# BIG expanding foam problem, PLEASE HELP ASAP



## larner (May 28, 2011)

I've just finished doing the expanding foam on my new tank, but i have some bad news...
once i had finished, for some reason i decided to try and clean the cloth i used to wipe the expanding foam drips in the bath with hot water, it seemed to of come off the cloth and down the plug hole but i think its continued to expand and now i have half a bath full of water and its not going down.
how can i get the expanding foam to soften up or even get rid of it.
i tried a metal coat hanger down the plug hole but its not working.
PLEASE HELP :blush:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Hahahaha! tbh, I think you need a plumber lmao!
Have you tried sticking something long down the plug hole to try and unblock some of it or at the very least make some holes to allow the water to drain.


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

I done the metal coat hanger, but it dont seem to be doing anything.
i've drained the bath out by using a bucket and scooping it all up and pouring it down the sink, but im left with a small amount a water, so i tried to pour loads of pure bleach down there, but still nothing.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

larner said:


> I done the metal coat hanger, but it dont seem to be doing anything.
> i've drained the bath out by using a bucket and scooping it all up and pouring it down the sink, but im left with a small amount a water, so i tried to pour loads of pure bleach down there, but still nothing.


Maybe the bleach might soften it up give it a few hours so just keep trying mate, in the mean time start getting some price quotes.

*takes note to keep expanding foam away from the bathroom* I would suggest something sharper, but knowing my luck I would end up going right through the pipe, if you rent a council house just blame them for it, get them to sort it lol.


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

I would contact the manufacturers of the foam to find out if there is anything that will dissolve the set foam but NOT harm your bath(thats important).


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

SORTED :2thumb:
I rang my brother in law and he come round and took my bath panel off, and then got to work on removing the pipe, i was amazed at how much it had expanded while in the pipe.
it had become rock solid and there was no way it would of dissolved using bleach or anything else.
i'm in total shock at how big it had gone considering the small amount that went down the plug hole.


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

The trouble is water makes it expand more. You can get some strong acid from hardware stores for unblocking drains, it may work.


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## frogman955 (Feb 7, 2010)

I have to admit that I had a good laugh at this.
Sorry Larner :lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:.

Mike


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## Mike_Lyddon (Jan 2, 2012)

frogman955 said:


> I have to admit that I had a good laugh at this.
> Sorry Larner :lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:.
> 
> Mike


Ditto, sorry to laugh at your expence Larner, but it did make me chuckle......whilst also alerting me to the danger of combining expanding foam and household drainage systems 
Glad you got it sorted out ok though


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## Evie (Jan 28, 2008)

At last - someone besides me on here that does completely mental things with expanding foam :lol2::lol2::lol2:

Hope it gets fixed though!!


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

Good job you didn`t put it down the toilet :whistling2:


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

:lol2: I'm glad you've all had a giggle on my behalf :blush:
I'm still shocked at the size it expanded to.
thing is, i had never used the stuff before and thought it'd be a simple job, and it was just instinct to wash the cloth i used under the running bath water.
never again will i be doing that.
LESSON LEARNED :no1:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

larner said:


> :lol2: I'm glad you've all had a giggle on my behalf :blush:
> I'm still shocked at the size it expanded to.
> thing is, i had never used the stuff before and thought it'd be a simple job, and it was just instinct to wash the cloth i used under the running bath water.
> never again will i be doing that.
> LESSON LEARNED :no1:



what kind of expanding foam was it mate?


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Evie said:


> At last - someone besides me on here that does completely mental things with expanding foam :lol2::lol2::lol2:
> 
> Hope it gets fixed though!!


Oh shush its only a drain,i know someone who tried to blind himself with the gun cleaner..i wonder whom that idiot is :no1:OOOUUUUCCCHHHH
Acetone is the gun cleaner in question larner it disolves expanding foam in its uncured form.Fat lad is bang on the water not only helps expanding but also curing thats why you sprayed the viv with water before starting out and at finish,the humidity makes it all cure properly.It stops the foam growing a bit later on when it comes into contact with more moisture

Oh fatlad,good to see you back helping out,good to see you about again mate

Stu


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

soundstounite said:


> Oh shush its only a drain,i know someone who tried to blind himself with the gun cleaner..i wonder whom that idiot is :no1:OOOUUUUCCCHHHH
> Acetone is the gun cleaner in question larner it disolves expanding foam in its uncured form.Fat lad is bang on the water not only helps expanding but also curing thats why you sprayed the viv with water before starting out and at finish,the humidity makes it all cure properly.It stops the foam growing a bit later on when it comes into contact with more moisture
> 
> Oh fatlad,good to see you back helping out,good to see you about again mate
> ...


Cheers, I lost a few frogs no idea why so lost interest. One day calling and breeding then they just keeled over and that was it. Lost 3 oyapoks, 2 Patricia and 4 vents. All were in different rooms and all died within 2 weeks of each other so I put it down to some kind of contaminant in the bottled water. I isolated the 1 Patricia and 18 months later she is doing really well and I am now on the hunt for a mate. Coming back to the forum has renewed my enthusiasm.


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## frogman955 (Feb 7, 2010)

Thats a shame what happened to your frogs Fatlad.
Glad you`ve found your way back though.
Did you ever find out what caused them to die ?

Mike


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

fatlad69 said:


> Cheers, I lost a few frogs no idea why so lost interest. One day calling and breeding then they just keeled over and that was it. Lost 3 oyapoks, 2 Patricia and 4 vents. All were in different rooms and all died within 2 weeks of each other so I put it down to some kind of contaminant in the bottled water. I isolated the 1 Patricia and 18 months later she is doing really well and I am now on the hunt for a mate. Coming back to the forum has renewed my enthusiasm.


