Building a Generator Box for Quiet Off Grid Power
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2024
- In this video, I build an indoor, noise cancelling, insulated generator box inside the garage at my off grid cabin in the woods. After trying many different designs, I finally manage to build a box that will allow the generator to run without getting too hot, while simultaneously cancelling the noise produced from the generator, leading to a much more quiet and pleasurable off grid power experience.
Thanks for watching!
The Generator-Line Enclosure Exhaust System:
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I made a few more modifications to the box, here's that video:
ruclips.net/video/FU2TVn7QMYc/видео.html
I hate to be wet blanket but what about carbon monoxide it is not a good idea to put a generator that's producing carbon dioxide or use that heater inside a controlled area is known as carbon dioxide poisoning the carbon dioxide is nothing you can smell it just sneaks up on it all the sudden you're not on the ground and you can't figure out why you can't move and about 30 minutes or 40 minutes after that you did I just thought I'd throw that out to let you know what's going on if you want to build a water rain proof for walls of environment should do it outside is there any work just as well outside with a boxer and build something built on the side of your garage that's why you're supposed to use treated
Drill hole in the center of the hole from the interior wall and cut the hole from the outside of the structure.
Those manufacturers have to cover everything otherwise somebody will take him to court and say well you said this might be okay Honda so we did it and they sued them the same is happening with all medical devices that's why everything medical costs so much money it has to be run through the wringer otherwise the government will wrap it up in red tape. Good job though I would hire you to do work on my home.
@@johnsmccullough9431 Right except it's Carbon Monoxide (CO) that is the issue here, humans breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2) from our lungs -- and CO2 is not deadly except in high quantities. The Carbon Monoxide (CO) from a generator is deadly at very low concentrations in the air. And CO detectors have built in delays so do not notify in real time. Better to wear a real time CO personal monitor. Better yet, do as you suggested and get that deadly thing outside where you don't have to worry about explosive gasoline fumes either. Diesel might be less dangerous explosion-wise, but has even worse exhaust fumes.
You sound so smart calling the Water Heater a "Hot water heater". Why heat hot water?
a little tip for everyone trying to insulate and/or soundproof... lightweight (low mass) materials don't block sound transfer. they only insulate heat. if you want to block sound, you need to block vibrations, which is done by having mass. i would remove the foam and fill the walls with sand.
Could use rockwool
That is a fantastic idea. I’m going to use that. Ty
Hmm..that is interesting. Is that why I can't hear thru my bedroom walls with only air. Or I barely hear vehicles going by my house. Sound travels by air frequency vibration. Anything blocking that "blocks sound." I must have flunked physics .
Actually, the best sound barrier is alternating layers of air and mass (with minimal points of contact between the wafers). You are forcing the sound waves to transition between solid and air and solid and air.
It sounds very quiet as is, the only thing I would have done is put another layer of 5/8 drywall on the outside of the box.
Great video. Three things,
One, the reason why the door bounces open is not being air tight you have an open pipe going outdide. It is because your hinges are binding on the foam you added for sealing after you put the hinges on.
Two need a bigger inlet pipe. It will cool the box off as well as breathe better.
Three, there are exaust extensions for the generator. Would make better seal.
Oh, one more thing, to make it even quieter, put the tray on foam pipe insulation (pool noodles).
I only have a couple minutes here but first, GREAT video! Thank you for taking the time to describe & show us your methods & process. Here are a couple of suggestions..
1) Rather than having two 4" exits for air and only one, smaller 2" entrance, consider turning the fan around. Doing so would create a positive pressure in the sealed box. And, if you also seal off the 2" pipe, that would force all the incoming air out through the generator as exhaust gas and generator cooling air.
2) I found with my installation that a significant portion of the generator noise comes from lower frequencies transferred through the generator frame to the concrete floor. I experienced a significant reduction in the throbbing sound by placing the generator on a couple of garage floor mats originally purchased to reduce leg & foot fatigue. You might be able to put a floor mat under the tray.
