Community Forums

fuxxy · 11-09-2019, 07:16 PM

2000 Fleetwood Southwind, Built on a 1999 Ford F53 Chassis.

I'm retrofitting the flourescent lights on the ceiling, and noticed the mounting method. Holes were cut in the lower wood veneer, exposing the foam insulation inside. The light fixtures fit in the holes, and then they're simply screwed in place. The trouble is, the screws actually only sink into the insulating styrofoam. In my opinion, this is not a "solid" mounting method. In addition, there are missing hunks of styrofoam where the original mounting method -if there is one - broke off.

I have access to 3" think styrofoam blocks. Is there an effective bonding method to 'join' the old styrofoam to the new? I've heard there are many, many kinds of styrofoam, and their properties vary widely.

agpopp · 11-10-2019, 07:08 AM

They make pl premium or liquid nails to join wood to foam that wont melt it. Regular HD or Lowes product.

fuxxy · 11-10-2019, 10:22 AM

I'm not trying to bond wood to styrofoam, I'd like to bond styrofoam to styrofoam.

I designed a 'spreader' type mount for my lights. The idea is to install two spreaders per fixture inside the ceiling. The spreaders will make contact with the wood veneer of the ceiling, and then two bolts pull the fixture up until the desired tension is achieved. MUCH, MUCH better than the existing drywall screws lightly screwed directly to the foam.

If anyone is interested, I've attached an STL file so you guys can print your own. You'll have to remove the '.wav' extension to make the file usable.