I'm trying to make the generator on our coach quieter. It is a 40 year old NA Perkins diesel. It is really embarrassing in a campground. Among other things I am in the middle of replacing the exhaust system which consists of a 1.25 inch header and a worn out glasspack. I happen to have a new stainless Honda Civic muffler which I plan to put on. But I wondered if the internal baffling would plug up with soot. A 35 year old diesel makes a lot of soot. Certainly it would be quieter for a while, but at what cost? Do old diesels use baffled mufflers or are they always low restriction straight through design?
Baffles should be fine (assuming it still flows good enough, a 100+hp civic muffler should be fine), any fiberglass packing could be problematic.
Exhaust is only a portion of your noise problem. Good mounts that don't excite nearby rattles are mandatory. Insulating the generator enclosure (while still allowing airflow for cooling) will get you the most...er, LEAST bang for your buck.
I'm doing a major. Insulation is part of the plan.
The main concern with the civic muffler to me is whether there are dead areas in a chambered muffler where flow would slow and the soot would drop out. A straight through would be high velocity end to end.
Chas_H
New Reader
8/8/15 1:55 p.m.
Intake noise can also be an issue. The old VW Rabbit diesel made quit a racket when run without the snorkel on the air intake.
We used to quiet the intake noise on air compressors by putting the filter at the end of a long length of hose (abt 8') connected to the inlet. Made a big difference.
It has an oil bath intake and a marine style water cooled exhaust manifold so not much else to be done there. I built a removable exhaust pipe to direct the sound up above the bus which helped quite a bit. I have dynamatted the valve cover, and moved the radiator off to the side so I can completely box in the motor. I pushed the rad well back under the bus as well to muffle the fan noise. Once I get the insulated box built and a new exhaust I am hoping for a pretty good improvement.
Chas_H wrote:
Intake noise can also be an issue. The old VW Rabbit diesel made quit a racket when run without the snorkel on the air intake.
I put a forklift muffler on the intake of an air compressor that was run inside.
