Tailgunner wrote:
Brian Nystrom wrote:

Tailgunner wrote:

Brian Nystrom wrote:

Tailgunner wrote:

Anybody use this in a marine environment? How does it hold up? I'm
using it for a leaning post seat covered in vinyl.




Ethafoam is not closed-cell and depending on the density you use, it
can absorb quite a bit of water. The lower the density, the more
this is an issue. The 2# and to some degree the 4# density are not
well suited to a wet environment. The heavier 6# and 9# densities
don't absorb as much. The difference is due to the smaller pores on
the denser foams.




Interesting. It's stamped "Ethafoam" on the side. It truly does
appear to be closed cell, but I have been wrong before, just ask the
wife.

I'll take a test piece and soak and see what happens.



It's expanded polyethylene foam. Most of the cells are not
interconnected, but enough are to pose water absorption issues. The
large cells in the lighter foams are more likely to have substantial
connections than the smaller cells in the denser foams. It also has
rather low abrasion resistance and it will compress permanently if you
put pressure on it for an extended period of time. It's primarily used
as disposable/sacrificial packaging, similar to the way Styrofoam is
used, except that Ethaboam can be used to protect much heavier objects.


Thank you for taking the time to answer this. We use it at work to line
crates and it seemed to be perfect for what I needed. We have huge
sheets of it and I was going to use 2" for a leaning post seat.

One last question if you don't mind. Can you suggest something for my
application?

I made a seat pan for the leaning post I'm building from a piece of 8"
PVC that I cut lengthwise and flattened to form a 90. I used a heat
blanket and several cinder blocks to achieve this. It worked like a
charm. My plan was to glue the ethafoam to the pvc and then wrap it in
vinyl.

If the question is about gluing, it's very difficult to glue Ethafoam,
since it's polyethylene. In packaging, it's typically fused together
with heat (hot air or hot wire). If it fits the surface well, so that
there will be minimal tension in the glue joint, contact cement or an
adhesive/sealant like Lexel, 4200/5200 or one of the GOOP product should
do the job. If the foam must be bent to conform to the PVC, you'll
probably need some form of mechanical fastening in order to keep it in
place long-term. If you're wrapping it around a post, I would suggest
spiral wrapping it with tape before covering it with the vinyl. This
might actually be a "legitimate" use for duct tape. ;-)