3) I believe the reason your door doesn't fully close has more to do with the hinges being installed before you stapled the foam seal in place rather than the box being airtight.. after all, the box seems to be well vented to the outside..
4) Honda sells an external, extended run gas tank kit. I believe the extended line that comes with the kit would, or be modified to, allow the additional tank to be installed & filled just outside the shop.
5) There are also after market kits available that would allow the EU2000 to run on either propane or gasoline. That would allow you to tap into the hot water heater's fuel supply.
6) You might want to eventually rotate your hot water tank to make it easier to service the controls.
Have to run. Just thought you might benefit from a few of my demented thoughts.. 😋
Again, thanks for the video! Best regards, Dennis
Running a generator on propane drops it power output. It works but with just 2000 watts your on the low end of power already. Propane doesn't go stale like ethanol gasoline does. It's best to burn ethanol free gasoline($$) if it's available. I have a fuel injected Honda 7000 I plug into 180* disconnect on my power pole during power outages. I burn only ethanol free gasoline in it and haven't had any problem running it.
Instead of exhaust set up for the fan
Get it to pump in fresh air. ..... That way your gen will breathe better and ambient out side air will be brought into your box .....
You did good !
that was my main thought too... remove the flapper from the intake vent, turn the fan around and let it breathe... the little 2 or 3in abs pipe has almost no cfm rating, it's NOT designed for moving air..... the more air you bring into the box, the better that gen will run, within reason... it's struggling as it is
Diego if you enlarge your air intake the small black pipe to a bigger size the outside and inside air temp will equalise. Keep up the good content 👌
Your hot water heater should be on a stand to get it up off the floor. If I remember right, I think 18" tall. Gasoline fumes are heavier than air and will flow like water across the floor.
A water heater stand would be the CODE way it should be done. Please check this out with your city or county code enforcement office (or a plumber). And please 47:48 have a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall nearby if you continue to refill the generator inside your garage or shop. Outside is much safer than inside next to a gas hot water heater!
And any fumes detected by your water heater will blow the thermocouple. Most need to be replaced before the pilot will stay lit. ... so no hot water!
Diego you rock. You're smart for doing what you like and how lucky you are not to be stuck in an awful corporate job!
Holy cow! It just didn’t need to be that complicated!!
Box opening from the top would make everthing waaaay easier !
My thoughts but why not make it capable of opening up/folding up. Being gasoline, I would build it separate from a building, but I know it is more secure inside. I would have it placed much farther from any gas or electric source of ignition. Gasoline vapors would even scare me being that close to a generator inside an enclosed space. 😊 much more ventilation for me... maybe a system of baffles with more forced ventilation. I enjoyed your project. I have plans to build a more portable version that can also ride a platform behind my vintage class "c" and supplement solar when needed. Picked up some ideas from you, but also some concerns to address. Be careful, brother!
Why didn't he purchase a Honda quiet generator?
@@tuberstitious If gas vapors escaping that tank then manufacture should stop making them. By everyone's arguments on here thinking gas going to explode because of hot water heater or anything else for that matter most not leave their house too afraid sky will fall on them. By their argument they should be more worried about generator itself causing the source of ignition. 57 years building and never seen a generator blow anything up because of gas fumes and I use them every day and have similar set up at camp. I did get generator finally that runs off propane like everything else in the camp. Lights cooking dryer hot water refrigerator and generator all on propane
Very energetic project, but I think a little bit misguided. In my opinion, the proximity to the water heater is a valid issue. Barricading the fresh air intake to the water heater is a separate, but equally valid concern. I don’t have experience operating gasoline fired appliances inside or in a confined space. Never tried it, because it is contrary to any training or experience operating gas-fired (natural or LP) that I have. The basic rule that your setup violates is the amount of combustion air intake that you are providing. With fuel gases, you typically need at least 6 times free combustion and make up air as exhaust.
