Trip to Wickes but could have been any other shed.
Remembered to ask the assistant for the plastic nozzle for the expanding foam can. Got home and found it had disappeared.... grrr..
Has anyone come across these items sold separately? I very rarely use enough foam to empty a can.
I know you can buy a reusable gun and the cleaner but I really use too little to justify the cost.
She probably had it on a piece of fishing line.
Brian
IMHE it's cheaper. I can always find dirt cheap gun-only cans at most car boots. Cheaper than the disposables by enough to make it worthwhile.
and once you work out that if you don't take the can off the gun, it will stay usable for months without loosing pressure, its even better.
In article , Tim Lamb writes
For emergency use I was going to suggest a large bore drinking straw (too small I know) and some (much) tape but surely you must have some fine bore hose lying around somewhere? Is there a motor factor around that's closer than Wickes? Heatshrink tube carefully shrunk onto the outlet?
While I'm a fan and advocate of using a gun it's difficult it to argue that it's cheaper for a one off:
Gun £15 Gun foam £4 Gun Cleaner £3 Tot £22
vs
Disposable can foam £5
(ignoring petrol £20 for return trip to Wickes for replacement nozzle)
That's worth knowing.
£23.00 though. About 4 disposable cans. Probably see me out!I have never been to a car boot sale!!
In message , fred writes
Ah! well. desperation forced a clean out of a retained disposable nozzle.
In message , fred writes
I have bodged up an old one so problem solved.
I was rather wondering if it is a deliberate policy to only supply one nozzle when (due to the high level of security) it is clear that users would prefer several.
You can live without the cleaner if you keep a can on the gun all the time.
However the real cost saver is that you get to use all of the (cheaper) can, rather than end up discarding a part used can on the grounds it has depressurised. (the gun is easier and nicer to use as well)
It was following your previous advice to that effect that I became an expert in fully dismantling a gun full of rock hard PU :-!. I did get it working again but the scraping out of all that crap took its toll on the ball valve seat and it now wont quite seal perfectly.
For anyone else I'd strongly recommend cleaning the gun and can valve out after a day's use.
Yes, I know ;-)
Well my apologies if I sold you a dummy. I was basing my comments on how it seems to work for me.
I guess it must depend on the gun (or possibly the foam) then. Weeks / few months don't seem to be a problem with mine (which is a nothing special TS cheapie using SX gun grade trade foam (green in colour)). I tried it recently with a can that had been left on it over a year ago, and it surprisingly had not actually set solid - although the can was not as good as s new one - foam oozed out slowly rather than the more normal robust squirt. (I did strip and clean the gun then to see if it helped - but the can was the limitation it transpires)
I find the only cleaning I normally need is a sharp knife across the end of the nozzle to clear any dried crud. The trigger is also sometimes stuck a little more firmly for the first pull after a rest.
Well see Fred's comment above - perhaps that trick does not work for all!
I find its one of those things you can not use for ages, and then get through half a dozen cans in short order.
never needed to buy a car boot perhaps? ;-)
In article , John Rumm writes
No hard feelings, I think TMH said something similar about the same time so I figured it was worth a try.
How weird, that's the very same setup as mine. Being in the cold damp north I wondered whether humidity was an issue but it is stored indoors so that seems unlikely. The area around the ball valve was completely solid, the foam had completely gassed out and bonded the ball to the seal.
Anyway, just wanted to point out that it doesn't work for everyone.
May be redundant now, but B&Q sell packs of 3 nozzles for a couple of quid, which might be worth picking up for future use. Sod's law says they won't fit the next can without a nozzle of course(!)
Like many, I have hesitated about getting a proper gun on the basis that it takes a bit of upfront investment but have also presumed that it would be necessary to clean it properly on each use. Maybe, after readin Joh's comments about that not being necessary, I might get one after all..Rather fancy mine will set solid though as I normally assume that if something can go wrong it probably will....
That's ok then, must just be you ;-))
Mine lives in the workshop, which is insulated and kept at about 5 degrees. So its not usually damp or freezing.
Perhaps on budget guns its a bit "luck of the draw"...
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