Home Made Quiet Generator

[ETN550]

Here is my Pow'r Gard 3KW gen put into a Carver Fuel pump silent housing. As you can see it does not exactly fit! Pretty close though. the base dimensions are 20 x 22. Put way too many hours in this but I will say it is very quiet. It can be placed between 2 people and they can have a normal conversation at normal levels while it is running. I used the belly tank from an 016D. The generator pulls fresh air from the end that sticks out. The engine fan intake and air box pull from a sealed off and insulated chamber that opens to the ground underneath. The hot air is exhausted through the two silver vents on the side. This was the scheme that the Carver pump used and it was very quiet too. The controls are simple for now. Two push pull cables to make the start / stop levers work. Separate preheat and crank momentary switches, and toggle switches to turn on the panel and the new fuel pump. My initial tests indicate that the engine temp is a little hotter but okay and exhaust temp is normal. Gen end is okay. I left the original lift handles on it and added some wheels and 2 feet, each with tiedown loops. I measure fuel level with a dipstick for now.

After I take a break from this one for a while I will proceed to fully disassemble it and sandblast and paint, and add new decals.

 

[storeman]

Pretty slick!
Jerry

 

[Adrian A]

That is pretty slick. A quiet generator is a novel idea. I want to do mine also. Noisy pos!

 

[Squirt-Truck]

Wow

 

[storeman]

Because I have two 002A's I intend to keep, got a MKT roof off GL a couple weeks ago. Will insulate it and the walls (to be built). 8x10', a bit bigger than yours, but believe it will do the job. It will be right below my deck where the first 2-3 meps are in my avatar.
again, well done!
jerry

 

[ETN550]

Good deal. Post up some pics when you get going on it. When I worked at CAT years ago we once put a big CAT gen in a reefer trailer. The insulation and double wall construction made it very quiet. Also good security. The customer was very happy.

 

[swbradley1]

Nice idea.

 

[PsycoBob]

Looks like a plan for the freakishly loud 2kw MEP.

That, or my 2.5kw gas onan RV genset. It'd certainly justify those labels about the pump being a 4-soldier lift. The rectangular vent in the bottom might just be in the right spot.

 

[DeucesWild11]

Cool, nice work. I just got an MEP002 with the ASK set up on it. Do you think you will have any issues with overheating with your setup?

 

[ETN550]

Cool, nice work. I just got an MEP002 with the ASK set up on it. Do you think you will have any issues with overheating with your setup?

I'm still being cautious. I plan on wrapping the exhaust system with some heat insulation blanket.

so far i have measured some temps and the top of the valve cover is around 230 and the exhaust system is 465 and the intake by the fan is around 10 degrees higher than outside.

Since the fan pulls in cold air on both the gen and the engine I'm not too worried. But the inside of the housing where the air dumps off the engine does get quite hot so I'm concerned with the fuel pump and battery.

I copied what is currently being done on the doner pump unit and it is much the same as the MEP-831a and Hondas, etc. Hopefully, it will be fine.

One other thing is I plan on changing to synthetic oil.

 

[derf]

Nicely done. If I wasn't spoiled by my Honda EU2000i I would probably try doing that to my 30D36R.

 

[islandguydon]

Thats 1 rep point from me and two thumbs up for your ingenuity and fortitude on a job well done..!

 

[marsman]

very cool looking!

 

[ETN550]

Thanks for the comments.

I did order some blanket insulation from McMaster-Carr to put on the exhaust system. I 'll post updates as I do more work on it.

I decided that instead of making a fancy dipstick tube extender I'm going to cut in a hatch door. As of now it pretty much impossible to reach the dip stick to check the oil!

 

[Jries]

Etn550 is that a metal saddle you used on the neck or is it a plastic one? Where'd you get it?

 

[ETN550]

It's a piece of 1-3/4 inch exhaust tube. I cut it to length then cut it in half. I welded the nipple on it and then drilled through everything after it was mounted. I have a thin paper gasket in there with some gasket cement on both sides.

 

[Capt.Marion]

Maybe add some sort of exhaust fan to blow the hot air out and keep fresh air flowing through?

 

[quickfarms]

How thick is the insulation on that enclosure?

 

[ETN550]

Maybe add some sort of exhaust fan to blow the hot air out and keep fresh air flowing through?

Yes, right now I'm going to monitor temps. So far I've copyed several designs that do not use fans. The MEP-831A with the Yanmar has Two fans but is rated for extreme temps and the fans only come on if the temp gets too high.

 

[ETN550]

How thick is the insulation on that enclosure?

2 inches. There is a skin on the outer surface. The rest of it is a single 2 inch layer.