I saw a few other comments that I agree with that include your choice of noice canceling medium. Not that it isn’t working, but there are more efficient means.
The other was a suggestion to turn the fan around and use it to force fresh air into the space. An engineered design for this would likely have an open grill for a “return air” application. Otherwise, a much larger opening in your exterior wall.
Last comment concerns that you have a baffle interfering with your exhaust. The end result is you are likely recirculating your exhaust into your intake since it’s so small and there is no real separation between the two outlets. I think most serious reviewers would agree that pushing your exhaust as far away from the outlet as possible is the best configuration. Typically accomplished by raising the output out of the breathing area.
I have concluded that this is intended as an auxiliary power setup and might be intended for sparing use. I applaud your efforts, I just think that you should look at some more safety concerns. And step-dad was on point!
He already proved that there is no exhaust fumes getting back into the cabin, also exhaust fumes do not explode! Diego has done an outstanding job with his project!
If people didn’t steal stuff he wouldn’t have to do this in the first place so longer prison sentences and more and larger prisons is really the true answer! Let’s keep these losers behind bars and Diego could put his generator outside where it belongs!!!
Awesome project, my only question is why not put the "generator doghouse" on the outside of that same wall. The only additional things you would have needed are some type of weatherproof roof and a small slab of concrete for it to sit on outside of the living space. You could also plumb in an additional 10-gallon gravity feed fuel tank in the attic area
Good to see you use a carbon monoxide detector. Years ago I did a similar project. I used a larger external fuel tank, and extended the engine exhaust pipe using a self sealing flex pipe to a wall thimble. Since I had a detached garage that was insulated I had the generator out in the open with a sealed intake from outside. In a hour or so the engine heat went from 30 ° f to 72° f in warmer weather I used a temperature control room ventilator to keep the garage at a 70 degree setting or at least outside temperature. Next step was to convert the gasoline engine to LPG. With this I extended my oil changes from 100 hours to 200 hours. And the oil was still honey colored. I now use natural gas from a drilled gas well and change oil at 400 hours. Approaching 4056 hours on the engine. So maybe at 5000 hours I will do a engine rebuild.
For the fan, you can also put one on the supply and pressurize the space to force the exhaust out. Since it is sealed, this would work well.
The phrase..don't give up because where there's a will, there's a way was created for you!!😂
Diego, do not give up on your dream of a house in the wilderness... I live in the state south of you, and I had a house build on some land a timber company put up for sale. It was a very stressful period in my life, but the county permits where not the issue. My biggest headache and issue was with the builder. They drove threw the neighbor's gate, they lied to me, they stole from me, and the story goes on.... But as I now sit overlooking a valley surrounded by trees and wild life... it is so very worth it. Make it happen, you will be happy once it is done.
Some other future upgrades could be firstly convert the generator to propane so you can tie into the water heater propane line and never have to refuel, secondly add a blue tooth starter, and thirdly the autoswitch already mentioned is a great idea. Well done DIY project!
What's the point of a bluetooth starter on a pull start generator?
As a perfectionist and a rookie builder, I can appreciate your commitment to satisfy your ideas while not getting flustered doing it. Also you articulate every step very well.
Diego I love your videos and how much patience you have, watching you I learn a lot, God bless you and I hope every young man was like you;)
I absolutely loved your tenacity and pursuit for excellence and had a good laugh as well. When you said future videos, people will be wondering what the deal with the box is😃 great work.
Was actually looking forward to this one when it was hinted in the previous video
Whoa! Great job
Great job. Looks amazing. Keep up the amazing work. God Bliss everyone and everything. Have the greatest day ever, love and peace.
