Shopsmith Forums

Hey guys,

Green here and I am a Hobbyist DIYer. I am looking for a quiet compressor for my garage. The last compressor I owned was a real loudmouth with an above 80 dB noise level. But, the poor guy died on me.

So, I want a compressor with lower noise levels that can run my DIYer garage tools plus, also works silently. If anyone has bought a quiet air compressor then do let me know about it. Any recommended places from where you buy from, or if you have links then do share them with me as well.

I can't speak from personal experience, but I have seen many online rave about how quiet California Air Tools compressors are. They have some ultra quiet models that are as low as 60dB. Might be worth a look:

https://www.californiaairtools.com/?gcl ... JgQAvD_BwE

I think it would be easier to build a sound proof cabinet for one . :}

Soundproof cabinets take care of the noise, but add a new problem of insulating the compressor so it is prone to overheating. If you put a compressor in a small soundproof cabinet, you should also look into having a fan and outside exhaust system to cool the cabinet.

garys wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:26 am Soundproof cabinets take care of the noise, but add a new problem of insulating the compressor so it is prone to overheating. If you put a compressor in a small soundproof cabinet, you should also look into having a fan and outside exhaust system to cool the cabinet.

This is what I did. An insulating box with a cooling fan.

Most of the compressor noise will come from the air inlet. If you have a compressor with just a single round inlet pipe a muffler will reduce the noise significantly. Unfortunately mine was not so simple, several smaller holes in the intake manifold could not be so easily muffled. I made the box out of scrape materials plus a carton of sound insulating ceiling panels. It makes the noise tolerable. I also added a remote on/off switch as shown in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24380&p=277390&hili ... ch#p277390

Well, I do know the DIY soundproof box. But, right now I don't have the time to make it. By the way thanks for the Soundproof Box idea. Does anyone have one of those reviews available for products or any links for best reviews XYZ? They do have some pros and cons in it which help a lot considering if the product is worth the purchase.

I finding here a lot of low-quality reviews as well. By the way, thanks RFGuy for the link. I'll check the California Air Tools compressors that you have recommended

I think the Edma194 and Garys have given a good idea. Building a Soundproof box is not that hard. But, I think what we gonna do about the size. 1st you have to buy the compressor then according to the measurement you can make the DIY box for your new compressor.

I totally agree with RF Guy. because CAT is famous for its quiet compressors. There range starts from 55 dB and goes up to 65, 70 dB.

You can directly purchase from the Company site. Or you can go for Amazon because Amazon is cheap. Here's a piece of advice with Amazon do read the customer review and ratings at the bottom of product page. The'll give you the real-life based experience of other people who have bought the compressors.

Well, for reviews and pros/cons. That's a hard one due to a lot of crappy reviews out there. You have to read through 3 to 5 sites for good insight. i usually read all the reviews on google's 1st page myself to get a good understanding for advantages and disadvantages of the product I wanna buy.

I do have 3 guys who I read on weekly basis. They write some pretty good pros and cons for compressors. I'll share them with you. Let me just check myself If they have something good on quiet compressors.

Whatever you do be careful, my neighbors son had a compressor in the garage. It developed an air leak and turned on while they were out for the evening. When they came home they found their house engulfed in fire. Apparently the compressor in trying to over come the leak ran until it got so hot that the stuff around it caught fire and burnt the house down. Pretty expensive silent compressor. I now keep my compressor off and disconnected to all air lines.

I have the large bore Makita 3 hp (I think) twin tank. I can care on a conversation within 4 ft of it when it is running. Way quieter than the Rigid I had before.

Jack

I second RFGuy. I have the California Air Tools 10020C, which is a vertical unit with a 10-gallon tank. The footprint is no bigger than my insanely noisy little pancake compressor, but it can sustain enough airflow to run an HVLP sprayer. Best of all, it's so quiet when running that I just smile when it kicks on.

One caveat: it does run on 120V, but the motor is rated at 14A, so you need a dedicated 15A circuit at minimum. When I tried mine on a shared circuit, it would reliably pop the circuit breaker when the tank pressure approached maximum.