The Peaceful Generation of Energy

[artcrash]

Ok I admit I was a bit harsh with my last post....but now I want to approach this subject from a more gentle position.....People have determinded that they need GENERATORS. That being the case then my suggestion is that while you are putting effort into creating a groovy shade structure, an amazing shower, and of course all of your outfits, take some time and use some of your creativity to figure out a cover or surround for your generator. It will be of great importance to your neighbors while they while away the hours in a state of bliss without the nasty ever present sound of a gas engine.....As I suggested to someone recently, sound board which is cheap, light weight, and easily cut screwed to a 2x4 frame to form a box is a great way to keep the noise down. Just make sure you rope the thing down so the wind doesn't take it and it will work great. By the way....If anyone knows of a generator free zone....besides the one the alternative energy crowd has let me know.....

[Tafkah]

The Burning man site has great general information on generators.

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... ators.html

Suggestion Number One is:

"Bring the quietest generator you can afford, and the smallest that will meet your actual needs. Larger generators are more difficult to transport, use more fuel and create more pollution."

I wish more people would take this advice. The little Honda EU series generators are so quiet, you really don't need a sound box, although it wouldn't be a bad idea. They make about the same amount of noise as a new car idling.

Our village is a "quiet generator only" zone. Yeah!

[robotland]

http://www.playachicken.com/hushville/

Hushville is also genny-free, as well as amplified-music-free.

I urge you to seriously ponder what it is that you consider an essential but that requires generated energy to maintain. If it's just a bunch of pretty lights, get some batteries. EL wire and LEDs consume so little juice that you can do your camp up in style without having to be "on the grid".

[safetythird]

The little Honda EU series generators are so quiet, you really don't need a sound box, although it wouldn't be a bad idea. They make about the same amount of noise as a new car idling.

A camp mate brings his lil honda eu and it's so quiet it doesn't need a surround. With all the ambient BRC noise I had to walk over and put my hand over the exhaust to know it was on.

Tip for RV generators: Take a look at your rubber genny mountings. Are they deteriorated or missing? How about that exhaust pipe hanger? Did ya know about the exhaust redirectors that pipe the noise and exhaust up and over your RV. Mandatory equipment at some campgrounds.

Here's an example:
http://reserveamerica.campingworld.com/ ... 41&src=FPC

Of course it would be almost trivial for the tinkering burner to create their own.

S3
Hopefully quieter this year.

[HughMungus]

I wish more people would take this advice. The little Honda EU series generators are so quiet

That's nice, but, they're also very expensive.

Hey artcrash, if you feel so strongly about generators and since not everyone reads this board, how about showing people onsite how to build a sound containment "structure" for their generators (where found). That would be a cool project (though you'd have to bring or scrounge-up materials -- maybe you could build them out of DPW scraps). I mean this comment as a suggestion, not as a criticism of your feelings about generators (I feel the same way as you).

p.s. Speaking of generators, I just bought a used RV and can't believe how loud the generator is. I'm going to have to figure out a way to baffle it in its little storage area....hm....suggestions? I'm thinking carpet and wood but not sure if that's so wise -- don't want the RV burning down around me...

[safetythird]

Dallas,

Look into the sound deadening materials, you know, like dynamat or other stuff. I imagine yours is in a little metal box under the main passenger compartment, right? You can line that box (gen removal may be necessary) and the door but make sure you don't cover the vent holes. It still needs to breath.

Also check your mounts, the older they are the worse they isolate vibration. I have an older RV too and my mounts are completely disintegrated. Just the mounting bolts left, no rubber.

S3

[unjonharley]

Those RV gennies are going to get real hot it that little space. Be careful what you use to damped sound. Would it be posible to put it on the ground?

The best damper I saw was four 1/2 sheets plywood. Along the inside top of the sheets were old sofa pillows. They were hi enough not to burn. They filtered the sound well. The large plyboard box allowed plenty of air for cooling the motor.

[Chai Guy]

Yet another idea to lessen noise is to collaborate with your neighbors. I know that from a logistical stand point this can be difficult. But imagine if you and the 4 camps around decided to go in on ONE large diesel generator (which, are not as quiet as the honda eu but are still relatively quiet, certainly much less quiet than 4 seperate regular gas gennies). It would also save the 4 camps some money.

I know that one year our camp did this by default, we had a large diesel genny and allowed several other camps to plug into it and they were able to turn their small gennies off, thus making things much more quiet.

[Tiahaar]

Even though gensets get most of the glory, wind and solar are viable (if requiring a bit more setup work) power alternatives on-playa. For the price of a new honda 2000 you can have a system that runs itself quietly with no fuel costs. Especially ideal if high wattage loads like AC units aren't being run. I gotta show off my bus roof:

The system works well so far. The wind turbine was spinning so fast in a moderate breeze you can't see the blade tips (6 foot diameter) and admittedly was humming along like a small home fan. MUCH quieter than a genset though!

[safetythird]

Tiahaar,

What did the turbine cost you and where would I find these? I've seen one on an RV here at the beach, and at my beach there's always wind. I bet that RV guy generated tons of electricity. I'm thinking that one of those would be great, not only for BM but, for my annual beach camping too.


S3

[Tiahaar]

Hi S3, oh yeah sounds like a wind turbine would be sweet for you. I bought the blades off an auction and put the rest together from a big 40v dc tape drive motor I had and saved a bit by building from scratch. There's a manufacturer here in CA who sells the complete unit or just the blades, has some stuff listed at auction now:
( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5977714088 and
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5976964344 ).

[Tiahaar]

Forgot! Here is the business web site for the above wind turbine stuff, looks like the auction sales are a better deal if no-ones bidding. (disclaimer...no business affiliation with these guys, though I did hack their design a bit heheh)
http://www.hydrogenappliances.com/windturbinetypes.html

[unjonharley]

Forgot! Here is the business web site for the above wind turbine stuff, looks like the auction sales are a better deal if no-ones bidding. (disclaimer...no business affiliation with these guys, though I did hack their design a bit heheh)
http://www.hydrogenappliances.com/windturbinetypes.html

~
Can't ya just see a sea of domes with that sticking out the tops. Wind farm playa.