why is the quincy qt-54 60 gallon air compressor so noisy?

[Travis Conner]

I've been watching a few youtube videos of other compressors and the quincy I have sure runs a lot faster and seems a lot noisier compared to these other brands on youtube. It's still a good bit quieter than my old oil less craftsman 33 gallon though, gonna call quincy on Monday and ask if I can put a different intake muffler on it. Looks like their 80 gallon version has a lot bigger muffler than my 60 gallon

[Matt Day]

Download a noise meter onto your phone so you can get readings to tell Quincy. Getting a few of how loud something is over the internet is hard to do. Getting readings from X feet away is data they can use. Not “that guy’s compressor on YouTube sounds louder than mine”.

[Richard Coers]

Curious how you can get an accurate comparison of your compressor to a video on the internet. Did they actually mention measured sound numbers?

[Travis Conner]

Well you're correct. You guys know all of the old 25 year old air compressor that are real low rpm and you can practically stand next to it and talk.

[Travis Conner]

That's what I'm asking is why is this one a lot higher rpm and much louder.

[Adam Grund]

Mine runs faster than my dads 30yr old 80gal, but no way is it louder.
My dads you could barely have a conversation anywhere in the entire 40x40 garage when it’s running, however you can talk all day long in my 2car attached garage.
I was surprised it ran a lot higher rpm when I bought it though. Not bad, just not expecting that

[Matt Day]

That's what I'm asking is why is this one a lot higher rpm and much louder.

Again, how do you know the dB’s of a compressor on YouTube? Do you know the dB’s of yours? What exactly will your question be for Quincy? “A guy on YouTube has a quieter compressor than me and I want mine quieter”?

[Bob Cooper]

Is this something spec’d in the various compressor docs? Might start there

[Bill Dufour]

Should have got the QT-5. What is your pump rpm? What is the minimum rpm for that pump? A motorcyle muffler works well for the intake silencer. I use an oil bath air cleaner and some radiator hose.
Bil lD

[Travis Conner]

The 80 gallon one? Yeah, but they required like a 80 amp breaker and my last shop didn't have that kind of power. Then again the website that gave me that info was inaccurate, looking back they now require a 30 amp breaker for the qt-54.

[Jim Becker]

By their nature, even a "quiet" compressor is loud...yet another reason why I keep mine in a sound deadened closet. Something that runs at a higher speed generates more noise for obvious reasons...the piston(s) are cycling even faster. (doesn't apply to some forms of compressors but those are really expensive and not likely to be in most folks' shops who participate here)

[David Kumm]

The QT series is Quincy's budget model with an offshore faster running pump. Yours might have an additional problem but in general it won't compare to the QR series. In the sound level world, a larger pump running at 600-700 rpm is much quieter ( more quiet ) than a smaller pump running over 1000 rpm. Dave

[Joe Jensen]

Compressor noise is most related to the RPM of the pump. And how heavy the pump is. Big thick cast iron wall pumps are quieter than thin aluminum ones. My Q series Quincy pump can run at 450 RPM with a 3HP motor or you can change the pulleys and run it at 900RPM with a 5HP motor. I run it at the slow speed and it's quieter but also the noise it makes is not unpleasant.

[Bill Dufour]

Is it rated for 450rpm that sounds to low to me to be safe. I thought minimum was more like 500-750rpm. I have never heard of a Q series pump is that splash or pressure lube. Even a pressure lube pump relies on some some splash.
Bill D

[Dueane Hicks]

I have a quincy; most of the noise is from the rattling cage surrounding the drive pulleys.

[Travis Conner]

Maybe. I know they make a 60 gallon with a no name motor instead of the 5hp baldor. I turned it on today after putting it in the bathroom. Once you close the bathroom door plus the door of the room next to the bathroom it's about as loud as an AC condensor unit, so i'm fine with that.

[Dave Sabo]

How much does one of these cost?

[Travis Conner]

The one with the smaller no name motor? I think it's like $899 for that one.

[derek labian]

Old thread, but some additional information.

The Quincy reciprocating compressors come in QT, QP, and QR in ascending price. The QT (splash) and QP (pressure) come in Pro, Pro Plus, and Max. The QR is the premier product. The QT series also has a single model lower end unit, the QT-54 which is the unit in this thread. While its similar, it has a slightly different motor etc. The dB rating the QT-54 is the same or lower though than the QT-5 based on dB ratings. The Pro Plus and Max have a "Slow Speed Motor" which likely further reduces sound (as discussed above) but dB ratings are not specified. I did see a rating for the 7.5HP version at 71dB which seems pretty low. The Pro Plus and Max are considerably more expensive than a QT-54. At the time of this writing the QT-5 is ~30% more than the QT-54 and the QT-5 Max is ~50% more than the QT-54, each with a slightly different set of features but all 5HP SP.