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SPFer
Posted: Jun 04, 2010 11:29 AM
Interesting project
Got a new one here. A contractor wants to fill steel tubes. They are 6" in diameter, 3/8" thick, and they vary in lengths from 6'-22'. The specs say to fill with expandable spf. Open, closed not specified. He can drill some intermitten holes in the pipes.

I don't see any way to fill without holes. I imagine if he drills a 1" hole every 2' we would be able to fill these puppies up pretty well.

Any thoughts?
Posted: Jun 04, 2010 11:40 AM
Hi John

Unless there are some sort of small firewalls in the pipe, you can use a slow rise foam, similar to floation foam.

We use for cmu blocks. Lapolla and BASF make a 2 Pound(1.7) version and all you need to do is lower your temps to 105-115 and spray in.

Cover one side of the pipe, stand up and drop from the top. It will go in as a liquid and slowly expand.

I am not sure about a 6" pipe, but on cinder blocks, we can only rise about 2-3 ft at a time due to the heat.

Call your foam supplier and ask, if not, I can give you my contact at BASF or Lapolla. Should be pretty straight forward though using the 2 pound. I am not so sure about open cell though.

Steve
Terrance Harris
Posted: Jun 04, 2010 04:56 PM
Nothing new about this. You can use 2# pour foam, also called flotation foam. Used in buoys, boats, barges, tanker trucks, reefers, etc. Goes in as a liquid as bayou boy said. Up to 30 seconds before reaction time depending on formulation and heat settings. You best have a lot of pipe to fill up to justify buying a kit. Do some calculations before pulling trigger or you will have a big mess.As usual, don't go by supplier yield predications. Figure 300 to 350 cubic feet per kit. A continueous pour on each pipe will minimize voids. Better yield if pipe is warm (less heat sink). It is easy work.
John Shockney
Posted: Jun 05, 2010 11:30 AM
There is a pour tip available for the P-2 gun that you can put a piece of ¼ inch ID tubing on of any length that you need. When using this tip I lower the temp and pressure and have been able to fill some deep voids by running the tubing down into them.

You do have to watch out for the tubing plugging up and don’t let it plug the gun.

If you keep the temp down you shouldn’t need to use a slow rise foam I have used open cell to injection fill walls and you should be able to fill pipes with no problems if the spec will let you. That would cost a lot less than closed cell.

Hope this helps
Airpro
Posted: Jun 06, 2010 07:03 AM
we fill 55 gallon drums with 2# pour..
i do it in multiple lifts because there is still
significant exotherm with the kickover of the system,,,
i saw 155 -195 degrees at the surface in a 10-12" pour in the drums,,,,
internal charring is not a good thing,,,
so i would pour a drum,,move to the next,,,and hit the 15 -20 that we were fillng,,,which gave time for the foam to cool in the first drum to about 90 degrees before we hit it with the second lift...took 4-5 lifts to top em off...
there is "extension tips" for the confusion gun as well,,,and the 1/2" tip will stream it nicely to the bottom of these drums,,
Robert Jordan
Posted: Jun 10, 2010 10:41 AM
I have jet tip for my Probler 2 that can spray about 6 feet in a 2x6 cavity. In a 2x8 I have gone about 8 feet. Don't know what your success would be in a 6" diameter pipe. You need to be able to aim the thing to get to the bottom. Otherwise the foam will rise on the surface it hits.

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