Quieting Air Compressor: How to Make A Loud Air Compressor Quieter
Air compressors are machines that can come in handy in various situations, and every home should have one.
You can never know when you might need one.
Since they are so useful and it is always good to have one, a lot of companies developed on making air compressors.
And since there are so many of them, you can get them for fairly reasonable prices.
They can serve you well for long, but there is often one thing that they lack in, and that is the noise they produce.
It seems to me that the lower the price, the louder the compressor you will get. But also, I have to admit that we’ve come across quite a few quiet air compressors for sale – which in fact, aren’t that all quiet in reality.
I know that spending a fortune on air compressors is not a solution, but getting loud ones and having your eardrum pierced is not a solution either.
The best thing you can do is find out why are compressors so loud & how to soundproof your air compressor so you can use it anytime without having your eardrums pierced.
I have done a little research and if you are looking for a solution to make your air compressor quieter, I hope that I can help you learn how simple it is to soundproof an air compressor.
There are some easy solutions to your problem, and you will be able to forget that you even have an air compressor in no time.
But, before we start with the solutions, let’s give a quick look at air compressors and what makes them noisy.
How Loud Air Compressors Are
If you want to know how loud your air compressors really are, you can always use one of these decibel meters.
Decibels are measures of sound that can be heard by a human ear, and this meters would count how loud exactly some sources of sounds are.
To be able to fully understand decibels completely, here is a nice illustration that can show you some basic frames of noise that certain things can produce.
If we apply the knowledge from this chart, we can say that an air compressor that makes a sound as loud as 80 dB or louder, is a noisy one.
And if it produces a sound that is lower than 75 dB we may consider it a quiet one.
Most of the compressors would range somewhere between 70 dB and 90 dB, but if they are not specially designed to be quiet, the noise they make will more likely be around 80-85 dB; which is not that quiet, to begin with.
Of course, it is not necessary to use a decibel meter, but if you want to know what kind of progress you made with your sound insulation, why not!
This might help you later on to check on the progress of your noise reduction, so if you have a bit of extra time – I highly recommend checking out the noise level of your air compressor.
Why Are Air Compressors Noisy?
There are a lot of factors for your air compressor being so loud, but some of the most common ones are vibrations, exhaust noises, and intake noises.
If they all happened to occur at the same time, it is surely not so good for your ears, and your peace and quiet.
And if your air compressor is making a louse noise (that might become unbearable after some time) – down below, you’ll find out what it might causing all the noise.
Here I have listed a few main things that make your air compressor loud:
How to Make an Air Compressor Quieter
What You'll Be Needing:
Now that you know a bit about the structure of air compressors and what makes them loud as they are, we will give a look at a few do-it-yourself methods for making them quieter.
If it is not a compressor that is specifically designed to be quiet, there are not much of products that can help you, but there surely are some methods that can be used.
What you can do to make it quieter is:
1. Installing Rubber on the Air Compressor’s Motor
It is well-known that rubber is a very good sound insulator, so it is good in the process of making your air compressor quieter as well.
Thick rubber is an amazing sound absorbent and sound dampener, so when it comes to the impact noise and the shock coming from it, rubber is more than excellent.
In other words, it absorbs the energy from the impact and doesn’t let it make an echo.
The best way to reduce the noise coming from your air compressor is to install rubber grommets on the motor itself.
In this way, the vibration from a working motor will be absorbed into the rubber, and the noise spreading from it will be lower.
However, not any rubber will have the same effect.
There is a nice and useful rubber grommet set (this!) that you can purchase and it comes with a lot of different sizes of grommets, so you can choose the right one for your compressor.
Nevertheless, you will be able to use the rest on something else; since I believe that you are a handyman (or a woman).
I highly recommend you try this out, because, even though it’s just the first step – it might drastically reduce the noise coming from your air compressor.
If you decide to try this method, here is a video guide on how to install rubber grommets:
2. Extend the Air Intake to the Outside
This method would mean that you should take the intake component on your compressor somewhere outside of closed spaces.
In most of the cases, your air compressor would be placed somewhere in your garage, basement, or garden shed, and the same stands for its intake part.
Since I already mentioned that this is the one making the most of the noise, it is very common that it would be so loud anywhere near it.
The best way would be to place the intake outside so that the compressor sucks air from an open space, and not a closed room in which it would become so loud.
Just like the car, the shorter and straighter exhaust is – the louder the car will be. But if your car can run a lot quieter than your air compressor – start by gathering equipment before taking action!
Everything that you will need for this project is:
- A rubber hose;
- A bracket.
What you will have to do here is push the hose into the compressor’s intake very tightly, and fasten it with a bracket to keep it in place.
Now, you just have to take that hose somewhere outside, and fix it to stay there. You might need to make a hole, or you can use an existing hole if there is any.
Furthermore, you can use some of the rubber grommets from the set that you have left to secure the hose even more, and bring the amount of noise down to another level.
3. Put a Muffler on the Intake
This is a method for which you will need two heavy duty air hoses and a muffler like this.
You should connect the one end of an air hose to the intake and the other one to the muffler, and it back to another one of these hoses.
I know that not everyone has a spare muffler lying around, but it is surely an investment to make.
This method can help you reduce the sound of your air compressor to up to 4 dB.
And here is a video to demonstrate you this technique:
4. Buying a Quieter Air Compressor
Another thing that is always an option is purchasing a new and quieter air compressor.
If you are not that willing to undergo these do-it-yourself projects and are on a budget, you can simply give a look at some of the specially designed air compressors that are supposed to be quiet.
For example, here is an air compressor that makes make noise less than 60 dB; 56 dB to be precise!
Now isn’t that something to look for in a compressor? And, it is not that expensive either!
So, if you have a few spare bucks, I would definitely recommend one of the specially designed air compressors. Click here for our list of the quietest air compressors in the market.
On Quieting Air Compressor
It is certain that air compressors can be very loud, but luckily there is always a way to fix it – or at least minimize the noise compressor makes so you can even communicate with another person when you’re near the compressor.
Not everyone has an unlimited budget, and If you are not ready for getting a new one, then some of these simple methods can help you reduce the noise.
Of course, it is impossible to not hear it at all, but bringing it down for a few dB can surely make an important change.
You might also like: How to Make a Generator Quieter for Camping and Home
How to Make A Loud Air Compressor Quieter
Here is the best guide on how to make a loud air compressor quieter and everything you need to know about the noises and quieting air compressor.
Instructions
- Installing Rubber on the Air Compressor’s Motor
- Extend the Air Intake to the Outside
- Put a Muffler on the Intake
- Buying a Quieter Air Compressor