boater50 wrote:
Allow me to weigh in on this. I've never had a genny on my boat, so I can't say how loud they are when in operation--I imagine they're fairly loud though....there are a couple issues to consider when dealing with sound proofing a noisy area. By the way I'm a professional recording engineer and have also designed a few studios in my career. First thing to understand when going about soundproofing something is that most add-on foam-such as the type found in boat engine compartments really just slightly deadens the high frequencies being generated--just sort of "muffling" the sound. What is happening when the generator is running is that it creates a lot of lower frequencies which tend to work their way through everything--they are considered "longer" sound waves and are more difficult to treat. So, the best way to treat the low frequencies is by decoupling the source. How are boat generators mounted? Are they mounted on rubber motor-style engine mounts? If it is possible, I would suggest putting a piece of 1" thick neoprene under the entire genny--mounts and all. (neoprene is a very dense rubber material. It is used in recording studios to "float" a floor-that is the floor joists will rest on small neoprene pucks placed every 12-16" on each joist, thereby decoupling it from a concrete slab floor and reducing any vibrations coming from below for example)-- This will decouple the unit from the boat, thereby cutting down on those low frequency vibrations. The size of the boat matters, too. A genny on a 26' boat will probably always be noisy no matter what you do. West Marine sells that engine compartment sound proofing material that manufacturers put on the inside on their motor boxes.......try some of that. But I would see if you could add some thick neoprene under the genny to decouple it from the boat. Good luck.....hope this helps.
They use engine type rubber mounts but they are pretty stiff. The enclosure is metal with a really dense insulation inside of it and like I said it really doesnt change the in-cabin rumble sound much. The genset pretty much bolted to a giant empty box (the engine compartment) and its more vibration than the noise being put out by the generator itself. The kohler is a two cylinder V, not exactly silky smooth at 3000+rpm under load. They make some hydraulic (fluid damped) type mounts but they are 80.00 each and require some fabrication. Not easy manhandling around a 225lb generator in a cramped engine compartment.
Its funny because my wife and kids dont pay any attention to it but it drives me up a wall. Not much choice on hot days or in the evening when the humidity is insane and you have to run the AC, earplugs are cheap
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