Keeping Material Warm

Custom Rig with 4 Barrel BlazersWhy should you keep your material warm? Quick and simple: Cold material is unusable. When it’s cold it thickens and damages your equipment. The best way to prevent this is using a drum warmer or insulation/barrel jacket. Using these stocked in your building or rig will keep your material warm and ready to use and prevent costly equipment repairs and/or replacements. 

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Filtering Chemical

Long ago (maybe 45 years) my old company evolved mostly into a spray foam roofing contractor from just an insulator. Because of the iso particles and small size screens, and yes, not doing a good job of sealing the iso drums. This was always a recipe for a pile of disaster. I kept shooting myself in the foot and no one would help to unload the gun. 

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The Right Transfer Pump

Transfer Pump in drumHaving the right transfer pump for your material is important for success. Not all pumps are the same. When looking at transfer pumps, look for a pump that can handle the materials you use, is easy to clean and can fit into the drum size you need. When in doubt, check your material against the transfer pump manual. This will help you identify proper ratio, cycles per gallon, psi and other important factors.

How to Minimize SPF Material Waste

Using New Spray Foam Material

When using new material, always check the manufacturer’s SDS for recommendations on spraying. Every material sprays differently in different environments and by following recommendations provided, you will be able to spend less time making adjustments and increase material yield.

Don’t run out of material in your transfer pump

When using your transfer pump a variety of issues can occur, the most common being running out of material. As soon as the pump runs out of material, it will cavitate from loss of fluid trying to pump air and most often run wild until the operator shuts it down. Having the pump run out of material can cause damage resulting in shut down repair time or even permanent damage to the pump, costing time and money to replace.  

Keep Your Material Warm

Having warm material is very important for spray foaming, however, it is easy to think a few degrees won’t make a difference. It is important for the health of your equipment and the quality of your work to wait for those few extra degrees to get you the best quality 

Remember to always warm up material to the manufacturers recommended temperature to get the best spray! 

Changing Over Material

Logan ManifoldChanging material from Open Cell to Closed Cell or vice versa can result in many issues with product loss, cross contamination or time loss.  By using the Logan Manifold you are able to quickly and efficiently change from one material type to the next without wasting extra time or material. 

Material Spraying Issues

It’s less common when material will not spray on the ‘A’ side and ‘B’ side at the same time, but when it happens, there could be a number of factors at play. If you find yourself in this position, take a look at these common reasons;

  1. Proper operation of the pumping system. (execute initial startup checks)
  2. The product cold, it doesn’t flow properly.
  3. Failing delivery supply like transfer pump wear or neglect.
  4. Your regulator could be malfunctioning; Are you getting enough air supply to your Transfer Pump?
  5. Failing packings from wear or neglect.
  6. Clogged screens can also cause major issues in proper flow.
  7. Recent crossover in hose or contamination within the gun itself.

Reduce Pocketing in Studs

There are different ways to spray Open Cell foam to eliminate pocketing when spraying studs. Depending on the manufacturer you are using, they will recommend vertical or horizontal spray techniques – because of the chemical compound and how it settles in. For example; Rhino Linings recommends spraying horizontally with their Thermal Guard Open Cell. In doing so, I can improve my overall spray quality and deliver a better end-product.