Definitely get you a diesel heater! Well worth the money
Hey man. It's a nice looking contraption you built there. Don't take this the wrong way but I think you way over complicated things there. You should of maybe built a lockable cage type box, and have it outside. That's how commercial type or home generators are done. You can't, for insurance reasons, have a gasoline powered item inside a building. It would of cost you ten percent of what you spent there. You wouldn't have to worry about any venting or temp issues being outside. Better to build with 100 percent fire proof materials outside. There are fireproof insulation material as well if you wanted to keep the noise down. I was a mechanic for 35 plus years and I've actually built similar setups for guys with semi trucks and campers, to help make them quieter. Good luck in your future endeavors, your gifted with creativity!!
Working on a similar project but then a tiny shed outside, which makes ventilation much easier. And I agree with an earlier comment that your air-intake should be bigger, at least 4" diameter. What I did differently: use for your framing metal studs instead of lumber and non-combustible cement-board instead of drywall. And on the outside I went for Hardy boards instead of wooden clapboards.
Congratulations... excellent.. regards from Athens Greece!😊
Make a Metal box in place of your wooden box, access it from outside with grill for air input. Gas proof seals for electrical cables. Should also be insurance safe as regards close proximity to propane tank.
RV owner for 7 years! so experience in genny placement.
Good luck from the Uk!🇬🇧
Great video. The water heater needs to be 18 inches off of the ground. The reason is the gas fumes will get up into the pilot light or burner when the water heater cycles. Gas is heavier than air so it falls to the ground. It will eventually make its way into the water heater regardless of that barrier you put up. I would fix that before I did anything else as it is very dangerous. Get some 8x8x16 blocks. Put the holes facing up and top off with patio blocks to get the 18 inch height. It also will protect you should the gas line leak on the water heater as the gas is also heavier than air.
I really appreciate your fabricating video . How you showed trial and error . Sometimes it’s not easy but your persistent you follow through when you finished it. That’s good work.
If your garage ever burns down, your fire insurance will not pay. Placing a gasoline generator next to a propane hot water heater is an explosive duo. Too many garages and sometimes houses go up in flames from misplaced combustibles.
Spot on, he is not the sharpest tool in the shed (literally)!
@@DOWNUNDER.Not only that the insulation board flammable .
What do they do about cars or truck parked in the garage near water heater.
yeah he should've built it in the crawl space under the house or out side with a damn nice set of locks instead of the garage
🤣🤣🤣 this fuckin guy.
After watching your video, I now have a box around my generator. So much quieter.Thanks Diego!
I have just started watching your channel and love your content! I was born and raised in Longview, WA and spent my summers on 10 acres on the Coweeman river which is the next river valley to the south of the Toutle river. I climbed Mt. St. Helens in August of 1979. Two of my college buddies climbed to the Dogs Head and camped until early morning and then climbed the north face to the summit. On May 18th I was housesitting for my parents in Longview. I worked at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant across the Columbia River in Oregon and was called in to help reduce the ash fallout f4rom the eruption. Watching you and Al make the hike to the Johnson Observatory brings back a lot of memories of me revisiting the mountain. Keep up doing your great content. I am about to embark on an off grid cabin build on 80 acres up in northern Washington just off the Mt. Baker Highway. I have 3 spring fed lakes with Beaver,Trout, and Dolly Varden. I'm looking to leave the same legacy for my grandchildren.
Gratulacje za chęci i działanie. Za dużo myślenia i kosztów poniesionych. Pudło super, ale zamiast blachy dałbym prowadnice do szuflad. Dodatkowo zamiast rurek stabilizujących cztery podstawy pod pralkę antywibracyjne za 10$. Zamiast wentylatora wystarczy 10x10cm wentylator od komputera plus regulator temperatury z automatycznym załączaniem wentylatora z szaf serwerowych za 8$. Poza tym raz jeszcze gratulacje za zapał i działanie a nie siedzenie i narzekanie na świat.
Air flow is more important than ambient temperature so a big enough exhaust fan should do in the summer. How about adding auto on/off switch and a small external fuel tank outside the box? Absolutely love your projects.
