Foam Stays Wet

OK guys, something about my Cumberland that I don't like. The foam in the seat stays wet for days! I'm a little concerned about mold forming. I leave it tilted up to try to get it to drain, but it does not completely dry. Today I took it out and put it in the sun in 90 degree heat and it still had some moisture! I would like to seal it so that it would not absorb water, but I do not know what product would do that.

Suggestions?

good luck with that!!
why don't you get an inflatable sit? I think you can use the blatter from a fish cat sit.

Those flex seal commercials seem to believe their product will seal anything but I would try it on a random piece of foam before trying it on your seat. I never really payed to much attention to the moisture situation although I did pull the foam out to hose it off and let it dry for half a day and it seemed pretty dry to me.

Aquaholic38 wrote:
why don't you get an inflatable sit? I think you can use the blatter from a fish cat sit.

I have considered that. Do you know the dimensions of The FC seat?

So far I have never had any issues with mold. After each session I simply hose down the entire tube with fresh water and let air dry. I have never removed the foam from the seat. I would imagine if I had mold that it would start smelling mildewy?

ya i never had a problem do you store your tube in anything or just have it sitting out

No problem here either........I hose it down real good, put it in the shade, for a day or two and then hang it in the garage where it gets toasty at times. I do tie the backrest back to allow drying........

I do not have mold, yet. If you put your hand in the place where the seat is after a couple days, you will notice it is still wet. I did not know it was the case for a couple years, until I checked. Could be it will never mold. Just bothers me that it absorbs water.

A similar thing happens with both my ODC420 and my Caddis pro 2000. The foam just gets water logged. Best thing to do, let the foam dry as much as possible then store it with some newspaper to suck out all the remaining moisture.

They should be using closed-cell foam for that, as opposed to open-cell foam. Sponges are open-cell, allowing them to hold water.  If you take the wet foam out and can wring water out of it, then it's open-cell.  That's definitely not what you want in there, since open-cell foam will also flatten out as you put pressure (sit) on it.

I had the same problem with my fishcat so I took all the foam out and bagged them in those big zip-loc bags they sell then gave the zip-loc a light dusting of baby powder and they slid right back in to the fishcat then hosed everything off. Worked great no more water logged foam and it seemed to float a bit better. Every couple trips I would check the bags to see if water got in and only once did I get a little moisture so I removed and rebagged them. Lasted till I sold it to a friend after I bought my kickboat.

Vagabond wrote:I had the same problem with my fishcat so I took all the foam out and bagged them in those big zip-loc bags they sell then gave the zip-loc a light dusting of baby powder and they slid right back in to the fishcat then hosed everything off. Worked great no more water logged foam and it seemed to float a bit better. Every couple trips I would check the bags to see if water got in and only once did I get a little moisture so I removed and rebagged them. Lasted till I sold it to a friend after I bought my kickboat.

That's what I'm talking about, an idea that is worth a try. Bet a garbage bag would work with a twist tie.

A twist tie still allows air and water in between the folds of the bag I tried that once also. Maybe if you double knot the bag end so the water has to travel around the knot or ziptie the bag shut it mightclose all the folds.

Vagabond wrote:A twist tie still allows air and water in between the folds of the bag I tried that once also. Maybe if you double knot the bag end so the water has to travel around the knot or ziptie the bag shut it mightclose all the folds.

When you say "zip-lock" are you talking about those big vacuum storage bags?

fisheromen wrote:

Vagabond wrote:I had the same problem with my fishcat so I took all the foam out and bagged them in those big zip-loc bags they sell then gave the zip-loc a light dusting of baby powder and they slid right back in to the fishcat then hosed everything off. Worked great no more water logged foam and it seemed to float a bit better. Every couple trips I would check the bags to see if water got in and only once did I get a little moisture so I removed and rebagged them. Lasted till I sold it to a friend after I bought my kickboat.

That's what I'm talking about,  an idea that is worth a try.  Bet a garbage bag would work with a twist tie.

First thought would be the bag would need to be sturdy, not easily punctured, ripped, torn, or worn. Something thicker than a garbage bag. A vacuum bag for food storage is sturdy. But not large enough.

