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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ;-)

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.



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. ;-)

Actually I was wondering what is a better foam to use. It sounds like
this ethafoam might turn into a sponge over time.

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.




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. ;-)


Actually I was wondering what is a better foam to use. It sounds like
this ethafoam might turn into a sponge over time.

For the application you're contemplating, that's probably not the case,
but why take the chance? Something like Minicel foam would be a better
bet. It's microcellular, closed-cell polyethylene foam thats commonly
used for bulkheads, seats and padding in kayaks. It works well in wet
environments and although it's still polyethylene, it's much easier to
glue than Ethafoam, using the products mentioned above. It's also easy
to shape with Surform tools and sanders. If you want to see some
examples of it, you can peruse my Webshots albums on kayak outfitting at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg

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.




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. ;-)


Actually I was wondering what is a better foam to use. It sounds like
this ethafoam might turn into a sponge over time.

For the application you're contemplating, that's probably not the case,
but why take the chance? Something like Minicel foam would be a better
bet. It's microcellular, closed-cell polyethylene foam thats commonly
used for bulkheads, seats and padding in kayaks. It works well in wet
environments and although it's still polyethylene, it's much easier to
glue than Ethafoam, using the products mentioned above. It's also easy
to shape with Surform tools and sanders. If you want to see some
examples of it, you can peruse my Webshots albums on kayak outfitting at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg

Thanks Brian. Looks like Minicel is the way to go. I'll order some
today. Here is what I've done thus far:
http://nbrigham.com/Nix/Leanpost/Mockup.html