Well edited and presented video of very outside the box inside the box thinking! I'm with your step-dad on this though -- I doubt that foam board will do much good to keep gasoline fumes out of the water heater pilot light or flame. And even worse if you forget to close the generator's fuel cap some evening. The building code has strict codes on volume of air around water heaters (something about CO buildup if not enough air) so you can't just build a tiny room around it, but one way would be to put the generator in a doghouse outdoors. This would also limit the potential exhaust fume ingress. I know that's less convenient to service in winter, but it's not just propane/LPG fumes that are a danger here but gasoline is quite volatile and shouldn't be around a flame.
If you have ever seen someone burned from gasoline you would think very hard about changing this.
By the way, your door closing resistance is not from a sealed box, you have two large holes in the back side, right? It's more likely the foam sill seal.
Overall, your innovation is amazing, just don't get killed or maimed by what you don't know about safety.
You should look into the adapter kits for that honda where you can run the generator off of natural gas and then you never have to worry about gasoline. Can just t off of that hot water heater
I admire your building and engineering skills. As I was thinking about what I would do differently, the very next step you covered it.
As always, awesome video. Love seeing your projects.
Great video. There are exhaust silencers that will cut another 10 dB off. Also, 3/4 pipe running horizontal before exiting can help heat the space too for winter time while charging batteries. Automatic transfers switches are $15 so you don't need to play with cords. Lastly, there are fuel caps that will keep your tank full with a secondary fuel tank. This way you never pull it out except to change the oil.
I would switch the direction of the fan, instead of sucking air out, I would force fresh air in. That would cool the generator and make sure it has plenty of fresh air for it's combustion. The overpressure would escape via the smaller ventpipe.
Besides pulling fresh air into the box, you should separate the intake and exhaust, you would be surprised at how much exhaust will get sucked back in the intake.
@@petesmith3923 I wondered about that. I'm sure there is a regulation which specified distance to the side, above/below where the intake should be from the exhaust. Similar to a stove fan, dryer, or even gas fireplace.
You want to keep the box negative so there's no way to push any gasses out. If anything, he just needs a bigger fresh air intake.
The sooner you realize haters gonna hate the better off you will be! Your indoor generator box is genius!! I love it!
Some people just suck!😉
That's the cutest little thing of a generator. Mine sounds like a 1970s Chinese tractor with the flu and only powers like 3 light bulbs. And LEDs. LOL.
Hey buddy, for added safety with the open flame of the water heater just put the fan to work while you're refilling the generator tank, this way all the fumes will go outside and they shouldn't concentrate with the hazard to reach that flame.
Thanks for sharing, Diego!
Came here for the project, stayed for the 90s tunes. You earned my sub mah dude 🤙
The door isn't pushing back because it's such a tight seal. There are two big holes in the back of the box. It's pushing back because you built the box WITHOUT the foam. You're pushing against the foam you stapled on the door opening after putting the hinges on. Had you put the foam on first, it would have closed easier. That being said...Nicely done!
Saved my texting digits!😅
Wow man just wow, your relentlessness of figuring it out was incredible sweet video, sweet project sweet detailed info just wow man!
Looks good! Possible refinements -Dyno-mat/ insulate the drain pan for noise and residence vibration with cement. -Add angles to deflect noise inside box "noise cancelling" (somewhat like the diamond shape of the stealth bomber, add angle not a square box) -On the outside consider changing material of exhaust vents, and build with angle something with wood deflecting noise to ground, test by just taking a couple board placed like a tepee /\ to deflect exhaust noise, move them around to find the "sweet spot". I played with silencing a couple generators years ago, I get the frustration. Seems like it should be possible to make it a whisper right! I got to the point were I was going to weld a car muffler to it ! -Sorry for the ramblings. Gorgeous place it seams your cabin is located (time stamp 37:49 is a good pic) slight fog/mist toping the trees in your own backyard forest, hanging out on your back porch working on cool projects....Zac Brown Band Song "Life is good today" came to mind. Props to you Brother!
Your feed just popped up today and I'm glad it did. Thanks for the great videos.