I have the same issue with the foam in my fish cat. If interested in the Bladder seat that Outcast sells. I purchased one for hike-ability option. My seat box is 19" square by 4 1/2" high. The bladder is over sized for that space, just like the pontoon bladders.

Some time ago I measured the seat bladder when inflated. I do not recall the exact measurement but 24" x 22" x 6" is close.

I have a 3/8" heavily sanded and oil treated piece of plywood I slide into the seat box for the anti "taco" of the seat. Then, for safety against the "dog hair" effect when wood get's wet, a matching size piece of boogie board foam approx 1/2" thick is set on top to the ply. Followed by the air bladder seat. I sit the highest with the air seat, but comfort between the two is similar. With the foam probably having a slight edge.

Two years of being wet, with no evidence of mold is plenty of time for mold to grow. That is to say, if the seat was in contact with just one mold spore.

There are those over sized vacuum bags sold for storage of home items. Such as clothes, blankets, pillows.......ect. Air is sucked out of the bag via a attachment in the bag that excepts the end of a common household vacuum hose. The wife has a couple filled with stuff. I noticed they have inflated themselves over time, so water would have been sucked in, had they been in water when loosing there vacuum.

I considered sitting on my foam seat, to extract as much water as is possible. To help with the drying process, but have not done so. They have been stored on edge (gravity) drying for a month or so. While using the bladder seat. I have not checked on them for dryness. Might do that today!

fisheromen wrote:

Vagabond wrote:I had the same problem with my fishcat so I took all the foam out and bagged them in those big zip-loc bags they sell then gave the zip-loc a light dusting of baby powder and they slid right back in to the fishcat then hosed everything off. Worked great no more water logged foam and it seemed to float a bit better. Every couple trips I would check the bags to see if water got in and only once did I get a little moisture so I removed and rebagged them. Lasted till I sold it to a friend after I bought my kickboat.

That's what I'm talking about,  an idea that is worth a try.  Bet a garbage bag would work with a twist tie.

First thought would be the bag would need to be sturdy, not easily punctured, ripped, torn, or worn. Something thicker than a garbage bag. A vacuum bag for food storage is sturdy. But not large enough.

I have the same issue with the foam in my fish cat. If interested in the Bladder seat that Outcast sells. I purchased one for hike-ability option. My seat box is 19" square by 4 1/2" high. The bladder is over sized for that space, just like the pontoon bladders.

Some time ago I measured the seat bladder when inflated. I do not recall the exact measurement but 24" x 22" x 6" is close.

I have a 3/8" heavily sanded and oil treated piece of plywood I slide into the seat box for the anti "taco" of the seat. Then, for safety against the "dog hair" effect when wood get's wet, a matching size piece of boogie board foam approx 1/2" thick is set on top to the ply. Followed by the air bladder seat. I sit the highest with the air seat, but comfort between the two is similar. With the foam probably having a slight edge.

Two years of being wet, with no evidence of mold is plenty of time for mold to grow. That is to say, if the seat was in contact with just one mold spore.

There are those over sized vacuum bags sold for storage of home items. Such as clothes, blankets, pillows.......ect. Air is sucked out of the bag via a attachment in the bag that excepts the end of a common household vacuum hose. The wife has a couple filled with stuff. I noticed they have inflated themselves over time, so water would have been sucked in, had they been in water when loosing there vacuum.

I considered sitting on my foam seat, to extract as much water as is possible. To help with the drying process, but have not done so. They have been stored on edge (gravity) drying for a month or so. While using the bladder seat. I have not checked on them for dryness. Might do that today!

fisheromen wrote: When you say "zip-lock" are you talking about those big vacuum storage bags?

Oh no not the vacuum storage bags but the actual zip-loc brand bags, they make large ones for like clothes and sports equipment. I measured my blocks then bought a box of three bags which was enough to wrap the two bottom blocks and the backrest in my fishcat.

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Just ditch the foam and buy air bladder seat and your good to go. Problem solved and way more comfortable