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I am looking into purchasing a foam applicator gun and never having used one have several questions.
1. Foam Price
How does it compare to an aerosol bumb (ie. great stuff).
Bomb 12 oz = $4.00 vs applicator foam 27 oz = $13.00
Am I missing something?
2. Foam Availability
Is this stuff sold locally? Home Depot?
3. Gun model – I see guns ranging from $30.00 to over $100.00
What gun do you recomend and why. I don’t think I want a cheap
plastic one.
4. Foam Brand – What foam do you use and why.
5. Can I spray with the can Horizontal? Upside down?
6. If I use half a can I save the remainder? Can I leave the can on the
gun to use up the next day?
7. How do I clean it? Do I need to clean after each use? With what
solvent?
Thanks!
Replies
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Yes, they are worth it, don't waste any more time, just order one. Get the $100 gun from efi.org or I saw same gun for less in Warehousebay.com catalog. You can use one little squirt then let the gun sit for weeks and it will work. I've never used the cleaner. Those big cans hold a LOT of foam. Can't often find the cans locally, (never in Arkansaw) so I order several at a time over the net. Basically has to be held upright, you can cheat a little or attach tubing. I'm getting to where I could write an article on new uses for this stuff......shim drywall, glue rock to chimneys, firm up device boxes on studs, seal holes in truck floorboards, make anything mouse and bugproof, squirt a little in a plastic bag and have custom fit pad, might even make a sandwich. I just bought a backup from jrproductsinc.com so that I'll never be without one.
*I am building a house with an upstairs (knee walls, sloped ceilings) and used sprayed in cellulose backed by polyiso foam board -- had I known about foam guns, I'd have saved probably 100 manhours by not worring about fitting the foamboard so tightly. This has been discussed at length -- do a search on "foam gun". But like lonecat says, just order one.
*http://www.jrproductsinc.com/http://www.jrproductsinc.com/specials.html they have a special on now foam & guns.Good on line catalog of stuff. Buy one, you'll like it. Think I'll go out and foam the dog........Joe H
*Dear Pyro,These guys don't leave many crumbs for another foam gun enthusiast. So I'm digging deep here. You'll be surprised at how many applications this equipment has when you keep it handy. The product is actually a polyurethane very much like the expensive glues in the little bottles. So it makes a great glue applicator for woodworking. No stopper, single handed application, no squeezing, easy clean up with solvent (if wet) or scrapping. Water resistant, very fast set time, very strong joints. I've destructively tested laminations in a variety of species and the wood always fails before the glue line. Loving it, Fred
*Just go buy one. Windlock, on the web, sells them. Don'tbuy a cheap plastic gun - lay out the $100. Yes, they will sieze up - I've frozen two of them. The solvent will unfreeze them if you are patient enough. That means a coupla days w/ the can of solvent attached. Takes about 2 months to freeze one. Windlock will trade in a botched up Pageris guns (Switzerland made) for $49. I'm now on a first name basis w/ the lady that trades guns.I just had diarrhea for 5 months. Solved it w/ one shot of foam. better than a basket of corks and a mallet.Don
*yes, but don, now your eyes are brown..
*.. i went to the jr site and looked at the guns and foam..just as confused as ever...most of the foams seem to be triple expanding which plays hell with window & doors.. do you buy the minimal expanding ?and the steel guns look like they are all top loading, is that the kind you like ? or do you buy bottom loading.. upright discharge ?here's the link for the foam products: can anyone give a quick review ?http://www.jrproductsinc.com/catalog.html
*A few tips here:If you don't use the gun for a few months and you leave a half full can on the gun, your gun will freeze up. I am amazed to hear that a can of cleaner left on the gun has unfrozen a clogged gun. I tried this and it didn't work. Very frustrating. So, if the gun is going to sit for a while, run about a third to a half can of cleaner through the gun and then let it sit with the cleaner in the nozzle until you need to foam again. One last thing, half empty cans of foam, once removed from the gun are junk because the foam hardens around the valve. Anyone else have any different experiences here ?FWIW, I love the gun (when it's working) and have to say it's 1000 times better than those throwaway cans.
