"Take-apart-able" portable generator box -- suggestions?

Problem is if you want to run the generator under it...you have conflicting desires of getting it good airflow and sound deadening.

If you just want a cover, we have a fixed one out of 1/2 inch plywood (sealed with epoxy) that takes up no extra space, is light and a simple solution...but you can't run the generator.

Anything you can run the generator under needs waterproofing and good airflow both for engine intake and cooling. Piecing something together is likely going to blow your sound deadening idea.

Here's an idea, Utube.
Lots of videos on generator sound damping.

lawrosa, that tent gives me another idea -- there must be flexible sound deadening fabric. Now imagine putting up a simple frame and tossing a big sound blanket over the frame. Assuming we can figure out the intake and exhaust issues, that would be a lot easier than assembling hard-sided panels.

Keep the ideas coming!

Sorry, that GenTent is a joke - effective for keeping rain off but noise deadening of any measure? :S As one who has built a really effective genset noise reduction system your request IMO just isn't practical. A well designed box absorbs some of the noise, blocks some of it, draws intake air in preferably with fan assist, exhausts both hot cooling air and hot exhaust gases out through multi chamber ports, AND while doing all this further reduces noise transmission by having all joints tightly sealed. It's a tall order and one that most of those so-called "genset noise reduction boxes" on YouTube don't come anywhere near close to meeting. Merely surrounding a running genset with a few panels will offer even worse results ... better than nothing at all for sure but nowhere near close to being truly effective.

profdant139 wrote:
lawrosa, that tent gives me another idea -- there must be flexible sound deadening fabric. Now imagine putting up a simple frame and tossing a big sound blanket over the frame. Assuming we can figure out the intake and exhaust issues, that would be a lot easier than assembling hard-sided panels.

Sound deadening relies on stiffness and mass, generally speaking; you need a material that will not transmit the sound waves (energy) from one side to the other. Fabrics and foam and such can absorb sound, but it takes a lot more than a single layer of fabric to do too much in that regard (and the effectiveness is greater if there's a stiff backing associated with it).

As to the general idea of a break-down quiet box for a generator, it certainly seems that should be practicable to construct. I'm not sure you'd save a whole lot of storage space, though, since with a non-knock-down version one would presumably store the generator inside the box for transport and so the wasted space would just be the extra space around the generator (and that presumably could be used to store things like an extension cord). I rather doubt the broken-down box and generator combined would take up much less space in total, though it would be configured differently.

It would be easier to buy quiet generator.
The Supergenproducts tent above drops the sound 9 whole decibels. Hardly worth the time to put it on.

If it's really that high, 9db is pretty impressive on the log scale

As already stated, getting the heat OUT is a huge problem !

If I was going to attemt a project like this I would start with 1" aluminum foil faced polyiso foam. The corners can be large finger joints. Even with aluminum foil, you need a metal heat deflector spaced about 2"-3" off of the side where the exhaust exits and at least 8"-12" away from the muffler..

Heat and noise want to go up. If you make you box tall (5-6') you may not have to put a lid on it at all ! If that is impractical, mount a shorter box on 6"-12" feet on the four corners and mount a large fan on the lid blowing DOWN.