Air compressor sound reduction cabinet - good for shop vac?

[Brandon Lecrone]

I came across a California Air Tools SPC03 Soundproof Compressor Cabinet on craigslist for about 1/3 the normal retail price. I have been wanting to get my shop vac noise under control - anybody use this cabinet for a shop vac instead of an air compressor? Wondering how well the built in ventilation fans work for both airflow and keeping the motor cool. Would require a larger hole to be drilled for the hose, but this could potentially be a great solution that might be worth the money ($180) for the time saved, and may do a better job reducing the noise.

https://www.californiaairtools.com/sound-proof-cabinet-ultra-quiet-air-compressors/cat-spc03/

[Tom Bender]

Well those little fans are going to spin pretty fast but it should work. You'll want some kind of grommet for the hose opening.

[Matt Day]

That looks like a nice solution, especially at 1/3 the price of new. You’d need to cut a bigger hole for the shop vac hose. And make sure it has proper air flow or you’ll loose suction (exhaust air needs to be able to go somewhere).

[Bill Dufour]

seems pricey to me for what it is. buy an old cabinet at a thrift shop. line it with rockwool, cut some vent holes and install a cooling fan. The big problem is going to be baffling the cooling air flow. Maybe the flex ducting for ac installations would work.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

And how easy is it going to be to remove the vac when it needs to be emptied?

[Matt Day]

And how easy is it going to be to remove the vac when it needs to be emptied?

You take off the door and roll it out.

[Bill Dufour]

You take off the door and roll it out.

But you have to disconnect the hose first
Bil lD

[Brandon Lecrone]

I believe the fans are powered Good point about a grommet.

[Brandon Lecrone]

The big problem is going to be baffling the cooling air flow.

This is probably my biggest concern - getting proper exhaust airflow without sacrificing the noise reduction.

[Doug Garson]

Have you considered asking the manufacturer for an opinion? It's designed for a compressor that takes in a small amount of air and requires additional air in and out for cooling. A shop vac exhausts a larger quantity of air which does the cooling. So the existing fans must blow more air in that they blow out when used with a compressor while you need to exhaust more air than they blow in to match the exhaust of the shop vac.

[Bill Dufour]

I believe the cooling air flow is the total airflow. I Doubt the fans are needed but the exhaust has to be ducted outside the box.
Bill D.

[Eric Danstrom]

"Reduces noise by 40%" is less than 3db. I question it's effectiveness.

[Brandon Lecrone]

Yes, I thought about reaching out to the manufacturer, but figured they would be hesitant to offer any guidance about using it for anything other than what they advertise it for. I would assume the cabinet isn't air tight and that the air the compressor needs to pull in would be available through gaps and seams. The fans are stated as being for exhaust, which it seems to me the cooling effect of which would be essentially only very effective when the compressor motor is off. I am concerned that those little fans would be pretty useless to provide any meaningful cooling effect for a shop vac given the amount of air they exhaust, which means I would need to further modify the cabinet to include a larger exhaust opening, ideally baffled in order to maintain the noise reduction.

[Brandon Lecrone]

"Reduces noise by 40%" is less than 3db. I question it's effectiveness.

The video on their website seems pretty convincing - granted its a video with likely low-quality audio recording. I assume since you mention db you understand about that scale being logarithmic, but regardless, it is still in fact a reduction in SPL of nearly half, which is significant. Now whether that is truly 40% less "loud" starts to get into the acoustical weeds, so to speak, depending on the actual frequency range produced by the machine, which frequencies are reduced, and how they are actually measuring the reduction.

[Richard Coers]

Usually the biggest culprit on a shop vac is the exhaust. Lots of purchase or DIY muffler options on a simple Google search. I just bought a Fein vac to eliminate my noise issue. The screaming Craftsman stays in the garage.

[David Buchhauser]

I purchased a shop vac exhaust "muffler" on Amazon to try out with my large Craftsman shop vac. It didn't really make it any quieter that I could tell, but it did restrict the exhaust flow and seemed to reduce the level of suction of the shop vac. I sent it back for a refund.
David

[richard poitras]

This may or may not work, but if you go to U-TUB and search " sound cabinet for shop vac " there are a lot of plans that you can make and show different way to get air in and out of the cabinets.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

[Brandon Lecrone]

Thanks Richard. I've seen some good designs over the years. Maybe at some point I'll actually get some time to build one!. That was the appeal of this pre-made cabinet - not having to take the time to build something. But after mulling over and considering the discussion here, I don't think it would really get me any further ahead considering the modifications I might need to do to get adequate exhaust.