Diego Tries Hard. Amen.
Nice one, thanks for sharing.... Small tip when using solvent weld on plumbing pipes.. Always "butter" the pipe on its outside and not the inside of coupling or elbows. This way, excess solvent weld will be outside and not on the inside. And can be wiped off.. If there is an excess bead on the inside after joining your pieces together. Over time, in a plumbing situation, debris can build up on the inside "ridge"and cause a blockage further down the line. .Not important in this scenario. But worth remembering if you do a plumbing fix..... Love the channel btw. Trial and error are just another way of saying, "Experience gained"
Great build! Way to adjust along the process to your liking in order and fix issues as well.
Love your music selection. And of course I love your channel. It’s nice to live vicariously through your channel. You’re doing things I wish I could.
Very educational. I had a small Honda generator years ago and always wondered if I could enclose it in a box of some kind. Now I know the idea works. Good job. I have solar generators that I use now and then, and a 6,000w gas generator that I have yet to use, but it's there for an emergency. Thanks.
Next phase for your generator, check out Hutch Moutain tri fuel conversion kit. Convert your generator to propane, get two bigger propane tanks to store outside and be able to run your generator for days instead of 8 hours.
Great idea eco flow delta pro ultra solar system 30 KWH power thiny cabin off the grid
Subscribing because you played all my favorite songs.
Diego, I love all your videos, you are a very smart man, you are not lazy at all, I know nothing about what you are doing,all I can say is, to me you are doing a good job. Keep up the good work. God Bless you
Just as a passing comment: There are a variety of products that you can paint on to wood to recreate "pressure treated." Pressure treated means "certain chemicals injected into the wood." These chemicals are sold by, among many others, Armor All (yes, them.) It's a watery compound that you brush over ordinary pine or hardware-store bought lumber, it soaks into the wood fibers and lasts for many years in a garden box.I use it on mine. In your specific scenario, it would last as long as you choose your build to exist. Wish I could recall other brands. Look it up.
My 2 cents.
The box didn’t have difficulty closing due to the air inside of it. Recall that you have air vents on the other end. It has trouble closing after adding the foam seal because the gap at the top of the lid is much tighter with the added foam. The two edges were able to close parallel before the foam but the foam is now acting as a wedge. That is why is was pushing back open. You will likely find that it becomes a little easier to close over time as that foam gets compressed.
I saw this new Dryer flexi duct hook up. It uses two magnetic coupling. One for the wall and one of a short duct on your dryer. Both hold in the wall and the dryer out let needs to line up pretty well. Then you can just slide the dryer to the wall and it hooks up. 59$ on Ama zon." MagVent MV-180 Magnetic Dryer Vent Coupling " One thing, might bring the cool air inlet tube more in the box. This might allow more cooler air to circulate around the generator to help keep it cool. As of now it looks like your just moving air around the back of your enclosure.
Rock wool insulation….also, vent to low if area gets snow.
Wondering why you didn’t use a propane generator?
Dam smart idea boy!!!
All you needed to do was have ONE air inlet and have the fan blow fresh air INTO the box. The exhaust outlet should not be sealed, so that both the exhaust and hot air exit out and through the wall. That way the box is pressurized and all the hot air and exhaust are forced out the ONE air outlet. Its an air cooled motor, so your main concern is evacuating hot air.
Thats awesome! So many people want to do this
Even if your exhaust fumes are at 40°F, the AC unit can extract the heat down to the Freon temperature of about 28°F, and the electric used is so little compared to the amount of heat being captured and retained.
Realize that about 60% of fuel is exhausted as heat.
So pass that exhaust through the AC cooling coil and exhausted outside and retain the heat otherwise lost as exhaust.
Great job Friend ! That makes it quiet for sure, Hopefully you put it on the shady side of the shop for them hot summer days :) I have to go check out some of you other video's now !
