Part 5 of 5 - Building the sound proof enclosure for my air compressor

DOES IT WORK?

It has been a fun and worthwhile exercise of making the soundproof enclosure as well as documenting it. When I first started on it, I found lots of information on the net, but all scattered everywhere. I hope that my blog will help others in making a similar enclosure, I know you will be pleased because it has really worked wonders.

No longer will I be frightened when the compressor motor kicks in. I did another sound test of the completed enclosure to see how the noise (or absence thereof) is like from outside my garage door. Compared to before, now I can hardly hear it, I have toreally strain to hear it. It is not by any means a silent compressor (like what they use in dental clinics), but it is now definitely a quieter one. In fact, my auto garage door closer is even louder than this so I am a happy camper.

Lessons Learned / Recommendations

1) Start with getting the quietest air compressor you can find. If you can get a silent air compressor, then you won't have to go through the trouble of building an enclosure. The only problem with them is typically they have low CFM ratings, and that means that I can only use only one air tool at a time or cannot use it for high CFM tasks such as spray painting, orbital sanding, etc.

2) I have read somewhere that cast iron pumps are quieter than their aluminum cousins. I cant really confirm this, so hopefully this is true and someone will confirm for me.

3) Some air compressors have larger motors and pumps and that allows it to rev at a lower rate. The lesser the RPM the quieter it is.

4) Get yourself an intake filter silencer, like the Allied Witan Atomuffler I used in this project. I would have been happy with just the silencer. But coupled with the enclosure, it really works wonders.

5) With the way I am using the compressor (where the motor kicks in maybe 4 times an hour), you may get by without the AC fan. In my setup, the fan has never really turned on as the thermostat doesn't reach the setpoint (~40degrees Centigrade). But if you are using the compressor heavily, like in spray painting, then the cooling fan is definitely needed.

6) All in all, the multi-pronged approach to soundproof the air compressor enclosure has been very successful.