*Eyes have been brown since birth. Does that indicate what I am full of?Promise you can unfreeze a gun w/a can of solvent. Done it twice. Slow learner. Last gun was dropped off a scaffold and broke the trigger off; then frozen up over a two month period. Unfroze it in about two days. Sent back to Windlock and exchanged - even after I told her that it was recently frozen & trigger broken. $49 on a credit card & i had a new gun in 3 days.I've also been smart & removed a half can of foam; stored it for months. Removed the trash from around the can top and used it successfully.These guns make sliced bread, night baseball & canned soup look like garbage.Don
*don..yur the 1 who put a cork in it !hah, hah, hah... now what about the different types of foam & the top load / bottom load ?
*xMike: Yup - I'm the corker.The Pageris I like is a top loader. Haven't seen a bottom loader, so cannot comment. Tough getting used to a top loader, the can sticking up there is as unusual as a groung lug on top on an outlet. You get used to it, however. They don't dispense exxcept w/ the can up. Although, the max angle you can lay it over doesn't change as you deplete the can. I even found a way to set it down so the can is up. It is a natural reaction to set the dumb thing down on its can bottom. But then the goop all settles to the bottom, and you have to get used to turning it can up and waiting for the viscous goop to settle to the bottom so it will dispense adequately. The foam I buy from either Windlock or the local Kentec Megatool store comes in a low expansion variety - which is a relative term. My daughter did some foaming for me and never did get a good feel for how much foam to put in a crack so it would not expand out and generate a big lump along the line. I have a reasonably decent feel for the expansion properties, and have little coming out of my joints hours later. The cans hold a lot of foam, and last a long time - a coupla hundred feet of small crack.Look up Windlock at http://www.windlockselect.com; or call them at 800-854-6614. They are in PA. If they have a distributor in your vicinity, they will connect you w/ them. They also sell direct. Have a decent catalogue that they will send, showing all their neat stuff. If you work w/ ICF's or much foam, it comes in handy. A bit pricey, however.Hope this helped. Actually, I took 9 pills, each the size of the end of my little finger, a day for two months to kill the poops. A glob of foam would probably have been faster.Don
*I've checked on the guns at the sites mentioned on this thread and I am convinced of the need to get one.However, I have two questions remaining.1. Do these guns accept a particular type of foam can that is made for a universal fitting that all guns share ?I would like to be able to run into a local supplier and grab a can or two (if they are available.)2. If the top mounted can does get in the way, are there any accessories or another type of gun that allows the can to be connected to the gun by a length of tubing ? I have seen the guns with extra long nozzles, which may accomplish same thing.Another option may be to connect the dispenser nozzle onto a length of tubing and keep the gun/can intact.Thanks for your help,Alan
*I saw foam and guns in the newest Grainger catalog, also. The best gun has to be the Pageris. The second one I got is a steel one from JR that doesn't feel as good, but if it lasts, it'll be fine.My favorite foam is that PurFil from efi.org. Enerbond will also fit the Pageris, and is the only brand I've ever seen on the street. The stuff I just got from JR is "fomo" or something....has the same threads on the can as the others but I haven't tried it with the Pageris.These guns seem to be like your other tools, the fewer people touching them the longer they'll last. I've had the Pageris for over 2 years, using it sporadically 20 or 30 cans. Has never plugged, and I have let it set for months. And I've never touched the can of cleaner which came with it. I have scraped the tip with my knife a few too many times and now it leaks a little. And also my neighbor has it right now which is why I bought another.
*I have the Hilti, which is an excellant tool. Have left partial cans on the gun for months with no problems.
*I have the PurFil with my efi.org gun. No problems with the gun sitting for a couple of months. I learned about it from earlier postings on the subject a couple years ago on this Board and it came so highly recommended that I got it price be damned. One of the best things I ever bought. Regarding "run to local supplier and grab a can..": I don't know where you are located but efi. is in Mass., I'm in Albany NY and they get it to me the next day.