Feeling excited about your upcoming camping getaway? This is an excellent opportunity to disconnect from everyday stress, reconnect with nature, bond with your friends, and actually learn to enjoy the current moment, away from all the obligations that constantly bug you.
While camping represents a chance to ditch technology, there are many benefits that come with packing a reliable camping generator, especially if you’re going on a multi-day trip. A camping generator is an excellent addition to your camping gear because it guarantees peace of mind while you’re away from home.
But everything comes with a price, and with a generator, noise can become a severe issue. But rest assured, you don’t have to endure the noisy buzzing of the generator throughout your trip. In this article, we’ll teach you exactly how to make a generator quiet for camping, so keep on reading to learn more about this topic.
Why Do You Need a Generator for Camping?
Enjoying the fresh air, reducing stress, bonding with others, and improving your physical fitness are only some of the fantastic benefits of camping. Whether you’re going on a short or long camping trip, packing the right gear will have a massive impact on the quality of your adventure.
Your purpose is to disconnect from the gadgets, alarm clocks, and emails, but this doesn’t mean to go on a trip sans technology. You can still enjoy nature, but you have to be realistic. There’s nothing fun about spending time without a power source.
A generator is a small device with incredible abilities. It provides electric power through an engine to operate several gadgets and appliances when you’re not home. Here is why a portable and reliable generator is an excellent addition to your camping gear.
- A camping generator allows you to sleep comfortably in hot weather. It provides enough power to operate a fan that keeps you cool at night and drives bugs away. Too much heat can deprive you of sleep and literally ruin your camping trip, especially if you’re spending time with first-time campers.
- It makes your campsite safer, especially at night. Spending time on a campsite is quite an adventure, but being in pitch-black darkness isn’t that fun. A generator allows you to keep lights on, so you can keep human and animal intruders away at night.
- If you’re camping with kids, it will make your camping trip more entertaining. You can set up a projector and show movies for a fun movie night or use lights to set up an improvised play. This will help kids loosen up a little, especially if they’re camping for the first time.
- You can cook better meals. Starting a campfire to roast your food is fun, but cooking on an electric stove is faster and easier.
- You can keep your gadgets charged. Although camping is a chance to break away from emails and message notifications, you want to have your phone ready, just in case. This way, you can ask for help easily in case of an emergency.
You don’t have to sacrifice comfort when you’re camping. This portable and practical device will definitely make your camping trip more fun.
Why is My Generator Too Loud?
A generator can be used at home when the electric power is out, but when you’re camping, this little device will be an excellent addition to your camping gear.
However, the generator’s loud noise can be a huge turn-off, especially if you’re trying to sleep at night.
Cheap models can cause a noise level that reaches about 100 decibels. Even expensive generators can produce a noise level between 60 and 70 decibels, which can be as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
Nevertheless, since you’ll be using the generator for a long period compared to the time you run a vacuum cleaner, the noise can become too overwhelming. But why is my generator too loud? Here are a few reasons.
- You’re using a large generator. A bigger generator is more powerful and produces more power output, but it’s also louder.
- You’re using an older model. Newer inverter generators are more efficient and quieter.
- A cheap generator will be louder than a modern expensive one. Newer generators can have some mechanism to dampen the sound.
- Some fuel types produce more noise when used to produce power. Diesel-powered generators are louder than gas-powered and solar generators.
- The motor that runs the generator can be too loud. The mechanical parts cause friction that produces noise, especially when no maintenance is done, or your generator is too old.
- The cooling fan inside the generator can cause noise.
- The noise can be caused by the exhaust system.
- An old generator produces more noise because the muffler doesn’t do its job well.
- You’re placing the generator too close to your campsite, or the exhaust pipe is pointing towards your direction.
- You have placed the generator in the wrong spot. A generator will cause more noise if placed on a metal surface that works as an amplifier. It will also vibrate if placed on an unstable surface.
How to Make a Generator Quiet for Camping
Don’t worry because you can still enjoy the benefits of packing a generator for your camping trip without having to bear the noise all day long. A loud generator can deprive you of sleep, bother other campers, and even cause a lot of discomfort for someone who has sensitive ears. Here are some cool tips that help you silence a generator while you’re camping.
Maintain Your Generator
Before starting the generator, examine it well. Loose screws and bolts can move while it’s working, so they should be properly tightened.
The bearings inside the generator rotate to generate electric power. However, after a while, the bearings tend to cause too much noise due to excessive friction. Regular lubrication of the bearings will keep the noise down and prevent power loss due to the worn parts.
You should apply grease to the moving parts, but too much grease can damage the generator. It can choke the bearings and prevent them from moving properly.
