insulation - the what and what nots

[bene]

I managed to pick up a load of 19mm Armaflex Pipe Insulation off eBay the other day... 156metres of the stuff for £60!
It is for a 15mm pipe, is 19mm thick, came in 2 metre lengths, 39 lengths in a box and i bought 2 boxes.
I imagine i will have some left, but then i do have a splitscreen panel van that i will be re-building in the future... oh and i actually have some pipes that could do with insulating but thats boring.

here is a link - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15mm-Pipe-Ins ... _25wt_1008" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

im sure the guy had a few more boxes although he has not listed them yet, but probably worth a message if you are interested.

I will be getting some self adhesive flat sheets too at some point... as i assume these wont flatten out too easily!

[mrmule]

I'll happy take what you don't need!

[bene]

Ha Ha! sorry dude... its going to be a while before i install this!

[Ceecee85]

Very important and not yet mentioned that I could see- vapour barriers. Vital to prevent your van rusting from the inside out.

[CovKid]

Lot of these materials may be good as insulation but worth checking if they burn easily too. Nice being warm, but if you do have a fire, it could go up pretty quick.

A T25 on fire is not a happy sight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kIwGx3kFpE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Big explosion 3 mins in. Wonder if he managed to salvage anything?

[Ceecee85]

Without a vapour barrier it could be soggy enough to be self extinguishing!

[CovKid]

Now that did make me laugh.

[bene]

All very good points people... keep em coming...
With regards to the fire issue - The Armaflex pipe Insulation is for use in homes so would have thought it was pretty fire retardent.
With regards to the vapour barrier - have you got any ideas what to use? any products you recommend?
cheers!
Ben

[Ceecee85]

Vapour control layer is usually nothing more than heavy duty polythene sheet- Visqueen makes it as a building product. Something resembling the plastic sheet fixed behind your door cards (normally punctured and sliced about to fit speakers in and fix dodgy window winding mechanisms etc.) is what you're after. It needs to be sealed so gum it in place or use a complimentary tape. If your insulation is foil faced then this face should be inwards to the van and can be sealed with foil tape to provide a continuous vapour control layer.
It's a bit of a ball ache but it'll save years of unnoticed rot from within.

[bene]

Came across this thread on thesamba... food for thought... anybody ever done anything like this?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=589753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cheers

[Tazzidevil63]

Oh Iv just stripped our van out to find a lovely hole and rotted, mouldy wood!
Hole all sealed up etc now and I was looking for new insulation/sound deadening etc and iv just bought this stuff

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170769298324" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Along with the vapour tape, its due to arrive today so I'm hoping it will all be grand.... Hahaha! I also bought flashband before this so I may not need it!
I shall let everyone know how it goes as I'm desperate to get the van back on the road!

[Bubble Meister]

I'm reading this with interest. A big consideration for me is what happens when I come to rejuvenate the van again. I had kingspan sheets in the voids as thermal insulation previously. I've recently had the van sprayed and am now rebuilding the interior. I'm happy to refit the kingspan but this time I'm making some improvements.

I'm adding Fat Mat self adhesive sound absorbing matts to the large panels before fitting the Kingspan. I'll then add a heavy plastic sheet over each zone as a vapour barrier.

I haven't started yet and haven't ruled out other insulation - thermal rather than sound is my priority. If I used these thermal self adhesive pads, can they be easily removed at a later date? How does there thermal properties compare with kingspan?

Also, what should I use to attach the vapour barrier? Modern cars seem to use an adhesive that looks like a silicon bead. I'd like something that can be reused and doesn't damage the paint when removed.

[wolfbus.uk]

I'm doing mine at the moment. Tessa tape works well at sealing edges. 3M automotive insulation is a very nice insulator, really seems to work on the roof. So there I will attach adhesive closed cell & aerogel to the lining & 3m against vehicle skin. This way the vapour barrier is not as critical because 3m is breathable & will not hold water. Similar principle can be used to most other areas of the van. Some insulators work like a skin others like an umbrella or radiant barrier. 3m seems good at both.

the most efficient stuff we've used so far is spacetherm/aerogel, the stuff just doesn't change temperature regardless of ambient heat. It's hard to shape, cut & mould but oh boy it works well!

[Bubble Meister]

Wolfbus, could you put up hyperlinks to the Aerogel and 3M insulation. I've had a look online but am overwhelmed with the different types of product on offer. I assume the 3M insulation is the thinsulate blanket?

[wolfbus.uk]

For Aerogel/spacetherm/spaceloft = same thing, marketing names;

speak to John at Corepro. Intelligent & technically savvy he owns motorhomes too which helps to understand vent/vapour/application requirements. It can be foil faced & have an adhesive backing. This will tame a product that is otherwise harder to work with than say foam. If you place an order speak to me first as I need some more too.
It may be possible that they can dimensions it as well for ease of use. Otherwise it can be cut with an electric saw but it wont be much fun.

For the adhesive foil backed it costs approx £40 m2 for a 10mm thickness which is ample & will equate to 18-20mm of neoprene for instance.

http://www.coreprosystems.co.uk/insulat ... r-vehicles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



http://www.3mdirect.co.uk/3m-thinsulate ... 1524m.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this stuff is also found on ebay with an adhesive backing but for the 3M it has a glossy face so contact adhesive would work too I guess. I am clamping mine in generally with batts/ply etc

Buy a bit from 3M though & you will see how "clean" it is. Makes great pet bed too!

Pipelagging.com for the adhesive Armaflex, but it does not breathe & I would experiment with it first to see if it is good for you. It is dirtier/messier but then again it wasn't intended to line the inside of our precious campers. It forms & moulds well but more rigid camping matt I would say is cleaner. It depends what you want I guess but to my mind not one is perfect so a mixture is the way to go for my application.