What is this orange insulation crud that disintegrates how to replace it?

[Zappacat]

What is that stuff that insulates screens and stuff from humidity, etc... What can I get to replace it. The old stuff has disintegrated into dust while removing the front. Can anyone come up with a source/name of product to replace it with? Any help greatly appreciated. Here's a picture:

[amp_surgeon]

It's an organic foam used as a dust gasket between the LCD screen and the bezel screen. The purpose of it is to keep the LCD screen relatively clean, since it isn't easy to access and clean when the unit is assembled.

 

Organic foams were used because of their very low compression force. You want something that will maintain the seal without putting too much pressure or transferring shock to the glass LCD envelope. Unfortunately, as you've discovered, organic foams decompose over time. This is a good reason NOT to use the same type of foam to replace it.

 

Many manufacturers are now using soft silicone or urethane foam gaskets. There are a number of companies that make stuff like this (example: Rogers Corporation makes a urethane gasket material called Poron), but I don't know of anyone who sells consumer quantities of the stuff. They sell mostly to OEM's.

 

If it were my project, I'd measure the distance between the LCD and the bezel. Then I'd go to a hobby store like Michaels and find the softest resilient foam that was slightly thicker than the distance I'd measured.

[Johnny Two Tone]

Get "Floral foam for live flowers". Haha, hard to believe but it's a type of foam with no specific name, as far as I know, that can be found at craft stores (like "Michaels"). They use the "for live flowers" version of that floral foam because it's absorbs moisture, but that's also why it crumbles apart so easily.

[ChrisAlbertson]

 

What is that stuff that insulates screens and stuff from humidity, etc...

 

 

Don't replace it with the same stuff. Buy some foam weather stripping of the correct size. It will have the sticky backing and be easy to apply and will last 20+ years.

 

I think it was just an organic rubber foam. The stuff was used in old sofas too and turns to orange dust. The first class replacement would be EDPM rubber gasket. Home Depot sell weather stripping. Get some you may have to cut it down thinner.

[Zappacat]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I really appreciate it. I'm new to the forums here. I wish I had known about them years ago.

[tedmich]

all urethane foam (and urethane gorilla glue too) will degrade to this crap mostly through UV exposure, use neoprene or silicon foam for longevity. This is similar to the degradation which spawned the whole "re-surround your rotted old speaker cone" industry of late