The foam does not work. What went wrong?
It seems that everything goes wrong. The whole world is full of foam but it doesn’t look right or is not in the right place. It is important to understand what went wrong.
From the list provided below you’ll find the most common problems if the foam from the canister does not work as expected.
1. The foam does not stay in the joint. Check the width of the joint to be filled; with gun foam, you can fill joints of up to 80 mm, and joints of up to 50 mm with straw foam. If the width of the joint corresponds to the standard, the problems may be caused by cool air, i.e. either the canister is too cold or the temperature at the location is too low. Poor adhesion can also be caused by too high air humidity which, among other things, also causes the foam to shrink. Also, the foam does not stay in the joint if the joint’s surfaces are oily, dusty or otherwise dirty and/or uneven. Clean the joints before installing the foam.
2. The foam is brittle and its structure is poor. The temperature at the location/of the canister is too low and/or the air humidity at the location/of the canister is too low. Namely, the foam needs enough water for expanding to develop the right chemical reaction.
3. The foam does not set. The problem can be caused by insufficient air humidity. Moisten the base surface before starting to work, yet be reasonable as the foam does not bond with the surface if it’s too moist. One of the reasons can be that the components have not been mixed properly. Shake the canister at least 20 times before using the foam. The foam does not set if the temperature of the work environment is out of the correct range.
4. Canister leakage. Improper storing, mechanical damage and corrosion in damp storage rooms may create holes in the canisters. Canisters stored in improper conditions may also burst. Keep the canister away from heaters and open flame.
5. Adhesion of seals. Within a certain period, the seals of canisters stored in a horizontal position will become sticky. Keep the canisters in a vertical position.
6. The foam does not come out well. There are several reasons for that: too low temperature, the foams’ storage time has been exceeded or the foam has been stored at too high a temperature.
