what's the best solvent to use | Ask Mason Knowles - SPF Consultant | Spray Foam Technical Questions and Answers | SprayFoam Magazine Q&A Forums

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Author	Comments
Gary Myers Posted: Mar 26, 2011 08:10 PM	what's the best solvent to use hey Canadian installers, I am still looking for a solvent that works best for dissolving foam and ISO build up on my gun and parts. The reason I say Canadian is that I need to be able to get something that is approved here. I am using BASF Wall Tite Eco. I have the stuff that BASF suggested (Dynosolve) but it doesn't really work.
swfoam Posted: Mar 26, 2011 08:31 PM	Have you tried heating up the dynasolve, like in a crockpot? It works really well to dissolve foam when its warmed up. Not so well when its cold.
mason Posted: Mar 26, 2011 10:08 PM	The only solvent that will cut reacted foam quickly is methylene Chloride. But the solvent is so dangerous, you don;t want anything to do with it. The best combination of effectiveness and safety is DPM, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, (has a lot of different brand names). It has the best effectiveness for its relative low toxicity. It will cut built up foam from gun parts if you soak them. Still need to wear nitrile gloves when using it. We used to use cellosolve but it has some bad long term health effects. .
Daniel X Posted: Mar 26, 2011 11:04 PM	I spray purple foam too, I use glycol ether eb and soak my air cap every once in a while and soak the mixing chamber if my drill bit isn't cutting it any more. Beyond that, who cares how much foam is on the outside of the gun? If you're spraying over head, spray some pam or something on the outside of the gun and don't worry about it. The outside of the gun doesn't affect how the gun works, if your gun is working good, don't tear it apart and soak it "just because"... It annoys me when guys take their guns apart every single night and wonder why they use 2x the number of o-rings I do...
Gary Myers Posted: Mar 26, 2011 11:23 PM	Thanks for the info guys. I don't tear my gun apart every night. I just want something to use when I need to clean my mixing chamber or check valves when I have to clean inner parts. I have cellosolve as well as dynasolve and they both are ineffective at cleaning cured foam and ISO.
Posted: Mar 27, 2011 05:35 AM	...try soaking a rag with either solvent(i use gycol ether) to saturation,,,wrap gun body in rag,,,put gun body/rag in a large freezer ziplock and throw it on a drum overnite,,, the next morning most of the foam gumbies should blo off with the air line and the rest will come off with minor provacaton,,, wont do a darned for iso...
Daniel X Posted: Mar 27, 2011 05:03 PM	Where you getting cured iso? I put a dab of something on the A side check valve face if I take the gun off of the hose... If you're having iso build up inside the gun you need to see where it's leaking from...
Gary Myers Posted: Mar 27, 2011 10:48 PM	I guess the majority of the cleaning I need is for cured foam...as for cured ISO, I don't get any inside the gun, just on the edges of my check valves or if I swap any inside parts when I'm in the field and don't get them covered in time. The other main area is in my mixing chamber. After spraying for a while I get a buildup of cured foam inside the chamber and no matter how much I run my drill bit into it, it won't come clean causing a bad spray pattern. I saw a few posts back that someone said they soak their M/C in solvent over night. That is why I need a better solvent. Any Idea where I could purchase that glycol ether?
quentin Posted: Mar 28, 2011 01:13 AM	Heck, some mentioned it here and I tried it with some pretty good luck so you may want to try it too. Plain old green anti-freeze for a car that is warm. Seems like about 110F or so works well for me and a lot cheaper. Just using an old crock pot where I heat it up near the end of the day and put parts that need it in the pot, turn it off for the night and the next morning most of it comes off with a wipe of a rag.
Posted: Mar 28, 2011 05:10 AM	glycol ether,,any chemical company,,, round here i call barsol chemical company,,,
Caleb DeFord Posted: Mar 28, 2011 05:43 PM	I recently switched to a new solvent called M-Pyrol. It's cheaper than Dynasolve, much less toxic, and it works. Almost all the solvents are going to be more aggressive with heat, but heating up the solvents makes them evaporate faster(duh) so keep a lid on it while it's cooking. You can buy M-Pyrol from a company in WI. Click the link at left for their website.
Daniel X Posted: Mar 29, 2011 01:20 AM	I've never been a big fan of heating up solvents in a crock pot, I don't like wearing a respirator just to work on my gun... Whenever the mixing chamber on my Fusion wont come clean enough will a drill bit, I just soak it in glycol-ether. I don't even tear the gun apart, I just put the face of the gun with the air cap removed into the solvent dish and clamp the exhaust port at the but of the gun into my vice... Seems to work well for me, I check my screens if I can feel grit coming through or can't get a decent pattern, and beyond that I try to treat my gun as a sealed unit until I notice a leak.
Gary Myers Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:42 AM	I feel the same way. I don't like to take my gun apart unless I have a problem. I like the Idea of just putting the front end of the gun in solvent. this forum has given me lots of options to try so thanks again guy's.
Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:11 PM	Gum Out Carb Cleaner from Walmart. I use to laugh when I would read on this board that guys would never have to clean their guns, while I was cleaning out 2-3 times a day. Started using Carb Cleaner whenever I would switch from an 01 to 03. All I do is pull the check valves out, squirt a few times on each to dilute the iso and resin, then into the gun and wrap electrical tape over the check valves to keep moisture out and the check valves on. I have sprayed about 30 sets of roofing foam since January and have yet to break down either my 01 fusion or 03 fusion. The carb cleaner works perfect for cleaning out iso and resin. If I need to do some deep cleaning, I will take 100% Radiator Fluid, pull all my orings off and let it come to a hard boil and it looks brand spanking new. Don't use 50/50 or try to use the same radiator fluid twice though or you will need a hammer and chisel to take off the cured foam.
Gary Myers Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:38 PM	that's awesome. Is that brand available in Canada or will any carb cleaner work? How does it work on cleaning the mixing chamber? When you put your gun parts in the rad fluid, after it boils do you need to let it sit for any length of time like over night or is it good to go after it is done boiling?

