The Skipper's Blog

Question:

Skipper,
I have a 77 Carver 33′ and the engine cover soundproofing and asbestos liner are worn out and hanging into the engine. Can you suggest where I can purchase new ones? They are 29″x29″. Love your products.
Tom

Answer:

Tom, your best bet is to contact a local Marine Supply store. Although few carry it in stock most can order it in for you. The other alternative is to search on-line for a supplier, but shipping can be an issue because of the bulk and sometimes the weight, depending on the quality that you order.

Getting rid of the old asbestos material is a good idea since it’s carcinogenic. Just be careful when working with the stuff. Wear a dust mask, gloves, eye protection or better a face mask and protective clothing. Don’t breath the dust or get it on your skin. Also put it directly into plastic garbage bags and dispose of it in a toxic dump or contact your municipality for information on proper disposal. Also check for and remove lead sheeting as some old sound proofing material used it to help cancel noise generating vibrations.

The latest technology for sound proofing material usually employs rubber. Asbestos and lead are no longer used. The most sophisticated has a layer of medium density, flame and heat proof, foam rubber, to which is laminated a sheet of heavy rubber to act as a decoupler and them a sheet of light density foam and finally a sheet of aluminum foil or silver colored plastic. The idea is that the silver colored facing will reflect heat and also protect the foam from fumes as well as oil and fuel splashes. The lightweight foam will absorb the noise vibrations and when it tries to transfer that energy to the medium density foam through the heavy rubber mat and then to the fiberglass, it loses it’s energy getting through the heavy rubber decoupler. The simplest is made from convoluted (egg carton design) foam rubber. There are variations in between.

Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installation as well. In some cases you can simply glue it on to the backer or substrate in other cases you will also need to use special mechanical fasteners with large washers on the surface to support the material.

You can chose which is best for you depending on how much engine noise you have and your budget. Engineers have sound readers which they use to read the noise level, in decibels, inside and outside the engine compartment and then they select the sound proofing material based on how many decibels of noise they need to reduce. This equipment and knowledge to do the calculations is usually beyond the scope of the do it yourselfer but the soundproofing material is rated for decibel reduction which could help with your selection of the best material for the job. It’s sold in sheets and rolls and you can often order a sheet and cut it to fit. Be sure that it is flame and heat proof. You don’t want to install a combustible material in the engine compartment.

I hope this basic information is helpful. It’s nice to hear that you love our products. We love to hear that from our customers.

Thanks for your question.

Captain Aurora
Richard Kittar