without the normal wear and tear of an engine and exhaust gas temp waaay up and then cooling over and over etc etc. Its just clean cool airflow, cant see them deteriorating anytime soon, but thats my opinion, meh.

 

[Double-Trouble]

I built an enclosure to match my steel building.

 

[Nick DL]

I built an enclosure to match my steel building.

That's cool, it blends in really well.

 

[Nick DL]

here is a sound incloser for my 80 gal 5 hp compressor super loud and obnoxious moved the intake to the otherside of the wall. put two fans on to the top to **** out the hot air they are controlled by a themastatic 110 controller.the inside is covered with egg carton foam.after the encloser was finished the noise was about a tenth. BUT it was loud on the other side of the wall so I used two glass pack mufflers and put a air filter on the end and holy @#$# what a difference.

That is one incredible enclosure! Awesome work you did there. It looks like it has hinges? Does it open up like a door so that you can access it?

 

[E.rodz]

sorry I have has some computer problems and just trying to get caught up.just to answer some ???
the air compressor fans pull air from the bottom via soffit vents and a 1" gap at the bottom there is also a foam filter between the beam and the wall.for air to come into.
the glass packs are to suppress the the intake noise if the filter is placed after the mufflers they would be useless the sound would come out the filters.
I don't think the glass packs will deteriorate because they are not getting hot and having gas pouring into them. I hope this helps everyone and don't be afraid to try something that has not been tried before for fear of failing.