Floatation Foam - 67 StarCraft Holiday

[Berdink]

The foam in my boat below my floor is styrofoam - like was used in those old Styrofoam ice chests.

Is this original to a 1967 StarCraft Holiday?

It's perfectly dry.

 

[jbcurt00]

Yes original

Usually trashed even when dry because often limber holes under the ribs and the bilge pumps get clogged with loose styro beads....

 

[Berdink]

Thanks, mine seems pretty solid.

 

[Berdink]

I guess my concern was how I read in these forums of people replacing the foam because it's water logged. I don't think this kind of styrofoam gets water logged.

 

[Gibbles]

Oh it will.
These days it's a cheap throw away junk.
The stuff in my starchief looked fine, but it's not something i wanted to worry about later so i junked it for the actual closed cell stuff.

 

[Berdink]

Yeah, if I had the floor up I would just replace the styrofoam with exterior (closed cell) rigid insulation, but my floor is also solid and dry.
.
I keep my boat under cover, and I'll only take her out on the water maybe 10 times a year, and since I replaced the transom, it stays dry even out on the water.
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I think I'll leave it alone but keep an eye on it.
.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Moserkr]

@Berdink You're lucky you have enough foam left to still float your boat if it sinks. Mine barely had enough under the floors to float me! If your floors aren't out already then yea, leave it for now. Thats good your boat doesn't leak any water or that foam would definitely soak it up because its open cell.

 

[Sharpie223]

I wonder how hard it would be to shrink wrap/vacuum pack/otherwise seal the foam. The issue with the different polystyrene foams isn't closed cell vs open cell, they are both closed cell but expanded polystyrene (beads) has many crevices between cells that are not closed. This provides more surface area for water intrusion. The tests that I've seen show that while it absorbs water much quicker than extruded polystyrene, it also dries out faster. Extruded polystyrene is also susceptible to water absorbsion if submerged. Polyisocyanate (urethane) foam is the type poured in. It is open cell on the inside but closed cell if you consider the whole mass a cell. It's my understanding that it is less susceptible to water intrusion than polystyrene, but if that outer skin gets damaged, then it becomes a sponge. I have no idea on the permeability of polyethylene (pool noodles I think), but would imagine it to be better than the rest. All that to say, it's a trade off, but would be nice to seal the options better.

 

[BWR1953]

Pool noodles don't work well. There are several threads about that topic here on iboats.

The extruded type works very well, although gasoline will eat it up immediately. This is how I sealed mine against gasoline in my Kingfisher. The blue blocks are actually pink, but placed inside HDPE trash bags and sealed with aluminum tape.