Floatation foam test!

[kfxguy]

Saw this at Home Depot. The display looks promising. Something new I've never seen before, so I grabbed a can. If this stuff works like the display showed, it's going to be much easier to use. It shows that it cures inside of it unlike regular spray foam. Let's find out! I'll apply it in a few things to see what it does then cut it apart after a day or so to see if it cured. If this stuff works it's only $6 a can. Loctite has been known to have good products so I'm excited to see how it does.

[JimClark]

question is will it soak up water?

[kfxguy]

question is will it soak up water?

Good question! I sprayed some in a foam cup. Half way and marked it. That will let me know how much it expands. I'll cut that apart once it cures.

Next I sprayed some out in the open into a big giant blob on a piece of cardboard. When that cures I'll remove the card board, weight it and then put it in a bucket of water for an hour and then weigh it again. That will tell me how much water it soaks up (if any).


Then last I filled up a lexan proboat stand with it. Kinda like a lexan Rc car body but shaped to fit a mono hull in it. That will test the strength. And see if it deforms it. Stay tuned. It says one hour to cure but I'm gonna give a little longer on what I'm cutting apart. The consistency is definitely different than great stuff.


I know a lot of you don't like foam for floatation, but I like to use it myself. If you know how to use it correctly (I did some of my own testing with two part and I did ruin a hull with some great stuff) it does work well. I feel so confident about it that I have it in every one of my boats and add some to the rtrs I get.

[ray schrauwen]

Interesting reference video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PVOfoUD5MvI

[grsboats]

I've been using it to fill part of the sponsons on my riggers...works good but takes more time to cure than the two part foam.

[kfxguy]

I filled this boat stand up to where the foam was even with the bottom. This is how much it expanded.








And I'm impatient so I cut it open. It's cured on the outside and it's not porus but I'm disappointed at this point.....it's a gooey mess on the inside

[ray schrauwen]

Yep. Doby has explained his technique of using small fist size amounts of foam at a time letting it cure for 24hours and repeat. It can take as long as a week to do a 34" mono.

He told me he now uses a "green" version that allows you to reuse the foam at will. My video post above gives many tips/tricks to give you the possibility of stopping and restarting can spray foam contrary to the can label saying one time use only.

When my health is better I will try some of those techniques.

[785boats]

Just check on the can whether it states 'closed cell'. If it doesn't, it will absorb water. Like a sponge.

[kfxguy]

I'll cut the blob open tomorrow. Or should I just see if it absorbs water? I can cut the one in the styrofoam cup open instead. If it's still gooey like I experienced earlier then it's basically the same at great stuff except a different color and seemingly more of a closed cell.

[785boats]

Just bear in mind also that if the foam doesn't fully cure, later on asay a month down the track, if the boat is left in the sun it may well grow again & split your boat in two. There are many horror stories on that one.
Sometimes it can even shrink & suck the skins of the boat inwards.

[T.S.Davis]

You could weigh it, submerge it, weigh it again. Sorry if you mentioned that already.

I had two part poly shrink and deform my boat too. Foam wasn't the perfect answer I had hoped for.

I did see some guys at the Flint trials that had lined their boats with plastic wrap before 2 part foaming. Similar to doby they filled in small batches so there were no traps during cure. With the plastic wrap in there it's not actually adhered to the fiberglass. Shrinkage doesn't warp anything. Slick idea.

[ray schrauwen]

Cool advice Terry. I too had a nightmare with 2 part foam in a Titan 33. The deck went up and down depending on the temperature.

[modvp55]

I use the 2 part foam and go in with a hack saw blade, I cut it along the deck surface so if it expands or contracts a bit it does not effect the hull. I do it in multiple pores and wait a day in between. The can stuff uses air while the 2 part foam is a chemical reaction.

[longballlumber]

PingPong balls... I think Norm told me that trick.

[ray schrauwen]

Another great method.

If you're real crazy you could mix the ping pong balls with spray foam.