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World's Fastest Foam Rig Features Four Reactor Sprayers
 03/31/2006 - Contractor Offers Fastest, High Quality Service
With World’s Largest Foam Insulating Rig
Competition in the foam insulation market is growing. Homeowners, seeking to contain skyrocketing energy costs, are turning to foam insulation to reduce home heating and cooling expenses. This new interest has caused a surge in the number of foam insulation contactors, increasing competition among contractors.
Don Litz and Kevin Kline, co-owners of International Insulation in Maplewood, MN, have found a way to offer the fastest service in the industry while maintaining their company’s quality reputation, competitive pricing and profitability. They’re also creating a buzz in the local marketplace that is resulting in additional queries from general contractors, as well as from other foam contractors. They did it by installing not one, not two…but four Graco I Gusmer Reactor™ E-20 foam insulation sprayers in the trailer the crew pulls to the job sites.
“Most contractors pull a trailer that contains a single sprayer,” says Litz. “The crew usually consists of 2-3 guys but the amount of work the contractor gets done in a day is limited to the foam sprayed from that one sprayer. Subsequently, most contractors spend 1-1/2 to 2 days on a job.”
With the four sprayers, International Insulation’s 6-man crew is typically in and out of a new home in a day.
Litz claims developers and general contractors value the quick turn-around time. “At this stage of a houses’ construction there are a lot of other contractors and trades lined up to get in the house to do their work. If I can shave a day off our portion of the job it gives the general contractor a little breathing room. They appreciate that and remember us the next time they need to foam a house.”
There are other reasons International Insulation uses multiple sprayers. “One of the most unproductive chores a contractor and his crew face each day is the travel time between the shop and job site,” Litz says. “We foam houses within a 150 mile radius of our shop so the drive time to and from these sites can eat up a couple of hours. Even in the metro area, it can take an hour or so to get to a job site. That’s unproductive time. Time we can’t bill!”
“Therefore, when we get to the job site I want to optimize the amount of work the crew get done in a day. With the four sprayers, We’re typically in and out of a new home in six hours.”
By the same token, morning start up is another unproductive chore. Whether it’s a new job or one they are returning to, the crew performs the same startup procedures every morning. This includes heating the material, starting the sprayers, waiting for the heated hose lines to reach the correct temperature, and hauling hose and guns into the house. According to Litz, it takes about 20 minutes to bring the material to working temperature and get setup before the daily spraying begins. While the material is heating, one crew member is getting the rest of the system set up, three men are hauling in the hose and guns, and the other two crew members are prepping the house — poly the windows, etc. “It’s a waste of time to have to repeat the same procedures 2-3 times at the same house! Again, it’s an unproductive chore that I want to minimize. I’d prefer that every day our crew set up at a new location. Multiple sprayers allow us to do this.”
In addition to eliminating non-productive return trips to the same job site, as well as performing start up chores at same site on consecutive days, using multiple sprayers allows International Insulation to train additional spray operators without adversely affecting productivity.
“We have a core team of experienced, professional spray operators,” says Litz. “But we like to have one or two additional employees who can step into the job in case one of the main spray operators is absent. They need to be trained in the basic use of the equipment and know how to apply the foam. Once again, if you’re using a single sprayer and you’re training a new spray operator, he or she has to learn on your production unit and you need your main spray operator to do the training. With multiple sprayers we put the trainee on a gun and have him work right next to one of our seasoned spray operators. He’s learning the correct methods from three other experienced operators. It’s really been a benefit of a multiple sprayer rigs. And most important, there’s no downtime!”
Furthermore, if one of the sprayers broke down, the crew would be able to pick up the slack with the other three sprayers. “We’ve never had any mechanical or maintenance problems with the Graco E-20 sprayers but if we did, it wouldn’t shut us down. We could adapt.”
In fact, the Reactor sprayers have self-diagnostic capabilities that would allow the crew to discover quickly where the problem was located. “A code on the proportioner’s screen will tell us exactly where the trouble is located. If we ever run into a problem I expect we’ll just continue work with the other three sprayers and address the problem back to the shop. Again, multiple sprayers allow us this luxury."
