Expanding polyurethane foam as secondary floatation?

Howdy all,

I was wondering if anyone has shot expanding PU foam into their boat to act as secondary floatation?

I was thinking that the bow of my Outback has alot of wasted space.  Maybe build a bulkhead using the front wall of the drivewell as a guide, build a box directly below the hatch, and then shoot in just enough foam to fill the space?  The very front of the boat has no control rigging through it for the rudder...

Thought a lot about it and ended up using pool noodles instead. I like them because they are removable and cheaper.

 If you do go with the expanding foam, make sure its a closed cell (?) and be careful of overexpanding foam in the closed spaces.

Lot's of people have tried that w/ little success. Biggest problem I've heard about is the weight. Turns out to be a lot more than you think. Check the other forums and you're sure to find a bunch. Noodles just make sense.

Z

and be careful of overexpanding foam in the closed spaces.

Weren't you supposed to end that with "don't ask me how I know"?

-Allen

then shoot in just enough foam to fill the space

Thats the trick.  The stuff doesn't start expanding real fast so people add a little more. Then, poof, chemistry happens.  It kicks off and the next phrases are "OOPS too much!  and "Wow, I didn't know foam could do so much damage."

-Craig

When I was in grade school a kid's dad came in to show us how his company used foam to fill the big tanks in old gas stations to make them safer to remove.  They used expanding foam.  He put a LOT of emphasis on how they had to put the exact needed amount in the tanks, because they learned the hard way that foam could burst the welding seams on the old steel tanks.

I'm guessing tupperware doesn't hold up much better.

  Yea, several years back there was a guy I ran across in So. California who played acoustic bass. He was having a hard time with feed back when he amplified it, and having seen large body jazz guitars stuffed with foam to fix the same problem he got the idea of filling his bass with the expanding stuff. It's really a shame that no video exisists of the process. I would have loved to have seen his reaction as the foam begins to push out of the f holes. In the end the only thing left in one piece was the neck and finger board.