Author

Comments

Gary Myers

Posted: Mar 26, 2011 08:10 PM

what's the best solvent to use

hey Canadian installers, I am still looking for a solvent that works best for dissolving foam and ISO build up on my gun and parts. The reason I say Canadian is that I need to be able to get something that is approved here. I am using BASF Wall Tite Eco. I have the stuff that BASF suggested (Dynosolve) but it doesn't really work.

swfoam

Posted: Mar 26, 2011 08:31 PM

Have you tried heating up the dynasolve, like in a crockpot? It works really well to dissolve foam when its warmed up. Not so well when its cold.

mason

Posted: Mar 26, 2011 10:08 PM

The only solvent that will cut reacted foam quickly is methylene Chloride. But the solvent is so dangerous, you don;t want anything to do with it.

The best combination of effectiveness and safety is DPM, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, (has a lot of different brand names). It has the best effectiveness for its relative low toxicity. It will cut built up foam from gun parts if you soak them.

Still need to wear nitrile gloves when using it.

We used to use cellosolve but it has some bad long term health effects.

.

Daniel X

Posted: Mar 26, 2011 11:04 PM

I spray purple foam too, I use glycol ether eb and soak my air cap every once in a while and soak the mixing chamber if my drill bit isn't cutting it any more.

Beyond that, who cares how much foam is on the outside of the gun? If you're spraying over head, spray some pam or something on the outside of the gun and don't worry about it.

The outside of the gun doesn't affect how the gun works, if your gun is working good, don't tear it apart and soak it "just because"... It annoys me when guys take their guns apart every single night and wonder why they use 2x the number of o-rings I do...

Gary Myers

Posted: Mar 26, 2011 11:23 PM

Thanks for the info guys. I don't tear my gun apart every night. I just want something to use when I need to clean my mixing chamber or check valves when I have to clean inner parts. I have cellosolve as well as dynasolve and they both are ineffective at cleaning cured foam and ISO.

