Drum Storage Temperature

Storing drums in a controlled environment is essential for maximum performance of your spray foam insulation and polyurea coatings.

With the temperatures dropping and winter approching you need to ensure that you keep your drums of chemical at the correct temperature. As always, it is important to follow the directions and instructions provided with the chemicals that you are using.

Proper Temperature

In general, 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 27 degrees Celsius) is an ideal storage temperature. Avoid storing drums directly on concrete or metal floors in cold (winter) conditions. For optimum application results, 48hrs before use and when the material is in use maintain temperatures between 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 27 degrees Celsius).

The Issues Start

If your materials are in the 40 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit range (5 to 18 degrees Celsius), they become thicker and harder to pump. This can cause pump cavitation resulting in off ratio issues, and your proportioner may not be able to heat it up enough to spray it properly due to exceeding the Delta-T of the proportioner.

Irreversible Damage

Storage below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) can degrade the chemistry of some products that cannot be reversed by simply warming up the product. Long-term cold storage can have irreversible effects that essentially leave you with a drum of chemical that will not perform to specification.

Keeping your material at the proper temperature eliminates many problems that get blamed on other things. If you do not have a controlled environment for storing drums, put this on your list of things to take care of as soon as possible. You can build and insulate your own storage room and equip it with proper heating and cooling as needed. Take care of your chemical and it will be ready when you need it.