Polyurethane foam in the modern world is used in almost all types of repair and construction works. It is used during the installation of doors, windows and window sills, plumbing fixtures. Also, this building material has found wide application as a heater - they fill up cracks and cracks with it, sandwich panels and various heaters are made from it.
The main advantage of polyurethane foam is usability.
Types of polyurethane foam
In order to figure out how to use the mounting foam correctly, consider its varieties. Today, modern industry makes three types of this material: professional and household cylinders, as well as two-component mounting foam (in this article we will not consider it, since it is used only in production conditions). What is their difference? What kind of preference? How to use a cylinder with mounting foam The main criterion for choosing this material is its purpose.
Professional foam (pistol)
This material is sold in cylinders from 1.5 l and differs in that it can only be used with the aid of a mounting gun. It is used, as a rule, by professional builders, since such a design allows you to easily and quickly perform work.
Using a gun greatly facilitates the dosage of the material. For one-time work in domestic conditions, the material is not very convenient, because after use you need to wash the gun, and this is an additional financial cost. There are manufacturers who complete cylinders with a spray tube. But to apply professional foam from it is not economical, since a high pressure increases its consumption.
Residential foam
It is sold in tubes, the capacity of which is 0.6-0.8 l, and is equipped with a tube. It is intended for single use. It is convenient for filling small spaces and correcting various assembly imperfections. Household polyurethane foam is endowed with the same properties as professional use. The kit must have a tube. If necessary, you can use both the cylinder and the gun.
The cost of professional foam is much higher than household foam, and this is mainly due only to the difference in their volume.
Gun design
Before you learn how to use a can of foam with mounting foam, first let's look at the design of the gun. Regardless of the manufacturer? its device is the same and quite simple:
- If the supply of household foam occurs through a PVC tube, then in the gun it is carried out through a metal with a special tip - a nozzle. The tip hole is 5 times smaller than the cross section of the feed tube, thereby increasing the working pressure of the mixture.
- The cylinder is connected through an adapter - adapter, which is mounted on the gun body.
- The purpose of the adjusting screw is to dispense the mixture output.
- The handle of this tool is aluminum or plastic. It is attached to the trunk with a nut. Thanks to the collapsible design, the gun is easy to clean from solidified residues.
- The trigger serves to feed the mixture from the cylinder.
How to install a balloon on a gun
In order to learn how to use the gun for polyurethane foam, we will first consider how to insert it:
- The first thing to do is to warm the foam bottle in hot water to room temperature and shake thoroughly for 20-25 seconds to bring the polyurethane foam to a homogeneous state. Foam will come out of a homogeneous consistency and in full.
- The container on top is covered with a protective cap, which must be removed before installation. Then place the gun with the handle down. When connecting, hold the device firmly with one hand on the handle, and wind the balloon with the other with rotational movements on the adapter. Evidence of connection is a hiss, which indicates the arrival of foam. If this sound was not, this indicates a malfunction of the input ball valve or the expiration of the foam itself. To eliminate such a problem, the gun will have to be disassembled and cleaned of dried old material.
- After shaking, the device is put into position with the handle down. The adjusting screw is turned a quarter of a turn and pulled the trigger, sending the barrel into the bag. When the consistency of the foam is normal, get to work.
Polyurethane foam: how to use a spray can with a gun?
For work with polyurethane foam special skills are not required. It will be quite enough once or twice to try to foam something, and everything will work out. Consider the sequence of work and some nuances:
- First of all, it is necessary to prepare the surface on which the mounting foam will be applied, to clean it of dirt and dust. Then moisten it with plenty of water, as the adhesion process is better with a damp surface. This can be done with a spray gun.
- Now mounting foam is applied. How to use a gun? There is nothing complicated here. The only thing you need to do is get used to dispense the foam output.
- The nozzle of the gun must be directed to the prepared surface and, gently pulling the trigger, apply the required amount of foam. You should know that vertical slots are filled from the bottom up. Wide slots are foamed in zigzag movements.
- The mixture squeezed out of the gun, when in contact with air, tends to expand greatly, so fill it with free space by no more than 1/3 of the volume. After the first layer has hardened, the non-foamed areas are then better to supplement. Removing excess foam is an additional cost and a waste of time.
- Despite the fact that the tool has a fairly long barrel, it may not be able to cope with some inaccessible places. Here you can use the extension adapter - a kind of flexible hose that fits over the tool barrel.
- After applying the foam, wait until it hardens. How much is needed for this time? As a rule, the complete polymerization of such a building material requires approximately 6-8 hours. So, in any case, the manufacturer claims, however, in practice, as a rule, the situation is somewhat different - the duration of the curing foam hardening directly depends on its volume and in some cases reaches 12 hours.
- After the foam hardens, it is necessary to cut off its excess with a sharp knife or use a file for metal.
Polyurethane foam is a material sensitive to ultraviolet rays, which under their influence is destroyed, changes color and crumbles. If polyurethane sealant is used outdoors, then after complete drying and removal of excess, it must be covered with cement mortar.
How to use polyurethane foam with a straw?
If a gun is not provided for the cylinder (in household foam), then instead of it a PVC tube is included in the kit, which is screwed onto the adapter. The principle of operation is identical to professional foaming. It is not always convenient to work with such a cylinder, but for one-time use it is great. This option will be ideal in that situation if you plan to close up small seams.
So, what are the disadvantages of mounting foam? How to use it, we have already figured out. Now let's look at the disadvantages of such material:
- It is not possible to dose the contents of the container, which increases the consumption of foam.
- The inconvenience of working with this tool. Holding the bottle upside down manually is quite tiring and even inconvenient. The arm often gets tired, and constant breaks are needed.
Using foam without a gun and tubing
Occasionally, professional mounting foam without a gun may be used. How to use a cylinder? In this situation, you will have to pick up a tube for the foam to exit and figure out how to press the valve. Figuratively, this process can be represented as follows: you need to let the air out of the bicycle chamber so that it can all get to the desired point and at the same time does not catch its hands.
In this case, choose a tube of 3 parts: the first and third are flexible, and the second is solid. The valve is pressed in the middle part, the first prevents the mounting foam from spraying, and the third already brings it to the treatment site.
Conclusion
So, we examined the mounting foam. How to use such material, we also learned. But do not forget about the protection of hands and face, as the foam is washed quite hard. It’s much cheaper to buy an extra pair of gloves than buying a solvent or walking around with your hands dirty.