Last year I broke down and bought a real foam gun - the type that uses
the replacable cans of foam. Man what a difference it makes over those
crappy cans they sell at HD and Lowes.

I need to buy some more foam for a project and have noticed a wide
price range - for example, at fastenmsc.com a 32 oz can of Enerfoam is
$18 but a 29 oz can of TriggerFoam is only $9. I've also noticed that
HD now sells Hilti foam, but I can't recall the price per oz.

My question - is there any reason to go with a particular brand of
foam? My gut reaction is that urethane foam is urethane foam (like a
chemist friend likes to say, "it's just molecules") and since the
connectors that attach the can to the gun all look to be the same, it
doesn't make sense to buy expensive foam. But then again, I don't know
what the long term effects are - does cheap foam break down over time
or something?

What are your thoughts? Any reason not to go for the low-cost foam?

Thanks
Rob

NOTE to reply directly to my e-mail, take off the underscore and
everything after it.

Any reason not to go for the low-cost foam?

Let's say it again: the better stuff costs more money. There are many possible
urethane foam formulations all of which vary wildly in their performance and
properties.

does cheap foam break down over time or something?

Of course it does. Heat and moisture will cause some formulations to revert
partially to their unreacted state, i.e., they turn to goop. Others will
oxidize, turn to brittle chunks or powdery crumbles. The idea that there is
only one kind of foam is way wrong, so if your project needs long term survival
don't waste your time on marginal projects. HTH

Joe

On 2 Mar 2004 19:36:30 -0800, (Rob Patrick) wrote:

|Last year I broke down and bought a real foam gun - the type that uses
|the replacable cans of foam. Man what a difference it makes over those
|crappy cans they sell at HD and Lowes.

I've been thinking along those lines, did not know there was a step between the
cans and a high-dollar pro outfit. What is it that you bought?

I would like to insulate the fiberglass spa recessed in my deck. I can access it
from below. Would this thing be suitable fro spraying a large surface area, or
is it a caulking thing?
Rex in Fort Worth

I have heard they sell foam in maybe 20 lb containers at HD but am not
sure of size or quality

Many different types of polyurethane foam.

TDI
MDI
polyether
prepolymer
rigid
semi-rigid
flexible
high resiliant
water blown
solvent blown
CFC blown


"Rob Patrick" wrote in message
om...
Last year I broke down and bought a real foam gun - the type that uses
the replacable cans of foam. Man what a difference it makes over those
crappy cans they sell at HD and Lowes.

I need to buy some more foam for a project and have noticed a wide
price range - for example, at fastenmsc.com a 32 oz can of Enerfoam is
$18 but a 29 oz can of TriggerFoam is only $9. I've also noticed that
HD now sells Hilti foam, but I can't recall the price per oz.

My question - is there any reason to go with a particular brand of
foam? My gut reaction is that urethane foam is urethane foam (like a
chemist friend likes to say, "it's just molecules") and since the
connectors that attach the can to the gun all look to be the same, it
doesn't make sense to buy expensive foam. But then again, I don't know
what the long term effects are - does cheap foam break down over time
or something?

What are your thoughts? Any reason not to go for the low-cost foam?

Thanks
Rob

NOTE to reply directly to my e-mail, take off the underscore and
everything after it.