Choose a Good Location
Choosing the wrong location can actually increase the noise coming from your generator. Try to set up your generator about 20 to 30 feet away from your camping site. If you’re setting up multiple tents, you can set the generator a little further, as long as someone can get a good view of it in case of an emergency.
You also need to make sure that the exhaust pipe is facing away from the tent, especially at night. This way, the noise will be under control.
Look for a clear piece of land, and don’t put the generator on top of a metal sheet. Remove rocks, pebbles, and any other objects that might vibrate while the generator is working.
Keep the Exhaust Pipes in a Vertical Position
The position of the exhaust pipes will have a huge impact on how noisy your generator sounds. When the pipes are kept in a horizontal position, the air is blown out from the exhaust system towards you. This means that the noise will be directed towards your location.
When the pipes are kept in a vertical position, the air blown out from the exhaust pipe will point towards the ground, so the generator won’t be that noisy. This can be done when you’re operating the generator at night while you’re sitting around the campfire.
Reduce Vibrations
The mechanical parts of the engine are the main reason behind the noise. You can’t stop the friction of these mechanical parts, but you can reduce the vibrations.
Install rubber feet at the bottom of the generator. These rubber feet absorb the noise and reduce the vibration when it’s operating. You can also buy an anti-vibration mat and place it under the generator while it’s running.
Fit a Generator Silencer
A silencer can be used whether your generator has a muffler or not. The silencer reduces the noise produced during the combustion of fuel to produce electric energy. There are different types of generator silencers that you can use.
Reactive Silencer
After installing this silencer, the exhaust noise bounces off its internal walls. It eliminates low-frequency noise.
Absorptive Silencer
This is a form of insulation that absorbs the noise. It’s usually made of fiberglass and provides medium to high noise reduction as it absorbs high-frequency sound waves.
Combination Silencer
This provides maximum noise reduction as it targets low and high-frequency sound waves. It combines the features of a reactive and an absorptive silencer.
Soundproof Your Generator
A soundproof box or shelter built around your generator will provide good noise reduction. This box is usually made of wood that absorbs the sound waves, so the noise will be muffled.
If you don’t have a box to house your generator, you can use blankets or drapes to reduce the sound. A generator needs to be properly ventilated so it doesn’t catch fire. This means that you shouldn’t put the fabric right on top of the generator, as it will block the ventilation openings and dangerously increase the internal temperature of the generator.
Use sticks, twigs, or poles to create a frame to support the fabric.
The fabric will dampen the sound by blocking the vibrations, while some of the ventilation openings will still be open to cool down the generator while it’s operating.
Yes, this might not create miracles, but
Use Water
Water can be used to reduce the exhaust noise of your generator. For this tip, you need to get a 5-gallon bucket of water and connect a hose to the exhaust pipe of the generator. The hose should encase the exhaust pipe completely, and you need to seal the gap between the pipe and the hose.
Put the other end of the hose in the bucket to reduce the noise level coming out of the exhaust pipe. The hose should be weighed down so it doesn’t move out of the bucket while the generator operates.
However, unless done correctly, this method can actually damage your generator. If the water travels back through the hose and into the exhaust pipe, your generator will probably stop working altogether. You can avoid this by placing the generator at a higher level than the water bucket and piercing the hose near the opening of the exhaust pipe.
Check the Muffler
A generator usually has a muffler to reduce the noise. However, with long-term use, your muffler will wear, and the noise level will increase. A malfunctioning muffler can actually affect the generator’s performance, so you need to replace it after a while.
Use a Sound Deflector
A sound deflector deflects the noise away from your direction. It doesn’t need any previous setup or preparation and is an excellent temporary solution that you can remove when not required. It can also be used with other methods to efficiently make your generator quieter.
Sheets of plywood or drywall can be used as deflectors. You should place the plywood sheets at an angle, leaning them against the generator’s body to deflect the sound without blocking the ventilation holes. Use the drywall sheet on the exhaust pipe side to protect the deflectors from catching fire.
Replace the Generator
If these tips don’t work, you might want to consider replacing your generator. Some newer models use inverter technology, which radically reduces the generator’s noise while it’s operating. The engine has an alternator that produces AC power and then converts it to DC.
This mechanism guarantees that the generator will be quiet, even when it works for extended periods.
Although diesel generators are budget-friendly and easy to use, they’re the loudest. Natural gas generators are more efficient and also quieter, especially when used to generate a lot of power output.
If you don’t mind the high price tag, you can opt for a solar generator. These are the cleanest and most-efficient generators to use. They don’t have any moving parts, so they’re absolutely silent when used.
Wrap Up
You can use some or all of these tips to silence your generator when you’re on the campsite. Proper maintenance and checking the parts are also essential to make sure that your generator is operating correctly.