The whole system was designed and installed in the 24-foot truck box by EnDiSys Inc., in Rogers, MN. The company specializes in designing fluid delivery systems for foam and polyurea contractors. According to Jeff Striggow, EnDiSys President, “International Insulation’s requirements were to have a fully self-contained system for applying foam in both hot and cold weather using four Graco Reactor sprayers.”
The key components of International Insulation’s foam system are Graco I Gusmer’s Reactor E-20 plural component sprayers. They are mounted on the trailer’s interior walls, reducing clutter and simplifying housekeeping. Each Reactor features a 200 ft. heated hose assembly with whip hose, and air purge Graco I Gusmer Fusion spray gun. Each system is capable of spraying 18 lbs/minute. All of this application equipment, as well as a 50 kW generator, 7.5 hp air compressor, 7.5 hp air dryer, 240 gallon capacity SS tanks with chiller and heater capabilities, raw foam components, spare parts, and safety equipment are transported in a 24-foot work trailer, specially designed for the company to contain everything the crews needs on the job site. In addition, the truck box is insulated, allowing the crew to work in residential areas without creating a noise nuisance.
Graco I Gusmer low-pressure pumps transfer the resin and isocyanate (ISO) from 55- gallon drums to the Reactor proportioners. In addition to proportioning the resin and ISO, the Reactor’s electronics provide diagnostic,
data reporting, pressure readout, temperature and pressure controls, as well as auto-shut down capabilities should a ratio imbalance occur.
From the proportioner, precise ratios of resin and ISO are pumped through the heated hose to the spray gun. “We work in Minnesota so we’ll hit 100 degree temperatures in the summer and below zero temps during winter. The task is to be able to heat or cool the 1:1 foam during these extreme temperature changes, maintaining a constant 130 – 140 degree temperature throughout the system. “After the desired temperature has been reached in the morning, the Reactor maintains this temperature the entire day,” says Litz.
Fluid pressure at the gun is maintained at a constant pressure too. The system’s maximum fluid pressure is 3500 psi, assuring significant pressure to atomize even viscous materials. “The optimum fluid pressure for the 2-lb. closed cell foam we’re spraying is between 2,000 to 2,300 psi,” he says. “But we’ve got enough pressure to atomize virtually any material we’ll ever use.”
In addition to providing superior atomization at high pressures, the Fusion gun has been designed to reduce a number of time-consuming maintenance chores that typically plague other foam spray guns. One of the problems associated with spraying foam is the tendency of the material to clog the spray gun’s mix chamber and tip. When this occurs the spray operator must stop work, tear the gun down and clean it. It’s a time consuming job and can occur many times a day.
The Fusion gun features a patented Air-Blast™ air cap that provides an extra blast of air across the orifice. This air stream reduces build-up around the tip orifice where clogging typically occurs.
The Fusion gun also features stainless steel side seals for long life. Polycarboloy Side seals are also available for contractors who spray waterbase blowing agents. The fact that no tools are required to tear down the gun also reduces downtime related to gun maintenance.
Another labor saving feature is the gun’s patented Quick Shot™ grease port. During breaks and at the end of the day, the spray operator simply shoots grease into the head of the gun, coating the entire fluid section to prevent moisture exposure. It takes only a couple of seconds and assures the foam in the gun will not set and that it will be ready to spray the next time it is picked up and triggered. Guns that don’t feature this grease port must be taken apart to clean out the mixed foam that has set in the spray tip, mix chamber and seals and then manually greased— a chore that can take at least half-an-hour.
“I’m a firm believer that time is money and the only time we’re making money is when we’re spraying foam. We can’t afford downtime and this turnkey system optimizes our productivity on the job. They’ve proven they can provide the speed and simplicity we require”
Litz does admit that the truck with the four Reactors is overkill for some of the smaller homes and rework jobs he accepts. “We use the big rig every day but there are circumstance when it isn’t feasible to send it out on a smaller job. For those jobs we’ve got two smaller trailers. But each of those trailers still carry two Reactor E-20 sprayers!"
“In the construction business, speed is important. Of course you can’t sacrifice quality or value. We provide all three — thanks, in part, to the Reactor sprayers we rely on,” he concludes. •
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