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foam rot free foam?

nige the hippy

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
1,282
Location
Luton UK
Hello all,
After stripping and vacuuming various delicate electromechanical devices over the past few years (whilst listening to the bass gradually disappear from a set of nice speakers, also as a result of foam rot.), I wouldn't want the inheritors of this kit to have to strip & replace it again in another 30 years. Does anyone know about the properties of "modern" foams and which ones will not break down so readily?
 
For good speakers I think they use Butyl Rubber instead of the cheaper foam. There are kits to redo speakers with that rubber.

Silicone foam is decent for gaskets and tends to be very stable with higher temperatures. There are different types of foam depending on the compression you can deal with (color coded I think).

Whatever you do stay away from what IBM used on the PS/2 series towers, it turns to a liquid goo over time.
 
Forgot to mention that silicone foam is very durable, but is difficult to stick to anything. There are high-tack adhesives made for silicone foam, but they're expensive. Almost all silicone foam is white--you don't get a choice of colors.

If you're looking for sound absorption, you want "open cell" versus "closed cell" foam. EVA foam should be durable enough.
 
The industrial silicone foam is brown and red and some comes with adhesive backing kind of like the stuck you use to seal doors with for the winter.
 
I know about open cell being better for sound absorption. I'll check out silicone foam. I would imagine that it's also pretty fireproof too!
Regarding total goo, I have a "press pack" in an attache case, consisting of an NEC8201 and an acoustic coupler. The coupler cups are made of foam that is now almost liquid. Touch it and it starts to creep around your fingers, uuuuurggghhh, (and the loss of an artifact!)
 
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