Grant is back at the factory with an update and demonstration of how we are building the wall sections for the EcoPod. These walls are sort of like a sandwich with layers of different materials that each have their own purpose.

We start with a look at our molds. These start out as two halves, one for the inner wall and one for the outer wall, that are later bolted together. So in each half of the mold, we start with a layer of gel coat followed by a layer of fiberglass. We then place a layer of honeycomb material which will provide structure and strength. We then seal all of that under another layer of fiberglass. This gives us a very strong and rigid wall section that we will be able to use as part of the structure.

When the inner and outer sections are completed, we then bolt the molds together and seal one end. This leaves us with a gap in the middle of the structural pieces. We are using expanding foam to fill the gap for both noise and temperature insulation. It is a two-part foam that is inert when the parts are separate, but when mixed will expand quite a bit.

These sections are pretty big so if we were to just pour the foam mix into the gap, it might not spread all the way through the space. So as you can see in the video, we are using bags to make little foam bombs. We mix the two parts in the bag and then drop the bag into the mold. This lets the foam get all the way down to the bottom without expanding early and making a mess. Since the foam expands so much, it simply breaks away the bag and fills the space with foam creating a solid foam barrier between the two walls.

These walls are coming along very nicely and we should have enough sections to go all the way around the EcoPod very soon. We are very excited about how well the EcoPod and the SeaPod are coming along so be sure to stay on the lookout for more updates coming soon!