Noise suppression on gas gennies

[Ratch]

Hi all,

I have a MEP-017, 5kw gasoline-powered generator I want to bring up to my dad on Long Island (I'm in PA). Problem right now is that people are stealing generators and gasoline all over the place.

So I want to make this noisy gas unit quieter. If we can't hide it, at least make it blend in a little better with the hum of the little Briggs and Stratton's running all over his neighborhood.

Originally, I wanted the gas units because I thought they'd be quieter than the diesels, but holy crap was I wrong... The 017 is way louder than my 002. It's just as loud from 40 feet away as the 002 from 10 feet away.

So aside from putting it indoors with exhaust ducted out, anyone have any thoughts on this? I searched, couldn't find anything on quieting down the gas gennies.

I haven't tried a simple muffler yet, but I'm doubtful that will be enough. The gen head whine is like a fire engine siren. I'd read about that, but didn't understand it til I ran the machine.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Distance and in lieu of that, sand bag revetment. There are directions on making one in the TM but basically building walls with sandbags is what the military did. Some had access hallways and all. Considering the flooding, there may be an abundance of sandbags now that the water has dropped.

 

[doghead]

Fuel consumption for the gas unit is about 4 times what the diesel is. I'd loan him your mep-002a. It's heavy enough that most would not be able to steal it.

Stealing generators in a storm area. What a bunch of animals. Makes me want to assist them(not).

After the storm, see if you can get them to move.

 

[elevenbee]

Ditto on doghead's recommendations--too bad you can't loan him a shotgun along with the 002. I also suggest a length of the heaviest chain you can find along with the thickest shackle lock you can find.

 

[Ratch]

Ah, that really sucks... I was hoping someone had already experimented with blankets, wood, or something Id' never think of (like sandbags, don't know why I didn't see it in the TM). I guess for temporary use, I can do sandbags. They had actually run out in the box stores up there, but my local stores had several pallets on hand last week.

Yeah, pretty classy the way the criminal element has moved in already. People posing as utility workers are entering homes and robbing them blind, bastards are punching holes in car fuel tanks to steal gasoline if they have locking caps. Some people were having the fuel stolen out of their generator tanks if the generators were chained down and unable to be stolen. I heard evac'd houses in flood areas were being looted, too.
Not that it's like that everywhere. Direct stories I've heard are all pretty good, these wild-west things are what I hear from those people about their friends and from emergency workers I'm connected to. Some of it has made news, too.

I can't talk him out of moving... He loves my part of PA, but can't talk him into it. I have a couple siblings up there with him on LI, and he has a ton of grandkids still up there (although for some reason, I still have to bring him a gennie from 170 miles away to keep him from freezing to death).
And it's NY... I think I'd be breaking a boatload of laws if I gave him a 12ga to sit on the porch with...

Thanks for the sandbag info, any more ideas, keep 'em coming.

 

[Ratch]

BTW, 002 was my first offer to loan him, for some reason he's adamant against me bringing up a diesel. He's even got 2 55 gal barrels of emergency home heating oil I can drop the line in, totally against it, though.

 

[RetiredNavy]

After a couple of looters being shot, the word will spread about theft. Do it at your own risk.

 

[G-Force]

Shooting looters is politically incorrect....especially if you get caught.

 

[Carl_in_NH]

As an owner of an MEP-017A I'd think he'd be better off with almost any other type of generator. They really drink down fuel, and in an area where there's no fuel to be had it seems like a very unlikely choice. They are heavy enough so people don't tend to steal them, however. If he's really against having the diesel (which I can't figure, since they use home heating oil and are easier to live with for noise), then perhaps you could help him best by finding a bigbox store genset that will be better on fuel and bringing him that. Resupply of a 017 in that area is going to be a problem.

 

[doghead]

Another way to look at it, $2/hour for the mep-002a or, $8/hour for the mep-017.

That's 12 gals of diesel/day, or 48 gals of gasoline/day.

