Can anyone recommend a decent compressor with the lowest level of noise produced, mine will be located close to other houses and I want to keep the noise level down as low as possible. I've read most of the post on compressors but can't seem to narrow it down to which would be the best.

 

stay away from oilless compressors

 

I would start by checking the RPM of the pump, the faster the pump turns the more noise it will make. also ditto on the oil less compressors those things are noise machines that have a by product of a small amount of pressurized air.

 

The direct drive oilless compressors are VERY noisy. On belt drive compressors the majority of the noise comes from the air intake. A good free flowing but baffled intake filter will reduce the noise level. Usually the higher priced compressors have quieter intakes. Look for the largest intake filter assy you can find.

 

If you want quiet then you need to go for a screw compressor. It will cost you though.

 

I can tell you screw compressors are LOUD! We have three at work, you need earplugs to service them. The quietest compressore I was ever around was a huge ancient Joy compressor, it was about a 20" stroke with a 36" or 37" bore, had a 15ft flywheel on it that spun at maybe 50rpm. Of course, it had a ~250hp 3phase ac motor on it, and ran this whole factory I worked at. Kinda neat, you could hear the rings going by, and pretty much tell where the piston was in the cylinder.

 

You need to go for the silenced screw compressor.

 

I have a two stage, 5hp 60 gal vertical tank IR. I bought it through sears for about $1100. Has oil and dual v-belt drive and 100% duty cycle. It is fairly quite for an air-compressor. Option, if you need very quite, is to build a room for it with sound deadening insulation with piped in fresh air supply. Silenced screw machine is nice if you can part with about $10000 and 3 phase electric.

 

Any enclosure for a compressor needs to be well ventilated not just for the air intake but for air to cool the receiver and compressor. That usually means very large openings that will let a large amount of sound escape. Sound suppression or insulation is a difficult "science" that approaches black magic.

 

Compressor noise sucks. It's distracting and long term, can give you permanent hearing loss.

Oil-free compressors tend to make a lot more noise, and wear out quicker.

You also want a cast iron cylinder if it's within your budget, and if not at least a cast iron cylinder liner in an aluminum cylinder.

Two years ago I purchased a home depot 60 gallon single stage compressor, hauled it home and attached it. I returned it the next day because it was so darn loud.

What I did instead was acquire a dual-stage quincy head manufactuered in the late 50's, early 60's, honed the cylinders and installed new rings. This cost me about $250 if I remember correctly. Anyway, I drive that with a 5hp 240V single phase motor. The motor has a small double pulley of about 4" or so and the crankshaft for the two cylinders has a 15" double pulley.

Between the two cylinders is a plumbed box that switches from parallel to series and vice versa depending on pressure in the tank, or lack thereof.

The old Quincy compressors were outstanding in reliability, serviceability, and noise. When it runs all you hear through the closet door is putt putt putt putt. You can have a conversation standing next to it.

Then all you need is a big tank and the time to fabricate a manifold and the plumbing to the tank, and you're good to go.

 

A good practice for keeping the noise down is to mount the compressor with old motor mounts under the feet, attached to a pallet. This absorbs a lot of vibration that generates noise apart from the intake.

I saw one once that was mounted on a large wheel/tire, which helped.

Also your building supply carries "soundboard" which you can line the compressor enclosure with. (More is better in this case.) Use soft ducting to let air in the bottom of the enclosure and out the top.