spray foam?

[MR2NR]

So after a night the sample did not take on any more water than the initial submerge but taking a lighter to it helps a lot. It shrinks a lot also so keep that in mind. I think Ill run the boat a couple times and see how much water stays trapped. I really don't know if any water will get in the hull unless I break the seal :). Anyone have any other input on this? We really need a "Flotation aid" Sticky somewhere unless I haven't found it :)

[1945dave]

I certainly hope u were not implying I don't know how to apply the stuff cause I have been there and done that a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago. I seriously doubt u have slept as many nights in this hobby as I have. This stuff went out of style in the 80"s and I go well back of that!!!!

Relax Curt,

I probably slept many more nights than you have in this hobby but I agree with you we (us oldtimers) learned the hard way to be careful using mixing types of foam for floatation. I also learned the hard way to secure my swimming pool noodles to the rails or motor mount and not just stuff them under the deck. Getting old only has a few good points so make the best of it and let the younger guys that think they know so much more than us fossels use what ever they like. Don't take offense because one guy makes remarks to suggest you don't know what you are doing or take it personally.

By the way I know somebody asked what the difference was between open cell and closed cell foam. I don't recall anyone trying to explain it. So the simple answer is a kitchen sink sponge is open cell. You can absorb and hold water until you squeeze it out, great for washing dishes, not so much for my boats floatation.

Dave

[crrcboatz]

Relax Curt,

I probably slept many more nights than you have in this hobby but I agree with you we (us oldtimers) learned the hard way to be careful using mixing types of foam for floatation. I also learned the hard way to secure my swimming pool noodles to the rails or motor mount and not just stuff them under the deck. Getting old only has a few good points so make the best of it and let the younger guys that think they know so much more than us fossels use what ever they like. Don't take offense because one guy makes remarks to suggest you don't know what you are doing or take it personally.

By the way I know somebody asked what the difference was between open cell and closed cell foam. I don't recall anyone trying to explain it. So the simple answer is a kitchen sink sponge is open cell. You can absorb and hold water until you squeeze it out, great for washing dishes, not so much for my boats floatation.

Dave

hey u r right! 34yrs in the hobby should serve me and hopefully others as well. In the end if they don't want to take advise from been there and done that so be it. I just remember faithfully how awful cleaning all that stuff out of my boats was!!

[1945dave]

hey u r right! 34yrs in the hobby should serve me and hopefully others as well. In the end if they don't want to take advise from been there and done that so be it. I just remember faithfully how awful cleaning all that stuff out of my boats was!!

I can't calculate how long I have been in this hobby. My first radio was a heathe kit escapement one channel in 1959, that my Dad built for me. (Let the young guys figure that out). My first hobby grade multi-channel proportional radio was a two channel EK Logic. I joined the IMPBA in 1971 and have been competing more or less since then. I remember our club buying two 30 gallon drums of two part foam. We went nuts trying to find things to do with the stuff. Originally we thought we would make our turn bouys out of the stuff and maybe even sell them to other IMPBA clubs. It took us all of one session to see what a mess the exploding bouys made when somebody hit them during a race. Then we had a ton of guys that filled, as in fully filled, their hulls with the stuff. The guys that had light colored boats like white or pail yellow didn't have it so bad. But the guys that had dark colored boats like Black, or Dark Green watched in horror as their boats starting bulging and even split apart in the hot New Orleans sun and that was sometimes months after the stuff was poured in the boat. Still some of my most fond memories of the early days was watching how other guys tried to reinvent the wheel with a different idea about floatation. One such friend used 56 ping pong balls coated with epoxy. when they started to break apart down the back straight during a contest his boat looked like it should have been called "Jiffy Pop" with all the balls flying out the hatch and littering the pond. Before we had swimming pool noddles many of us used actual sections from life jackets filled with kapoc. I would NOT trade the old days for anything. It gives us such a greater appreciation for how far this hobby has come and how the younger guys of today never had a clue what the early pioneers of this hobby had to do to get us here today.

I didn't study history, back then it was called current events.

[Doby]

Are we all done patting each other on the back for how long we have been in the hobby...

Been into this for 35 years and you know what that means....nothing.

[crrcboatz]

Are we all done patting each other on the back for how long we have been in the hobby...

Been into this for 35 years and you know what that means....nothing.

Appears it doesn't to u but that doesn't make it so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! lol

OH and I may just continue to pat myself and others on the back too!!!!!! lol

[tlandauer]

By the way I know somebody asked what the difference was between open cell and closed cell foam. I don't recall anyone trying to explain it. So the simple answer is a kitchen sink sponge is open cell. You can absorb and hold water until you squeeze it out, great for washing dishes, not so much for my boats floatation.

Dave

Dave, thank you very much, I was the one who asked that question. I now understand the issue, however, if I may make an observation: the compressed can stuff cures smooth, the surface is closed cell, the problem I guess people are having is that when they cut the cured foam to re-shape or re-size , once the "skin" is cut away, inside is quite open celled. Now I brushed on a thin layer of Finishing Epoxy and never had any problem with water -trapping.
The two-part foam, on the other hand, I saw the outter skin with lots of holes, maybe mine has been on the shelf for too long, but I didn't see how that is being "close cell foam".
Hence, my original question/confusion.

[Doby]

Go to your local corner store, buy an Arrow bar, take a bite and look what you will see, lots of little holes but they are all closed off behind the bite marks....Therefore, they are closed cell.

[tlandauer]

Got it!!! Thanks!

[viper1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam

[kevinpratt823]

Update: The spray foam definitely absorbs water, had some in my radio box of Stiletto, and it squeezed out like a sponge.
Also, I have now mixed and used several batches, in several applications, of epoxy foam from Kintec, and I have found it extremely easy to work with and have had no problems yet, I like it.

[tlandauer]

Update: The spray foam definitely absorbs water, had some in my radio box of Stiletto, and it squeezed out like a sponge.
Also, I have now mixed and used several batches, in several applications, of epoxy foam from Kintec, and I have found it extremely easy to work with and have had no problems yet, I like it.

Yes, the Kintec stuff is easy to work with provided one doesn't over do it in ONE pouring.
Now which Brand of Spay foam did you use, I am surprised that you can squeeze it, on mine ( someone else did the spray) it cured like a rock. Now you got me worried since I can't squeeze! Man, I like to squeeze!
I must say I did not have water absorbtion issue, also I sealed the open cell with a light coat of Epoxy when I first got that used boat.

[kevinpratt823]

Yes, the Kintec stuff is easy to work with provided one doesn't over do it in ONE pouring.
Now which Brand of Spay foam did you use, I am surprised that you can squeeze it, on mine ( someone else did the spray) it cured like a rock. Now you got me worried since I can't squeeze! Man, I like to squeeze!
I must say I did not have water absorbtion issue, also I sealed the open cell with a light coat of Epoxy when I first got that used boat.

It was the regular "Great Stuff". It does usually cure hard, but the stuff in my radio box must have had some water in there with it for some time, and it got spongy.

[TheShaughnessy]

If u r gonna use great stuff you want to get the blue can. The red can is more likely to pop ur boat apart.

[larz001]

im glad i found this discussion,, being a relitive newbee i wasnt sure about the spray foam vs the mixed, to me it looks like they both might have their good points and bad,, i think for now i will use the pool noodles, and hope for the best