If fuel is difficult to aquire...



A new modern genset would probably burn about 1 gal/hour. This is a very generalized rating.

 

[Beerslayer]

Quieting Generator Exhaust

I don't remember who posted it in the now MIA bugout thread, but this was brilliant:

Extend the generator exhaust down into a 55 gallon drum of water. Drill lots of holes along the entire length of the pipe that is in the water. Usual common sense precautions apply.

Other ideas:

As for the engine noise, an enclosure like the sand bags mentioned, or any enclosure with some sound dampening material [Google search alternatives for that].

Noise wants to travel in straight line, so deflect it up.

Best security is to have it in well ventilated and sound proofed locked building, but you do have to allow for exhaust, cooling, and combustion air.

 

[Ratch]

TM says 1.4 gallons per hour at full load if I remember right. The 018 is listed as 2.4 gallons per hour. I have an 018 I traded a member here for also, but I'm not bringing that up to him for that very reason (fuel consumption).

I've never run the unit more than 15 minutes, so I don't actually know. I still have to mod it to bring out the neutral, or put some kind of breakout box on it for extension cords.


He would be using it just for a few hours a day at most to run his boiler and fridge. I'm going to bring probably about 20-30 gallons of gas with me. If he keeps it to 1 can a day, he should get by long enough (assuming fuel stations come back or he gets power back). In any event, with the fuel I bring him, it should buy him enough time to stand in line for his fuel ration to refill...

 

[Ratch]

I like the 55 gallon drum of water idea. That's the easiest thing to do right now.

 

[doghead]

And if they need a drink, they'll have 50 gals of warm water...

 

[phil2968]

...
So aside from putting it indoors with exhaust ducted out,...

I know you won't but even putting it in writing makes me cringe a little. It should not even be listed has an option. That is a sure way to wake up dead.
Just sayin'.

 

[edgephoto]

I have a Generac GP7500E that I bought last September. I used it when we lost power during the October snow storm last year. I put 80 hours on it. I burned about 1/2 gallon per hour , actually a bit less. 14 hrs running on 6 gallons of fuel. I was running a 1700 sq ft house with lights, 2 desktop computers, an xbox, TV, refrigerator, electric hot water heater, toaster, microwave, coffee pot and of course my wife's hair dryer.

 

[emr]

I have a plywood shed , small just 4 walls and a top for my job compressors, and just that kicks down the noise, of course a few moving blankets over the top will do more,

 

[Ratch]

I know you won't but even putting it in writing makes me cringe a little. It should not even be listed has an option. That is a sure way to wake up dead.
Just sayin'.

The old man almost made me drive up in a snowstorm last night when he told my wife he was going to move his propane grill in the house for heat. I think he was just looking for a reaction, though.

He has a detached garage I am thinking about putting it in. Piping the exhaust out a window port should make the whole setup OK for whatever might escape into the enclosed space. And no one will actually spend any time in there without the large front door open. But I know exactly where you're coming from. It's bad enough that there are PSA's about it on every radio station now, a week after the storm.

The reason garage is not a slam-dunk obvious option is the current collection of junk occupying it and how bad he may have let the weeds grow up in front of it. That's not a light machine to drag through the brush on a moving dolly or a handtruck.

 

[derf]

If you're running it on concrete then maybe put some rubber isolation pads underneath. Plywood will probably be in short supply but if you can bring some up you might make a little 4' wall around it. Every little bit helps but you're starting with a screaming 3600 RPM banshee.
Behind the garage on some grassy Earth patch might be better. The garage might turn out to be an amplifier. A properly ventilated tent might work.

 

[pad_cdr]

Sandbags is what we always did with the gas genrators when I was on active duty. The problem with the sandbags. other than being a PITA, is that they would tend to make the generators overheat. We had some generators with walls of sandbags built all the way around, about one foot gap between the generator and the sandbag, and that still made them overheat.