Looking into ordering an expanding foam gun, recommendations or more importantly, anyone have one they just hate and should be avoided?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Listeners write in about earning trade-work merit badges and ask questions about radiant cooling, indoor air quality, and radon-control systems.
Featured Video
Related Stories
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
Expanding foam gun?
Zat sumtin dat ya hijak a plane wit?
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
hilti makes a good one but $$$ and their product...
FoMo does to in the industrial strength... WhiteCap carries it .. so does Carlson Systems...
keep 'em clean.. or consider them disposable no matter what you get...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I can compare and contrast the Hilti and the Great Stuff Pro mid-range model.
Regarding ergonomics and control features, at about 2X the price the Hilti is a better gun by about a 4X factor. It feels more comfortable in your hand, the trigger is more sensitive, and the flow control is better.
I like the Great Stuff gun (it has a barbed tip that is replaceable) but the Hilti is a much better tool.
I'll attach a couple of shots of the two guns from different views.
One of the gun's I was looking at was the Great Stuff Pro Mid Range.
Went a free lunch thing last week and a Great Stuff rep was there, I liked the middle of the road version.
What's the cost comparision between buying by the can and buying with the gun?
Diffence in price between the Hilti and Great Stuff version?
If you could have only one, are you saying it would be the Great stuff version?
I picked up my Great Stuff gun at Carlson. The mid range gun was the one they recommended. The high end one cost about the same as the Hilti, IIRC.
I have only used Enerbond adhesive in the Great Stuff gun not the sealant. It's a 28 oz. can Used it to glue rigid foam to cement block walls. Cost about $20 for a can. (No case discount available, though). Comparing it to using tubes of PL300 I believe it's more cost effective and much easier on the hands and forarms. The product claims to replace 12-13 quart tubes. From my experience that claim is right on the money.
Testing my memory here but around here I think The Hilti Foam Sealant is about $5 more a can than the Great Stuff Sealant.
The disposible can variety Great Stuff is a PITA to use compared to using any gunned foam. It's so nice to be able set the foam aside and get back it it later and not have a clogged nozzle when you return. Hilti foam comes out it a nice contolled bead, expands but not too much (less waste) and skins over quicker than the Great Stuff.
Like I said I have not used the Great Stuff sealant so I can't compre it to the Hilti, only that HIlti is more expensive.
If I had to choose between the 2 brands I pick the Hilti as it handles better for me. I don't think it would be a bad thing to run Great Stuff foam through a Hilti gun, though Hilti when I contacted them would not say it was OK. WIth the HIlti costing not too much less than a C-note I'm not going to chance it.
I more than satisfied with both guns. In the end it's about $90 vfs. $45.
And, (shame on me), I've exceeded the 30 limit on the Great Stuff gun by about 6 weeks before and have had no problems. Always have a can of cleaner around to blow out the gun if you take the can off. If not the gun will be toast, so I'm told.
Hope I helped a little with your questions. But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. - Herman Melville
One more question...
Rep said you could keep the can hooked up in the Great Stuff gun so long as you used it no more then 30 days longer, said the stuff wouldn't harden or dry up...
Not sure I'm buying that line... ever tried it?
when i got my first gun i did a deal and bought 2 cases of foam and got the gun for free.for me that was a big mistake. by the time the foam was out of date i still had a whole case left. but if you are going to be using it you could see if they can do something similar?
BTW, I am guessing that all of these foam cans and guns are interchangable. Does anyone know if that is true or not?First of all I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Pageris Gun.Go a search here, it has been mentioned often in the past with good results.http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_28_1268This is on the consumer side. I think that on the commercial side they more products. But now they require registration and I have not bothered to do that.Some guns are definitely repairable. At least they sell parts for the.http://www.jrproductsinc.com/foam_guns.htmlhttp://www.todol.com/http://www.sipbiz.com/gun/And when comparing Great Stuff "pro" guns there are at least 3 diffeent models with greatly different prices.http://www.doityourself.com/icat/profoamdispensinggun
I wouldn't leave a gun hooked up without cleaning it more than a week or ten days, depending on temperature. Cool keeps a bit longer. Put it on your dash in the sun and two days might cook it off. My preference ios to clean it every day. each gun I have lost to gumbo was because I set it down thinking I'll be finishing this off tomaorrow... and it's three or four weeks before I get back to it...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I'll have to check the brand, but I forgot my nice brass expanding foam gun on top of a stack of ICFs for TWO YEARS and the half-used can was still good when I found it.
