SPN 02: Panel right installation

SPN 02: Panel right, installation

Once built, installing the panel right on the base is relatively quick. I am still experimenting with several aspects of this process, but overall it appears satisfactory to me. (To see the steps outlined below in a speeded-up video format, look at the bottom of this page...)

1. The main seal between the vertical side polysty and the horizontal base polysty covers most of the right edge of the base polysty: that 2" area on which the vertical panel right polysty rests. (Note that the panel right polysty is 44" wide. The base polysty is 48" wide, so on either end of the right edge there is a 2" wide area that will not be covered by the panel right polysty. Ergo, “most of the right edge...” as stated.)
2. All polysty surfaces that will be in contact should be cleaned and prepared, which basically means that dust should be removed from freshly cut material, and older material (which, particularly if it has been exposed to the sun, will have a layer of oxidized polystyrene on it) should be sanded or scraped.
3. The next steps can be seen in the video. If you are going to use Great Stuff or a similar foam urethane as the sealing agent, then I recommend having a spray bottle of water (mine is blue), wetting the surfaces, then putting on a bit of the foam, and scraping it into the polysty, as you may see, both along the right edge of the base poly and along the entire bottom edge of the panel right poly. (The process is that the foaming urethane is pressed hard by a spatula or similar tool into the polysty. If you are doing it right, it turns into a sticky liquid, then re-foams.) My present thought is that this makes for a better seal, by insuring that the weld between the urethane foam and the polysty is strong.
4. If you are going to use caulk, as for example DAP 3.0 Kitchen and Bath, that will likely work as well, based on our experiments. (I will be using this as the sealant for the panel left...) I do not recommend using any caulk which you have not tested before use, by putting pieces of polysty together, compressing them, and leaving all that alone for a day or two. Come back, remove whatever you used to compress the parts together, and try to pry them apart. Try various caulks, and try several pairs of polysty blocks for each caulk. That’s getting towards a scientific approach....
5. To assist in putting the foam (or caulk) on the bottom edge of the panel right, I have placed it outside down with the bottom facing right, as you can see. You may also be able to see that I have started by spraying the foam with using a blue bottle. There is nothing but water in the bottle, but if you have been following these blogs, then you know that urethane foam and water go together. (The water helps the foam to ‘cure’.)
6. The main problem with foam is that fast-acting foams will begin to set up before you may have a chance to put the panel on top of the base. So, after working quickly to coat both the bottom of the panel right and the right edge of the base poly, then I have put much more foam on the base poly and, as soon and as quickly as possible, I placed the panel right on the base. (You will see me lift up the panel and place it on the base.) I removed the excess foam. (You should have someplace prepared for this foam, because it will get all over everything if you are not careful, and if it gets away from you, it will make a permanent mess.)
7. Again acting quickly, I put the bottom outside support wood against the bottom of the panel right in preparation for screwing it into the base square. I remembered to put the 'porch' plywood on the base, but I had forgotten to get some shims to hold the bottom horizontal board up above that plywood just a bit. So you can see that I go and get the shims, then continue making holes and screwing the bottom horizontal support board into the bottom of the panel right. You may be able to see the panel move in toward the base as the first and second screws are put in. I used 5" torx screws.
8. You may be able to see that the panel right has some extra wood, a kind of jig, which assisted me in insuring that the panel was upright, perpendicular to the base. I think at this point I made a mistake in my build, because I did not put a ratchet strap over those jigs to press the panel right firmly down onto the base. Either as a result of that or as a result of the quick-curing foam I was using, the panel right ended up just about an eighth of an inch higher than I would have wanted it to be. Now, as added to the 48" height of the panel right, an eighth of an inch many not seem like much, and it may end up not being very significant, but remember that I will be putting four side panels on the base, and I want them all to be as level as possible along their tops, to provide the best possible seal between those tops and the panel top; a kind of mirror to putting the bottom of every panel on the base.
9. Having put six screws into the bottom horizontal support board, I then remove the jigs I mentioned above. It will be at this point in the video that they might be most evident, or at least the jig on the front side.
10. That’s it. The panel is on the digester. Next step is to put on the panel left.

In the video below, you should be able to see the process in a brief (less than 2 minutes) format: