How loud is the engine in the 21 EC?

[sketchrbob]

I am looking at a 2008 21 EC which is out of the water. My wife is somewhat sensitive to noise and therefore we are trying to get an idea as to how loud the engine noise is. I notice on the company web site there is a link to other reports and one of them is an to a German magazine called the "Skipper". It has a test report on the 21 EC. Part of the test is the engine noise levels in decibels at various engine RPMs. However, not knowing German, I have no idea how close to the engine the readings were taken. I am interested in a cruising speed of 6 knots which I guess is about 2400 RPMs. At this level can ordinary conversation be held in the cockpit -- in the stern seat? -- sitting on the motor box? in the cabin with the door open? with it closed? From the various posts, on sound reduction, I gather that others have found the engine noise pretty loud. I would appreciate any attempts to enlighten me. Thanks Sketchrbob

 

[SlackwaterJack]

I've found engine noise to be a relative thing. It seems to have more to do with personal sensitivity and expectation than what actual decibel levels may indicate. I've had many boats over the years from sailboats to fast outboard powered boats. Personally, I enjoy the sound of the small diesel engine putt putt to the high speed whine of an outboard or the roar of a V8 jet boat....others live for the sound of power. The R-21 fits the putt putt category.
Other boat noises that the engine can add to (or compliment?)are waves, rushing water, wind, other boats, assorted creaks and rattles ). While under way the driver is usually not fully involved in conversation with the passengers. If "help" is needed at the helm and conversation is involved close the door and things will be much quieter. Others aboard not being involved with the operations can move around the boat to wherever they feel they can talk. Quietest place on a boat?...the bow, directly blocking the drivers vision.

An observation...(personal opinion after 40 years of boat ownership) Guys don't generally buy a boat to stimulate "conversations" on the water. Conversation usually isn't even in the top 10.

quietest boat I've used?....Duffy 21 electric (the Ranger "Martini electric" was probably the same). That boat is mainly made for conversation and little else though.

loudest?...my Dad's old (70's) pontoon with a Westbend outboard. noise wasn't a bother to the waterskiing, bbq'ing, etc.. as I remember it, my dad was always telling us kids to quiet down...nobody mentioned the motor noise. Come to think of it..I kinda miss it.

hardest to carry on a conversation?... 30 ft S2 cutter rigged sailboat under sail in 12 knots or more of wind (rushing water, popping sails and rigging noise not to mention the constant interruptions and "tweaking")We weren't on the water to chat, so it wasn't a problem either.

easiest to carry on a conversation?...28 ft AdventureCraft (honda OB) very quiet with rear doors closed and kids on the flybridge. Leave the rear doors open though and WOW the resulting tsunami of white noise made casual chatting impossible. (doors remained open for "fresh air"when the in-laws were aboard). At idle speed though, it was almost as quiet as the Duffy.

Best way to converse on a boat?...travel in relative quiet for 1 or 2 hours to a nice private cove, drop anchor for the night, break out some bubbly and snacks, enjoy the sunset and chat all you want. Repeat in the morning with a sunrise coffee and a bagel. The return trip is usually hard to begin.

 

[dloop]

An observation...(personal opinion after 40 years of boat ownership) Guys don't generally buy a boat to stimulate "conversations" on the water. Conversation usually isn't even in the top 10.

Too funny.

One thing that adds to the noise level is the cabin heater fan. If you don't need to run that it will help to reduce the overall noise level considerably. I might have a wiring problem with my fan however. It has a switch with three setting levels: "Low" - "Medium" - "High, but based on their sound levels these appear to be "High" - "Medium" - "High".

Can you carry on a conversation? Definitely ....Do I wish it was quieter? Yes.

 

[rt11002003]

I haven't seen any posted dB readings for the R-21 or the EC model, but I suspect they may be high in the cabin, 80s at 3000+ rpm. I feel the engine is fairly quiet (really quiet compared to older diesels), but the transmission makes a lot of howling noise at higher rpm. One shouldn't expect an engine box arrangement to be as quiet as having an engine buried deep into the hull. Huge V8s in an engine box in a runabout are much noiser than my EC. Closing the cabin door doesn't seem to do a thing for the noise level. I think some of the issue is the design of the vessel. It's like a "bright" room where sound bounces everywhere, including thru the bilge tunnel flowing into the cabin area. If Ranger were to put sound deadening material on the bilge walls, the hull, the cabin walls, and a better deadening material in the engine box it would be much improved.

At 2000 rpm and below, it's "put, put, put", which I like. I much prefer diesel boat engine sounds to any other engine sounds. You start to notice the transmission as you approach 2500 rpm and it intrudes above that. Funny thing, at WOT I hardly notice the transmission noise. :? Probably because of the total noise: waves, creaking, some rattling (cabin door :evil: , engine, transmission, etc. ). The hull and cabin don't have liners or much sound absorbing materials, so every sound is magnified and bounced.

I don't notice any difficulty in conversing in the cabin until rpm is above 2800 or so, but even then one doesn't need to shout to be heard. I find the cockpit quieter than the cabin. Sitting by exhaust port is louder than the rest of the cockpit.

A R-25 seems to be pretty quiet, but I opened the step/door leading to the engine compartment of a Yanmar 110 hp and it wasn't quiet in the saloon any longer.

I'm used to a four cylinder Yanmar buried deep in the hull, surrounded by fuel tanks, water tanks, batteries, etc. It was quieter than my EC.

Gene

 

[Levitation]

Andrew, since the R25 is mentioned in this thread...
I finally got around to changing out the defective battery charger... Whilst doing this my wandering eye noted that the sound deadening material applied to the back wall of the cave (engine side) stops at the bottom edge of the bulkhead... There is a space under the floor of the cave forming the bilge... Now the bunk floor of the cave has the mattress on it and will act as a sound deadener... But the engine noise going under the floor through this gap will echo all through the bilge area forward, vibrating the floor where there is not a mattress on top...
I am going to add a foam piece to fill the gap between the cave floor and the hull to reduce sound radiation... I suspect I will need to do this all across the cabin floor on the engine side...
For the factory, this would be an easy fix during construction to add a foam piece, with weep holes, as added sound barrier at almost no extra cost in materials or labor...

Denny-o

 

[Paradox]

My wife and I bought our EC21 with the idea we would be spending our time conversing while cruising. Although I thought the boat would be a little quieter, we have had no difficulty holding a conversation in the cabin or in the cockpit with guests - regardless of the engine rpm. Even with a canvas enclosure on the back, it has been easy to talk and hear conversation.

The biggest problem we have is the soothing drone of the little Yanmar is hypnotic - so whoever is not at the helm tends to want to snooze....

 

[dloop]

The biggest problem we have is the soothing drone of the little Yanmar is hypnotic - so whoever is not at the helm tends to want to snooze....

That is so true. I can't seem to go out on the boat without taking a nap sometime along the way.

dave

 

[rt11002003]

And I thought it was becasue I was growing older. 😉

Gene