Great Stuff

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avatar307

avatar307

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Joined 2003
#1
Does anyone have any experience using a product called "Great Stuff" (made by Dow) to fill or line the interior of enclosures?

It is basically a resin foam in a pressurized canister available at any home improvement place. People use it to seal around pipes or to fill cracks. You simply spray it out, and it expands 3+ times and dries as a hard, dense styrofoam type material. (1" of the material has an insulating value of R5.) At that point, you can easily cut, shave, or shape it.

Below is a link the contains more information. http://www.dow.com/greatstuff/

-C
 
#3
Stephen D

I've not used it but see it all the time at the local horware store displayed with a can stuck in some that is set up so hard & tight you can't pull the can out. Thought once about trying to cast some TracTrix horns out of it... LOL.
 
#4
Great stuff has an amazing adhesive quality to it. I once spilled some residue in a steal sink and it took me years to clean it out. It can also exert immense pressure once activated. There are more than a few stories of people damaging walls, doors and windows after spring too much into a small space.

I think its evil.
Its likely perfect for DIY audio projects.

I’ve also used a water based version that cleans up real easy but isn’t as dense.
 
#5
How good is this product acoustically for damping resonances in cavities? I have some folded horns under construction that have a number of moderate sized chambers/voids left in them. The bottom one I will fill with sand, but I didn't want to do that with the ones near the top of the enclosure, as it will be top heavy then.
Also, in the cleanup guide, it mentions sanding to remove any excess/overflow. How well does it work when cured?
 
#6
Brett said:
How good is this product acoustically for damping resonances in cavities? I have some folded horns under construction that have a number of moderate sized chambers/voids left in them. The bottom one I will fill with sand, but I didn't want to do that with the ones near the top of the enclosure, as it will be top heavy then.
Also, in the cleanup guide, it mentions sanding to remove any excess/overflow. How well does it work when cured?
Click to expand...

Would be pretty good I'd say.
When it dries airflow is not possible through it so sounds perfect
for the job. It will reinforce the structure of the cabinets.

You can easily work it with a stanley knife when dry.
Seem to remember it it sands ok too.

🙂 sreten.
 
#7
avatar307 said:
Does anyone have any experience using a product called "Great Stuff" (made by Dow) to fill or line the interior of enclosures?
-C
Click to expand...

I don't think you could fill enclosures with it because air flow is
not possible through it. You could use it for a lightweight
"sandwich" construction to fill the gap between layers of ply.

It dries with a smooth surface so you can't use it instead of
normal foam to line an enclosure. You could use it to fit a
sub-box into an enclosure to reinforce it.

🙂 sreten.
 
#9
Another note on Great Stuff that is rather interesting. From what I understand, it is water activated. That is why it says not to use water in an attempt to clean it while still sticky, it just makes it dry faster. Thus they came out with a water clean up version, but it lacks the density.
 
#10
What about if I only use Great Stuff to fill in the corners in an attempt to create a concaved surface inside the box? Then the smooth surface would result in an almost SonoTube like configuarion...

If I was REALLY, REALLY dedicated, I might even be able to use it to create a inner surface that was a complete sphere. Now THAT is a really cool idea.

Anyone here ever attempted such a thing? Eliminating all parallel surfaces by mounting the driver in an enclosure that is virtually a sphere? As far as I know it has never been attempted... perhaps that should be my next psycotic undertaking.

The imagination soars with all sorts of ways to waste money experimenting. It would definately be cool to look at though. I think I might look into it, just to post the pictures of my progress here. My oh my what a mess...

-MC
 
#11
avatar307 said:
If I was REALLY, REALLY dedicated, I might even be able to use it to create a inner surface that was a complete sphere. Now THAT is a really cool idea.

Anyone here ever attempted such a thing? Eliminating all parallel surfaces by mounting the driver in an enclosure that is virtually a sphere? As far as I know it has never been attempted... perhaps that should be my next psycotic undertaking.
Click to expand...

A sphere is NOT a good shape. Sets up a single dominant resonance.
 
#13
I new a handful of art students way back when I was trying to get an education. They were all fond of sculpting with auto body filler called Bondo. I wonder if that would be good stuff for some of what you are thinking about.

The water-activated part of Great Stuff explains why it was so t tuff to get out of my sink. Wrong solvent. Good thing I didn’t fill the p-trap with it.
 
#14
Great Stuff has recently introduced new product, which stays soft after curing and doesn't produce as much pressure while expanding. Some people had obviously problems with door and window frames (when they couldn't close them after applying the foam).

In some instances I was using Great Stuff to position toroid inside the amp's chassis.
 
#15
Great Stuff has recently introduced new product, which stays soft after curing and doesn't produce as much pressure while expanding. Some people had obviously problems with door and window frames (when they couldn't close them after applying the foam).
Click to expand...

Same as the stuff I used. Non-toxic and water clean-up too.
 
#16
If you just trying to dampen your speaker walls try some of the auto acoustic deading panels. They are made out of some kind of thick type of rubbery stuff It has a sticky side however I use liquid nail to secure it to the cabinet. Also, you don't lose to much volume in side your cabinet. I bet Peter has use this before.
 
#18
Also, if you use it to spray in the corners of an enclosure to help seal/fill gaps, it will get into the joint and potentially expand the joint, worsening the situation. Just use good 'ol silicone...but the saying goes that silicone vapors will eat away foam surrounds so watch out for that...let the caulking dry for awhile, because the fumes ARE terrible.😎
 
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