Amazing
Forrest
can you disassemble the hilti gun and clean it yourself ?
i have not found a gun yet that you could disassemble, so when they harden up, they are all junk.
at this point, i tend to lean toward the really inexpensive guns.
carpenter in transition
From the gun's outward appearance I wouldn't even try to take it apart myself. I'm not sure that it's even possible but I could be wrong.
On the other hand the Great Stuff gun I have looks disassembleable. I probably go a little overboard with the cleaner when I take the can off but I haven't had any problems with either gun.But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. - Herman Melville
timkline,
You're dead right about that. If you can't take the gun apart and fix it yourself, it ain't worth the effort it'd take to toss it in the shtcan.
There is one that I know of which can be dismantled and cleaned. There's no brand name on it but it has a blue aluminum handle and is Italian made.
Avoid the Pageris guns. I've had one last as little as a day. The tiniest nearly invisible speck of dirt will put them out of action. Ever see any dirt on a job site?
Ron
I've disassembled my enerfoam gun to clean twice. Third time, I threw it away, having come to the conclusion that my time was worth as much as a new gun
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
it was the great stuff gun and not the FoMo...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I have the Hilti gun and really enjoy it.
A couple tips that you should keep in mind.
1. The foams react with water. Use a spray water bottle in cracks, like window and door RO, first and then foam and it will expand and seal better.
2. Store the can upright (gun upside down) when not using. This keeps the charge in the can somehow and saves product from being wasted.
I got my gun for free at the HD when I purchased a case of foam and a can of cleaner. Now they only sell the Hilti foam with a special order so I tried the Great Stuff Pro and determined that it is almost identical and only $10 per can vs. $19 (I recall) for the Hilti.
The only down side is that the can lasts so long that if you want to use different products you might need two guns. Not a bad thing I guess if it improves efficiency.
Stu
I've had the Hilti for about 5 years, and always leave a can on the gun. Sometimes months go by between uses, never had a problem.
Bear
I have a Hilti, which is the Pageris with Hilti logo. Also have a couple of the cheaper all metal guns. They all work the same as far as I can see.
Do NOT drop them, if it lands on the tip it will bend or break the nozzle at the handle. Instant junk. With a can of foam it weighs enough to snap it off whe it hits.
Leave the can on, it will keep for months. I close the needle down, it's the knurled knob on the back of the gun. Keeps it tight against the seat so it doesn't leak.
They do come apart, goop everything up with vaseline when you reassemble it. Keeps the stuff from sticking in the threads.
I've used Hilti foam, Enerfoam, couple other brands. All the same or close enuff you'll never notice. When it gets old, out of date it doesn't foam as well, but sets up still.
And eventually every piece of clothing you own will have at least one snot colored glob somewhere. Can of spray carb cleaner from auto parts cleans it up when it's still wet, or acetone.
Joe H
Joe H
I'm with you Joe,My Pageris gun looks just like Hilti. I've had it for 6 years. Never stored it without the can of Enerfoam attached! It can go 6 months without use still attached to foam can. Cold weather, hot weather, inside truck, whatever. Sometimes you need to scrape off the dried foam from the tip with a razor knife, just do not scrape inside the tip, as this is where the seal is that stops the foam from comming out. Scratch that and the gun becomes useless. Vaseline threads when changing cans occasionally so it will unscrew in a year.E-mail me for info on less expensive supplier of foam and guns.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Since they're both made by Dow, is Enerfoam another brand name for Great Stuff?I've been using the Pur foam that comes from the same supplier as the Pageris foam gun, but the Great Stuff foam seems much better: less air bubbles after curing, more flexible so it'll flex with seasonal framing changes. I'm looking for a local distributor of the Great Stuff Pro cans.
I got my Great Stuff cans from Home Depot's online site. They were having a free shipping offer, so I stocked up.
I don't know if they carry it in the store. Our closest HD is about 20 mins away. I've got 2 or 3 lumberyards, 2 Lowes and a Menards or two that are closer.jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
All I can find hereabouts are the cans with the nozzles. I've got it over the Internet from HD but they are very slow to ship. Wish EFI carried it.
