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Expanding Foam Removal


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I have anchor winch cables and nav light wires i need to replace, but they are well glued into a conduit by expanding foam of some kind, presumably to stop leaks. 
 

Any ideas on how to remove them? 

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12 hours ago, Clipper said:

I have anchor winch cables and nav light wires i need to replace, but they are well glued into a conduit by expanding foam of some kind, presumably to stop leaks. 
 

Any ideas on how to remove them? 

Depending on access (and how much mess you want to make) I have succeeded at breaking expanding foam away with a high powered water blaster. A bit like the way drains get unblocked. 

I can supply popcorn and beer :)

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Not a good idea sealing cables in such foam. As is obvious from the initial post, but also that often such foams do not stop water and only cause the Cables to become dangerously hot.
Most of those foams will not dissolve in anything and anything worth trying will dissolve the conduit first anyway,

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So for an update. Acetone did indeed damage the conduit, which i had to rip out, and now need to replace. 3-4 hours all up (just removing the wires) should have gone full destruction mode at the beginning and saved time. Ended up damaging the switch wires and nav light wires with all the pulling, so even more to redo. 
 

Expanding foam will not be used again! 
 

Now to fix the blocked toilet while i get new cables made up...

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Blocked toilets - if hoses are blocked throw them away and replace. Same for all other components.  Not worth the effort trying restore. 

And thank you for teaching me a new phrase  - full destruction mode. I like that. At the upcoming haulout I need to remove a through  hull. I think a hole saw will be easier than spanners and hammers. 

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1 hour ago, Black Panther said:

Blocked toilets - if hoses are blocked throw them away and replace. Same for all other components.  Not worth the effort trying restore. 

And thank you for teaching me a new phrase  - full destruction mode. I like that. At the upcoming haulout I need to remove a through  hull. I think a hole saw will be easier than spanners and hammers. 

If you have a blank for the through hull - or put a wooden plug in and cut it off flush, then you can use a hole saw just slightly smaller than the through hull so you then easily pull out the remainder. Or if the new hole / fitting is going to be slightly larger you can just drill to that size. 

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7 hours ago, Black Panther said:

Wooden plug.  I was going to go one size bigger then it should fall out???if I go smaller won't it be difficult to position the the hole saw? Happy to hear advice before I start drilling. 

Yeah if you’re just getting rid ofit then the same size or slightly bigger to drill it out - the key is to have something blocking up the hole that the guide bit can drill into to stabilise the hole saw. 

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