Hi,

This didn't get moved, but I'll bring it up again.

No one likes noise at an event, and generators have been a hot topic. I'm calling all RVers with experience to share any and all ideas on how to quiet down a generator



Ric

Rick

One posible solution it to not allow small gensets at all .

instead offer power for the rv's at the event by renting a big genset super quite

one 1400 amp genset should be enuff for 50 to 90 campers @ 15 amps

genset rentals should run around $1605 + Fuel $600 figure $2205

if you guys charge 45 bucks for the entire event , (thats $11.25 day )for power @ 50 campers = $2250 , you would easily cover the cost of fuel & rental

and that genset rental should include all the construction j boxes you would need to hook it all up.

i am also sure that if you shop around on rentals you will be able to find a better deal .

http://www.sunbeltrentals.com/Equipm...410&catid=s394






Tim

Ric,

When it comes to gens that in a RV, they are typically tucked inside the RV up underneith in a compartment with some noise and vibration damping. The smaller portable gens are normally mounted to a hard frame that will resonate, plus the motors are typically gas, which are louder than a diesel gen motor. Tim has a good point with the single large gen. The way that they did it at the Arizonia Electric Fest ,the past five years, was to rent a single large diesel genset and locate it in a block wall enclosure, and not allow the portable gens to be used. This made it a lot quieter and allowed everyone to charge in the pits.

John

Our little Class B "motorhome" has an Onan generator that is noisey to the point that we don't use it when in public areas. This year we are purchasing a solar unit from Harbor Freight to provide the power necessary for charging batteries and other needs. This idea was outlined in a recent Model Aviation magazine.

RonJ & The Cheese Lady

I know Jeff looked into a big gen a couple of years ago. How would we hook up everyone, if we have RV's 1800 feet apart? One end of the line to the other. I think this would work if all RV's were in "one" RV area. Also, we're talking about generators on the flight line. We need to keep them quiet too. We're not a campground, but just trying to make it a great experience for all.




Ric


Ric

Last year I had a 40 foot RV with a diesel generator. It was extremely quiet, but the fumes ran off a guy and his family that had parked next to us before they even spent a few hours there. It just so happened that was the only time at the event the wind was blowing their direction or not blowing pretty hard in any direction because they moved from what I considered to be a pretty good spot. My bud Mike from Virginia beach moved into that spot with his RV that had a smaller ..built in Gas powered generator. before he fired it up, he attached a 6 or 7 foot pipe to the exhaust and this pipe clamped on to the side of his RV going upwards towards the roof. I don't know if it was the length or the fact that the exhaust was now higher than our ears, but it was Uber Quiet compared to any other gassers that I heard at the event.. as far as I know it did'nt create any backpressure problems because he used it a pretty good bit.

Bo

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...t-system/14041

The Camping World set up looks a little spendy to me as the pipe is not metal. A $10 piece of hardware store PVC might work just as well ???

Years ago I visited the Capitol Recording studio in LA and the walls were covered with what looked like egg cartons. Talked to one of the sound engineers and he said it produced a dead sound effect that is important in recording. Thought about building a box of egg cartons to try it out.

RonJ

Dig a hole in the ground and put the generator in it. Use the ground as a sound dampener.

Originally Posted by Carlyle Harper

Dig a hole in the ground and put the generator in it. Use the ground as a sound dampener.

I don't think Mac would go for that one!

The pipe stack version shown is a thinwall composite, The trick to these is that a right angle muffler pipe is thumb screwed over gen exhaust pipe and in combination with a venturi cone adapter that gets a piece of 2" PVC DWG rated pipe.

The venturi seperation is what drafts outside air mixing with exhaust gas and cools it.

I've seen many home brew version and they all work perfectly and can be fabricated under $20, a tack weld or bolts assemble the bits together....

Originally Posted by c/f

The pipe stack version shown is a thinwall composite, The trick to these is that a right angle muffler pipe is thumb screwed over gen exhaust pipe and in combination with a venturi cone adapter that gets a piece of 2" PVC DWG rated pipe.

The venturi seperation is what drafts outside air mixing with exhaust gas and cools it.

I've seen many home brew version and they all work perfectly and can be fabricated under $20, a tack weld or bolts assemble the bits together....

You fabricate them and I'll buy one from you for $30. You'll make $10, and if 99 more RV'ers buy them you'll have an extra $1000 to spend at SEFF. Generator noise problem solved!

All generators are not equal in the annoyance factor. The little Hondas are so quiet that you almost have to put your ear up to them to see if they are running (53DB advertised).
The bid diesels are rather quiet but the smell is very offensive and their owners should take this into consideration.

I have no objection to running generators for the purpose of charging our flight packs, I however do not think generators should be operated to run non flight related items.
As stated before, this is a Fly-In, not a campground. There should be a separate area for those that feel it is necessary to run their generators all the time for non flight related purposes.

RonJ

SEFF officials provide a 24hr charging station to charge flight packs, so generators are not NEEDED for that. But you do need generators to keep a heater fan on, an AC running, a TV plugged in (for the kids at night) and your rv battery charged. Everyone keep saying it's not a campground, which is true in a sense, that is why we need generators. Because if it was a offical, esstablished campground we'd have a water, sewer, and power source (although I believe there is a few spots there with such). However, it technically is a campground, because it is ground dedicated for a specific time to camping (whether via RV, tent, car, etc). Just that it's a temporary, primitive camp site.

Plus, I believe they are going to have a seperate area for those running generators all the time. That's were I'll be, just in case I want to.

I applaud the efforts to please everyone.

The fact is that RV friendly events will have a few folks that *have* to run their generators continuously, like the full-timers I met 2 years ago that had a pet bird.

We've also used our a/c, or just the fan, to provide some 'white noise' to block out some of the late-night or early-morning celebrations at some events, so we could sleep

By having an area separate, without generators, there should not be any problems. They have at least provided the designation on the registration. I assume that's part of the plan.

I've seen many home brew version and they all work perfectly and can be fabricated under $20, a tack weld or bolts assemble the bits together....

I'll have to look up some idea for this, as I would like to do just that.