Don't know if this is for the pro cans or just any Great Stuff in general:
http://greatstuff.dow.com/greatstuff/pro/distrib.htm
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Thanks, none of those places are close and there's no point in calling, they'll assume I'm talking about the cans with straws no matter how carefully I try to explain. Oh well might as well waste half a day checking it out, when I could just be ordering in 5 mins over the internets.
here in quebec, we can get a can of enerfoan plus gun for cheap (40$cdn) or a hilti for a hundred, no can. i've used both the cheap guns and the swiss guns for the past 15 years, and almost never used cleaner (never saw it on the shelves till 5 years ago) one difference tween the cheap guns and the pricey ones-- you'll spend time trying to fix a pricey gun, but it's real easy to pick up a cheap replacement. be sure the foam is not real old, but fresh stuff will last month or more in the gun. put some vaseline around the threads before installing on the first can to make change-over easier. and don't shake it before installing on the gun! you'll never go back to the home-owner's cans, unless you've lost your gun, and you've got no choice.... carpenter in a can enjoy.
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_28_1268
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_28_65
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_28_932
http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/21_28_934
The EFI stuff is all Pur foam, which I've used but the Great Stuff I've found is better (as I mentioned above).Thanks for the ABC Supply links, that sounds like my best bet.
http://www.abcsupply.com/contact/statelistingexec.asp?strState=NJ
http://www.abccatalog.com/store/listcategoriesandproducts.asp?idCategory=795
I've used the Hilti (very good) and the cheapest gun I could find online (ok/soso).
If the foam will screw on, it will work with any of the guns. Of course Hilti isn't going to give business away so they want you to use their foam, but it doesn't matter.
The cheap gun is slightly harder to adjust and use, but not by much. However, there is a huge difference in how the gun must be treated! The Hilti, and probably most of the better guns, have better valves at the tip and thus the foam can't cure and plug the tip. As others have said, we could leave the Hilti for months and never wonder if it would work.
The cheap gun has to be used every other week or so, or the cured foam starts to work back past the tip valve. Even if used every day, the tip requires some messing with to clear the cured foam enough to allow the foam to dispense properly.
Definitely buy two cans of cleaner. One can is to clean the gun in an emergency when you run out of foam, or if you plan on putting the gun away for a long time. The other can is to clean uncured foam off tools or your hands when you really make a mess and can clean up quickly. It simply seems like acetone in a spray can.
As others have said, the foam cures better with moisture and lightly misting an area helps the foam stick and cure better, but it will cure regardless with moisture in the air.
Another nice feature of the Hilti is the molded case that holds a case of foam and the gun. Just throwing a foam gun into a pile of tools is a surefire way to eventually either damage the gun or have what resembles an anglefood cake with tools mixed in.
:-)
Our local yard (Barnes) carries Touch n Foam pro brand.
http://www.touch-n-foam.com/pro.htm
The cans of foam (regular and low expansion) are under 8 or 9 bucks and their low end gun is under $20. I have let mine sit for over a month with the can attached and it still worked fine. The only time I plugged one up and ruined it was pulling off the empty can and not having another one to put right back on, and no cleaner either. By the time I got back from the yard with a fresh can and some cleaner the gun was plugged solid.
I have the Hilti gun and it works great. I also treat my tools horribly, rarely clean them, drop them on concrete from atop a ladder, etc. The Hilti has never jammed up after leaving it more than 30 days, and a utility knife will scrape off the old hard foam on the tip before my next use. I love this gun, worth every penny. I just wish the can could be adjusted - sometimes it's just in the way... but all the guns are like this.
BTW, one thing Great Stuff Pro has going fo it, besides price, is that it is a code rated fireblock. It has a bright orange color for inspection purposes. I stopped using Hilti foam and switched over to GSP.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
MR T bought one of the great stuff guns a couple of months ago. Check him out.
Wake me up before you go-go.
I've been using the Great Stuff gun for 8 mo.s or so now. My only complaint is that I can't get replacement straws for the tip. After multiple cleanings/reamings you'll wear out the straw. Not to mention that bending it to fit/follow tight spaces ends up flexing the barbed end to where it won't hold as well, then you snip a little off and continue.
Have had icemaker tubing suggested as a replacement, but I haven't had a chance to try that yet.