3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
professor95 wrote: EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here. In...
Forum Discussion
Just some general comments and observations on the overall issue of sound abatement:
Last week I was in Virginia Beach at the East Coast Heavy Duty Truck Rally . The jets flying over the camp ground Thursday as they left the local military base were unbelievably loud. Of course, they were so low that it was possible to actually read any markings on the planes. When a jet flew over, conversation was impossible due to the noise. The patio TV was useless, even at full volume, since no one could hear to follow the program dialog.
So, what did we do?
Step one was to go inside. The box (trailer) immediately reduced the noise level.
Step two was to close the door to the camper rather than leave the screen only open. That helped even more.
Still the jets were extremely noisy -- just not as bad.
I turned on the air conditioner. While it added noise, it also "drowned" out some of the jet noise. It is possible to fight fire with fire -- or noise with yet another noise. The sound waves can cancel rather than combine. One of my early experiments used this principle. Put a large boom box speaker in the side of an enclosure. It worked, to some extent, to change the drone of the engine on the outside.
Finally, I quit and went to bed, placing a pillow over my head and ears. Now the noise was acceptable and I went to sleep.
OK -- here is the point. Sound abatement is nothing new to any of us. We do it all the time, often without even thinking. If you just stop long enough to assess what is happening when you turn a corner, close a door or even change direction you have 80% of the sound abatement problem with generators figured out.
The other 20% is maintaining air flow to remove excess heat. Again, not rocket science. Somehow we all manage to breathe when we change direction or location to reduce noise. The same principle applies -- sound waves do not always follow air flow. Simply placing a camping generator in the bed of a truck, behind a bush or under a picnic table partially draped with a heavy blanket can do wonders for noise levels.
I also begin thinking about my big Volvo with a 12L Diesel engine knocking away at our feet while rolling down the highway at 60 mph. Inside it is much, much quieter than my GMC dually. I can listen to the radio or carry on a conversation with my wife. What is the difference? Two words - insulation and isolation! The truck cab is massively insulated. Additionally, the use of rubber isolation mounts is extensive, leaving no pathway for sound transmission via vibrations of surrounding steel.
Lastly, the simplest, least expensive and most effective method of sound abatement is to carry a box of foam ear plugs and pass them out to everyone close by -- just as I did when we had a hormone driven, mood altering and screaming teenage daughter at home.
It works!
Last week I was in Virginia Beach at the East Coast Heavy Duty Truck Rally . The jets flying over the camp ground Thursday as they left the local military base were unbelievably loud. Of course, they were so low that it was possible to actually read any markings on the planes. When a jet flew over, conversation was impossible due to the noise. The patio TV was useless, even at full volume, since no one could hear to follow the program dialog.
So, what did we do?
Step one was to go inside. The box (trailer) immediately reduced the noise level.
Step two was to close the door to the camper rather than leave the screen only open. That helped even more.
Still the jets were extremely noisy -- just not as bad.
I turned on the air conditioner. While it added noise, it also "drowned" out some of the jet noise. It is possible to fight fire with fire -- or noise with yet another noise. The sound waves can cancel rather than combine. One of my early experiments used this principle. Put a large boom box speaker in the side of an enclosure. It worked, to some extent, to change the drone of the engine on the outside.
Finally, I quit and went to bed, placing a pillow over my head and ears. Now the noise was acceptable and I went to sleep.
OK -- here is the point. Sound abatement is nothing new to any of us. We do it all the time, often without even thinking. If you just stop long enough to assess what is happening when you turn a corner, close a door or even change direction you have 80% of the sound abatement problem with generators figured out.
The other 20% is maintaining air flow to remove excess heat. Again, not rocket science. Somehow we all manage to breathe when we change direction or location to reduce noise. The same principle applies -- sound waves do not always follow air flow. Simply placing a camping generator in the bed of a truck, behind a bush or under a picnic table partially draped with a heavy blanket can do wonders for noise levels.
I also begin thinking about my big Volvo with a 12L Diesel engine knocking away at our feet while rolling down the highway at 60 mph. Inside it is much, much quieter than my GMC dually. I can listen to the radio or carry on a conversation with my wife. What is the difference? Two words - insulation and isolation! The truck cab is massively insulated. Additionally, the use of rubber isolation mounts is extensive, leaving no pathway for sound transmission via vibrations of surrounding steel.
Lastly, the simplest, least expensive and most effective method of sound abatement is to carry a box of foam ear plugs and pass them out to everyone close by -- just as I did when we had a hormone driven, mood altering and screaming teenage daughter at home.
It works!
