Home Built Air Compressor Intake Silencer

[@Katya5cat]

Where I used to work we had a giant Quincy AC in my shop. It was so loud that you had to stop any conversat0ion while it was pumping. I took a large truck muffler and associated elbos and such to tame the beast. I even piped the unloader vale to dump into my system. I never got approval but the boss was really happy with it. Back then it was all of a $100.

[@jimandjulieneeb8529]

I thought about a real muffler too, but that was a bit of overkill for mine 🙂 I did have to fix the unloader valve too, but mine just has a port with no way to hook a hose to it, so I just zip tied a wad of Tshirt over the hole and that did it. I still have a lot of noise just from the compressor, but not much I can do about that (at least not anything I'm willing to do).

[@slashsplat]

Great idea. I would secure the hanging pipe as the vibration will have its way with it over time. Also would open up the holes in the stock muffler, as the more air flow, the better. You introduced restriction with the pail and insulation, so a bigger opening in the muffler would offset that.

[@jimandjulieneeb8529]

Yep, I've been meaning to go back and drill some more holes in the stock silencer. The intake port on that is actually a little smaller than the 3/4" pipe I think.

[@ChandlerTC]

A nice simple improvement. Makes sense. I wonder how much more you could reduce the compressor noise overall without jeopardizing the heat transfer needed off the compressor and motor? What if you added fiberglass batting type material loosely in a cylindrical shape around the tank and compressor?

[@jimandjulieneeb8529]

The compressor needs a lot of air, so you couldn't just wrap it or it would definitely overheat. The best overall solution is to box it in with a wall of its own (with fiberglass insulation as you mentioned), or put it in a back room. A lot of people put them in a tiny little room on the outside of the garage or shop as well. Unfortunately I don't have enough ambition for any of those options 🙂

[@DrFiero]

That coupler is called a 'union'. The intake noise on mine is really annoying as well. I was thinking of running a pipe through my shop wall, and just pulling (still filtered) air from the outside! When I've been painting, I notice some of it getting pulled into the filter even though the compressor is in a different room, so it could be a double win.

[@jimandjulieneeb8529]

Ya, I know its a union. 🙂 I thought about putting the intake on the outside of the wall too, but thats the front of my house. The other choice could have been up in the ceiling trusses. It would be cleaner air up there too. But then I would have had the air filter up there, which isn't convenint either because I have tall ceilings.