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Camper_Jeff___K's avatar
Camper_Jeff___K
Nomad III
Apr 22, 2021

Fire Testing For Safest Foam Board Insulation



Fire Testing For Safest Foam Board Insulation
This is a continuation of my Dometic Fridge, Amish Built, Cooling Unit Replacement Topic. That project is finished and working awesome but! The question of Flammability of Foam Board Insulation Came Up. I decided to put my new RMAX by SIKA to the test against Pink, Blue, and the foam panel S&S included in the original build. I think this video will settle any argument as to which is the safest type foam board to use in a RV, TC, or Your Home. Enjoy!
Truck Campers
  • Hemi_Joel's avatar
    Hemi_Joel
    Explorer
    Apr 24, 2021
    Good stuff, Jeff. Thanks for posting this and the fridge improvements.
  • Camper_Jeff___K's avatar
    Camper_Jeff___K
    Nomad III
    Apr 23, 2021
    Buzzcut1 wrote:
    if I was planning on sealing gaps in areas where I was worried about fire I would use a fire resistant expanding foam that is certified for just that purpose. There are many of them commercially available with ASTM certification


    I've used the Great Stuff Orange fire seal foam for a lot of penetrations for plumbing and electrical, also for framing fire blocking. Beware though, the fire block foam expands a lot and can have expansive force behind it that could be tricky to control in the thin wall space of truck camper walls.
  • Buzzcut1's avatar
    Buzzcut1
    Nomad II
    Apr 23, 2021
    if I was planning on sealing gaps in areas where I was worried about fire I would use a fire resistant expanding foam that is certified for just that purpose. There are many of them commercially available with ASTM certification
  • Sjm9911's avatar
    Sjm9911
    Explorer
    Apr 22, 2021
    Oh, and have a working smoke and co detector in the camper.
  • Sjm9911's avatar
    Sjm9911
    Explorer
    Apr 22, 2021
    Everything burns or melts when it reaches a certain temp. You could use rotten cotton, rockwool or whatever its called by you for an insulation thats flame retardant to about 1000 degrees.
  • Camper_Jeff___K's avatar
    Camper_Jeff___K
    Nomad III
    Apr 22, 2021
    jimh425 wrote:
    Considering there are lots of items in an RV that burn much easier would it even matter if the foam was more fire resistant or not?


    In this case, the insulation is next to a source of combustion. The fridge chimney is rated as needing 0 clearance. The chimney gets much hotter than touch. The old insulation paper was well browned. It is evident wherever a point of combustion occurs, the RMAX may self extinguish which is very advantageous.
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Apr 22, 2021
    With small space fire, few extra seconds for escape can be matter of life of death.
  • jimh406's avatar
    jimh406
    Explorer III
    Apr 22, 2021
    Considering there are lots of items in an RV that burn much easier would it even matter if the foam was more fire resistant or not?

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