Rolling Box/Enclosure for Pancake Air Compressor

[JoeyGee]

Has anyone built a rolling box for their pancake air compressor? I would like to build an enclosed box to cut down on the noise, but I don't know how to work it so air can get in. Obviously, if air can get IN, air and sound can get out.

Maybe I'll build an open frame and just use bafflers of some kind. Any ideas?

[radhak]

Others have done and documented such a box, here and here.

Looks like the bigger concern is temperature inside the box. The sound would reduce by a lot even with a not-so-air-tight box.

(Thanks for this post and the discussion - I was thinking of a box myself, but never thought of the temperature, nor the air ).

[LarryG]

Fine Woodworking's special Tools & Shops Annual issue, which as this is written should still be available on newsstands (the cover says "Display until March 31, 2008"), includes an article for a similar problem.

The article's author built a rolling enclosure for his shop vac, but the concept would work just as well for a pancake compressor. Basically it consists of a 3/4" MDF box, lined with 1" thick acoustical padding. MDF was chosen because its mass helps deaden sound. The shop vac sits on a combination baffle and shelf that stops short of the enclosure's hinged door at the front side of the cabinet, to allow airflow to an exhaust port at the rear, under the baffle/shelf. The compartment under the shelf is also lined with acoustical padding, although the top side of the shelf on which the vac sits is not. Overall dimensions of the author's unit are about 24" square by 30" high, plus the height of the casters. Obviously, these would need to be adjusted to suit one's own needs.

The author had a sound engineer run some tests, and the results are impressive. The vac (a 5HP Ridgid) sitting outside the box measured 83db, which the article says is on the threshold of requiring hearing protection. Inside the box, the noise level dropped to 58db. For comparison, normal conversation is 60db.

[LarryG]

A short video demonstrating the remarkable effectiveness of the above enclosure can be found here.

(Note: I think that link will eventually go dead, as FWW moves their "Online Extra" content from the free area to their subscriber-only area.)

[footprintsinconc]

Joe thanks for bring up the thread! this is very important, as it promotes steps we should take to safe guard our hearing. i personally didnt even think of this.

thanks both radhak and larry for the sites that give us great solutions. i particularly liked the shop vac idea from fww.

[radhak]

re the box from FWW, I am guessing it'd get pretty hot inside there. A fan to dissipate that heat might be imperative.