I like your set up and I like your battery bank, but it be really neat. Maybe if you considered a few different options option one convert your Honda generator to propane/natural gas. I saw that you have a huge propane cylinder on your property. That way you wouldn’t have to deal with the gasoline in the generator anymore, other option is to see if Ecoflow will sponsor you send one of their batteries solutions and the automatic generator that they sell, which will turn itself on and off as needed, depending on battery state of charge
Nice Ace Ventura reference
Sweet Tunes!! Motivational Music sets the Mood!
Great idea for a project. some suggestions: You can buy/install a muffler extension for the generator that would lead to outside instead of the 4inches vent. That way the exhaust is forced out as designed by the generator. Your fresh air intake should be higher instead of right next to the exhaust. Cool air flows down naturally.
Fancy idea for your propane heater:
Is there a propane heater available with a input for Thermal solar in stainless steel? You could run the exhaust gases trough the piping for the thermal solar input and give off some extra heat to the water, saving on gas :-)
If not: I know there are some stainless steel heat exchangers for pools, maybe have it connected to the water heater, ideally in such a way, that the water that is getting heated gets a self circulation going to draw fresh cold water by itself.
Nice project.
A few thoughts...
4" outlet for exhaust driven by generator combustion outlet flow. Probably fine.
4" outlet for box air volume driven by a fan.
2" inlet for box air volume AND generator combustion intake. These two items create a negative air pressure in the box, good for preventing any combustion gases from leaking into your living space. But I wonder if you are starving the generator for air as it competes with the fan exhausting that air. Might be impacting your fuel economy and maybe even your net horsepower (and electrical output).
The Teague's thoughts on reversing the 4" fan duct would help ensure your generator is not being starved for intake air but would also create a positive pressure in the box. Probably don't have any significant threat of gases since your exhaust appears fairly snug and has no restrictions but a positive pressure box is less safe.
I've read some things on insulating machinery and the key is air volume to allow the sound waves to break up. The foam you used is fairly dense, I doubt that is the best solution. Consider mineral wool instead. Brand name of ROCKWOOL and comes in panels or batting style. It is pre-sized for 2x4 and such so your 2x3 might present some issues but my research told me it is the right stuff. It is also more expensive so I ended up using several layers of moving blankets (Harbor Freight) instead. Hung in layers so multiple layers of air and blanket, repeating. Options....
Your grunge list is awesome dude.
That was awesome and good built. I like it. Beautiful good job yup. Good job generator can plug up into for a trailer home trailer for my furnace and maybe some light.
Great video! Probably the best 'quiet' generator box vids I've seen to date. Thanks. Side note: The part where you needed to keep the generator from shifting away from the exhaust outlet....I just knew you were going to glue down some leftover scrap 2x3 on all 4 sides to the pan, so that the generator would sit/be braced inside the 2x3's. I didn't see the PVC coming. 🙂
loved teh fact you used what was available to you for your build project, and modified as you went..
so i subed :D
I give two thumbs up for this project!
Im already subscribed but hell id suscribe just for your musical taste.
From my research on sound proofing, only thermal mass, like a double brick or cinder block box can stop sound significantly. I'm surprised to learn from you that the heat comes mainly from the exhaust? Air cooled generators will not operate for very long above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. So in Arizona summers it would be interesting to see someone use geothermal cooling inside of a box similar to yours.
190°F can warm an area very well, even a seed starting area and heat pad area for easy seed starting and growing area.
Good job, young man. I could criticize, but you did good. Enjoyed the video.
Very informative. Thanks
Diego,
I've been enjoying your videos, but from the beginning, I've had this thought that acoustic foam panels might be a better solution than thermal insulation panels. The sound absorption is much more effective, and it has much lower thermal insulation properties.
The air intake is directly below your exhausting fan. So your air is intaking the heated air your exhausting. That's why your temperature is still high.
Use the fan to pressure the box with outside air. This will give you the colling you need and force exhaust out.
1) build a separate intake hole.
2) leave exhaust and intake as is.