Ahh mate that is real sad,we know too little about what is coming in to our collections buddy.We have access to little expertise,one day we'll hopefully know what is going on.
What is important is your back and enjoying it,good luck with your pat male mate it might be worth asking Bill33,er i think,he might not have them now but he did have patrica
best

Stu


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

Cheers I got the Oyapok from Bill.


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

frogman955 said:


> Thats a shame what happened to your frogs Fatlad.
> Glad you`ve found your way back though.
> Did you ever find out what caused them to die ?
> 
> Mike


No Mike never found out for sure. The only thing that they had in common was the bottled water I used. I was using small fruit flies and spring tails for the vents and bigger fruit flies and woodlice for the tincs. I broke down the viv and sterilised it before putting the Patricia back in and have not looked back. Don't know how the water could have been contaminated. The only other thought was a couple of weeks before hand my farther-in-law looked after the frogs whether he did anything wrong I will never know. It was gutting breaking down the vivs and throwing away all the plants. Anyway I have a 60x45x60 exo that has been given to me so when funds allow I will be building a new home for the Tinc and perhaps get her breeding again if I find a mate.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

frogman955 said:


> I have to admit that I had a good laugh at this.
> Sorry Larner :lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:.
> 
> Mike





Mike_Lyddon said:


> Ditto, sorry to laugh at your expence Larner, but it did make me chuckle......whilst also alerting me to the danger of combining expanding foam and household drainage systems
> Glad you got it sorted out ok though





Evie said:


> At last - someone besides me on here that does completely mental things with expanding foam :lol2::lol2::lol2:
> 
> Hope it gets fixed though!!


I didn't laugh. At all. Not even a little bit. Not even a s******. :halo:




:roll2::roll2::roll2::roll2:


Good call, Stu; I was thinking some kind of solvent- acetone should be perfect! :2thumb:

Larner, if it makes you feel any better, we've all done something silly at some point- this one was just a bit more, erm, _spectacular_ than most...


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

Just becarefull if you are using epoxy resin I had two disasters. Firstly I laid the paint brush I was appling it with on the kitchen table and it set fast, so much so we had to have a new table. To stop this happening again I put the new paint brush into a glass.... It is still in the glass stuck forever ( the wifes favourite glass she has had for over 30 years ) and takes pride of place in my garage as a reminder.


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

Ron Magpie said:


> I didn't laugh. At all. Not even a little bit. Not even a s******. :halo:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'll happily take the crown for biggest plonker of the month, my misses was going crazy, telling me i'm paying for the plumber and a new bath ect ect.
so once my brother in law arrived and sorted it, i was so relieved :no1:


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

fatlad69 said:


> Just becarefull if you are using epoxy resin I had two disasters. Firstly I laid the paint brush I was appling it with on the kitchen table and it set fast, so much so we had to have a new table. To stop this happening again I put the new paint brush into a glass.... It is still in the glass stuck forever ( the wifes favourite glass she has had for over 30 years ) and takes pride of place in my garage as a reminder.


I spoke to a few people about the epoxy resin, and they all said the same thing...
that it'll prob leave it with a better finish, (not that it matters as eco earth is going all over it)
and they all also said it'll be as much of a job as using silicone.
my plan is to use silicone, with a silicone gun, but cut a huge hole in the end of the tube so that it comes out thick, and i'll then use something to just spread it all over.


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## fowlers (May 25, 2009)

fatlad69 said:


> Just becarefull if you are using epoxy resin I had two disasters. Firstly I laid the paint brush I was appling it with on the kitchen table and it set fast, so much so we had to have a new table. To stop this happening again I put the new paint brush into a glass.... It is still in the glass stuck forever ( the wifes favourite glass she has had for over 30 years ) and takes pride of place in my garage as a reminder.


 
:lol2: wicked fair play, bet your wife was well impressed. havn't had any disasters like this yet. though i do have some little mis-haps in work now and then :lol2:

rob


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

larner said:


> I spoke to a few people about the epoxy resin, and they all said the same thing...
> that it'll prob leave it with a better finish, (not that it matters as eco earth is going all over it)
> and they all also said it'll be as much of a job as using silicone.
> my plan is to use silicone, with a silicone gun, but cut a huge hole in the end of the tube so that it comes out thick, and i'll then use something to just spread it all over.


An old credit card works well as a spreader!


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

fatlad69 said:


> An old credit card works well as a spreader!


Yeah that's the plan mate, to spread it all out with a credit card.
I'm going to use the other half's card, then she can't spend on it haha


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

larner said:


> Yeah that's the plan mate, to spread it all out with a credit card.
> I'm going to use the other half's card, then she can't spend on it haha


Now that's the sort of mistake that could prove quit profitable.:whistling2:

I would love to see some pics of the build process.


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## larner (May 28, 2011)

fatlad69 said:


> Now that's the sort of mistake that could prove quit profitable.:whistling2:
> 
> I would love to see some pics of the build process.


It's a no lose situation, I get to use the card and she don't get to spend :2thumb:
I'm still in the process of expanding foaming the sides now the back is done, but once the silicone arrives I'll start a thread of the build. I'm not going to rush it, going to leave it at least a month even after the tank is complete so that the woodlice and springtails can culture properly.


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## fatlad69 (Oct 22, 2009)

larner said:


> It's a no lose situation, I get to use the card and she don't get to spend :2thumb:
> I'm still in the process of expanding foaming the sides now the back is done, but once the silicone arrives I'll start a thread of the build. I'm not going to rush it, going to leave it at least a month even after the tank is complete so that the woodlice and springtails can culture properly.


A lot of people make the mistake of rushing the vivs anxious to get some frogs, we have all done it. The longer you can leave it to get established the better. It will also give time for the plants to grow. Have you decided what species yet?


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