Posted: Mar 27, 2011 05:35 AM

...try soaking a rag with either solvent(i use gycol ether) to saturation,,,wrap gun body in rag,,,put gun body/rag in a large freezer ziplock and throw it on a drum overnite,,,
the next morning most of the foam gumbies should blo off with the air line and the rest will come off with minor provacaton,,,
wont do a darned for iso...

Daniel X

Posted: Mar 27, 2011 05:03 PM

Where you getting cured iso?

I put a dab of something on the A side check valve face if I take the gun off of the hose...

If you're having iso build up inside the gun you need to see where it's leaking from...

Gary Myers

Posted: Mar 27, 2011 10:48 PM

I guess the majority of the cleaning I need is for cured foam...as for cured ISO, I don't get any inside the gun, just on the edges of my check valves or if I swap any inside parts when I'm in the field and don't get them covered in time. The other main area is in my mixing chamber. After spraying for a while I get a buildup of cured foam inside the chamber and no matter how much I run my drill bit into it, it won't come clean causing a bad spray pattern. I saw a few posts back that someone said they soak their M/C in solvent over night. That is why I need a better solvent. Any Idea where I could purchase that glycol ether?

quentin

Posted: Mar 28, 2011 01:13 AM

Heck, some mentioned it here and I tried it with some pretty good luck so you may want to try it too. Plain old green anti-freeze for a car that is warm. Seems like about 110F or so works well for me and a lot cheaper. Just using an old crock pot where I heat it up near the end of the day and put parts that need it in the pot, turn it off for the night and the next morning most of it comes off with a wipe of a rag.

Posted: Mar 28, 2011 05:10 AM

glycol ether,,any chemical company,,,
round here i call barsol chemical company,,,

Caleb DeFord

Posted: Mar 28, 2011 05:43 PM

I recently switched to a new solvent called M-Pyrol.
It's cheaper than Dynasolve, much less toxic, and it works. Almost all the solvents are going to be more aggressive with heat, but heating up the solvents makes them evaporate faster(duh) so keep a lid on it while it's cooking.
You can buy M-Pyrol from a company in WI. Click the link at left for their website.

Daniel X

Posted: Mar 29, 2011 01:20 AM

I've never been a big fan of heating up solvents in a crock pot, I don't like wearing a respirator just to work on my gun...

Whenever the mixing chamber on my Fusion wont come clean enough will a drill bit, I just soak it in glycol-ether. I don't even tear the gun apart, I just put the face of the gun with the air cap removed into the solvent dish and clamp the exhaust port at the but of the gun into my vice... Seems to work well for me, I check my screens if I can feel grit coming through or can't get a decent pattern, and beyond that I try to treat my gun as a sealed unit until I notice a leak.

Gary Myers

Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:42 AM

I feel the same way. I don't like to take my gun apart unless I have a problem. I like the Idea of just putting the front end of the gun in solvent. this forum has given me lots of options to try so thanks again guy's.

Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:11 PM

Gum Out Carb Cleaner from Walmart.

I use to laugh when I would read on this board that guys would never have to clean their guns, while I was cleaning out 2-3 times a day.

Started using Carb Cleaner whenever I would switch from an 01 to 03. All I do is pull the check valves out, squirt a few times on each to dilute the iso and resin, then into the gun and wrap electrical tape over the check valves to keep moisture out and the check valves on.

I have sprayed about 30 sets of roofing foam since January and have yet to break down either my 01 fusion or 03 fusion.

The carb cleaner works perfect for cleaning out iso and resin.

If I need to do some deep cleaning, I will take 100% Radiator Fluid, pull all my orings off and let it come to a hard boil and it looks brand spanking new.

Don't use 50/50 or try to use the same radiator fluid twice though or you will need a hammer and chisel to take off the cured foam.

Gary Myers

Posted: Mar 29, 2011 05:38 PM

that's awesome. Is that brand available in Canada or will any carb cleaner work? How does it work on cleaning the mixing chamber? When you put your gun parts in the rad fluid, after it boils do you need to let it sit for any length of time like over night or is it good to go after it is done boiling?

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