6 44 into the video and i'm loving that you are leaving the tunes playing, good tunes at that! Started singing along to Rooster and you cut to a scene with you singing as well lol. Here from Insta to steal ideas. My little genset is not a quiet one like the Honda so it needs lotsa help. Cheers from Ontario Canada.
The volume of airflow required for an aircooled engine is quite large, large ducting for that airflow was always going to be required. Also, propane and petrol fumes are both heavier than air, they will not rise, but pool on the floor.
Several layers of gyprock will act as a better sound barrier, they make a specific grade of gyprock for that purpose. You want mass, for low frequency noise attenuation.
I need to build a quiet box 📦 for my air compressor 😮
I watched a you tube generator fire in a shed.
I would keep the box outside.
There is a reason most of them are outside.
Hopefully this helps, but anything you put on top of the box you built is only supported by the screws you attached to the sides and the back. Screws are not designed for structural shear strength. Since you don't want to rebuild it and put the roof on top of the walls, I'd recommend some angle brackets with either some Simpson structural screws, OR, actual structural nails both of which are designed for things like joist hangers.
Also Foamular cuts with a sharp knife, you don't need to use a circular saw.
Great work!
I see many have already said what I also noticed, the door doesn't close because you added the foam seal after you already had the door tight against the frame. I would have used something 1/2 as thick to temporarily put around the door when installing the hinges so that the foam would seal tight, but not be putting so much pressure on the hinges. 2, you should use crimp on connectors to put stranded wire on the outlet, or buy a outlet where the wire goes behind a plate then it screws down. And as others have said, all you really needed to do is have that exhaust blowing at that 4 inch pipe then have that 4 inch fan blowing air into the box.
Cool, on a side note have you thought about running an extended run external tank for your generator? Its just a gas cap with a nozzle that you can run a hose into another container. Would make sense to me since your running your generator for long periods of time.
Since you are exhausting the cooling air outside and drawing in fresh cool air your thermometer reading is not telling what you want to know. You should at least measure the temp of the exhaust air. You need air flow to cool the cylinder, oil and generator windings. The box could be zero degrees but the generator could be way too hot because you don't have enough air flow. The temperature of the exhaust air would give you some indication of how hot the components in the generator are getting. The need for cooling air will increase as you load your generator so you should do a full load test to verify.
I agree with your dad, be careful fueling, gas fumes are much heavier than air and hug the ground. Just because you can't smell them doesn't mean they are not there. Where I live water heaters in a garage have to be elevated on a 3' platform by code.
Nice job -- good luck with your project.
Great, repeatable data. Thank you! 👍
I wouldn't have glued the pvc fittings. Now you cannot reuse them. Looks great.
bonus, if you design a coil on the top of the box you can also extract excess heat from gen exaughst, just make sure your heat tube is in a sand bin(for thermal mass and protection from damage) and that it is always flowing downhill(condensed gasses should leak outside, not back to generator)
I assume based on the existence of that heating beast it is regularly VERY cold, so extracting the generator heat could be a boon, and if it sits in a sandbox that could have some ductwork that ALSO flows through the mass you can make ducted hot air blow out of an insulated box only when you need it, otherwise it heats the sand then dumps the extra outside
and for off-grid, such a system could use a tiny PC 12v fan off a battery that just keeps the garage above pipe-freeze temps using stored thermals when you turn off the gen
There are companies that make exhaust extensions for these Hondas. All I have seen you have to weld them on to the existing exhaust stub. After the stub extension, you can make other connections. This would help to direct exhaust into the free 4" duct when you slide in the generator tray, and the exhaust end is already further out the wall.
to get maximum silence - add egg crates to inside walls. put a fire alarm above the hot water tank.
Even IF I didn't like watching the build, and I did, at least there was some great music clips 😂
Awesome project but I was wondering what happened to the electric saw when cutting the hole couldn't you have finished cutting the hole from outside?
From Alice In Chains to Tim Mcgra! I dig that lol