Styrofoam breaking on my britax boosters

[Unregistered]

HI, I just noticed that on two of my britax boosters the styrofoam in the headpiece is cracking. One is worse than the other. One is a parkway and the other is a bodyguard. We have not been rough with the seats at all, it must have happened when I was adjusting the height even though we have been careful.

Do you think these are still safe to use? Thanks!

[Jewels]

I would call Britax about it. In the meantime I would just tape them and continue to use them.

[CandCfam]

Well, if you have styrofoam in the head rests, I would not use the seats, as they should have EPS foam in them, which is not the same as styrofoam. If you mean EPS foam, then ditto Jewels.;)

[southpawboston]

Well, if you have styrofoam in the head rests, I would not use the seats, as they should have EPS foam in them, which is not the same as styrofoam. If you mean EPS foam, then ditto Jewels.;)

styrofoam *is* EPS. :) anyway, most people who don't know the technical details who look at a carseat would tend to think of the EPS as "styrofoam".

EPS stands for expanded polystyrene. the popular name styrofoam is the trademark name and is derived from the technical name.

wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrofoam)

[CandCfam]

styrofoam *is* EPS. :) anyway, most people who don't know the technical details who look at a carseat would tend to think of the EPS as "styrofoam".

EPS stands for expanded polystyrene. the popular name styrofoam is the trademark name and is derived from the technical name.

wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrofoam)

Gotcha. I didn't realize that styrofoam was a trademark name, I always just think of it as the more brittle, non impact reducing of the foams.:o

[crunchierthanthou]

EPS is brittle. It does absorb some impact, but is definitely a one time use material. Britax recommends taping broken EPS in their convertibles. I imagine it would be similar in the boosters, but I would call to check.

[southpawboston]

EPS can be manufactured in many different grades, from soft to firm. but in the end, it is usually brittle, regardless of the formulation. the styrofoam you see in cheap summer picnic coolers is the really soft, brittle kind. the styrofoam you find in helmets is much firmer, and less brittle.

[scatterbunny]

A bit OT, but I wonder if this is why Dorel uses EPP foam? Isn't it supposed to be a bit less brittle than EPS foam? Maybe less likely to break?

[southpawboston]

EPP is more resilient than EPS and isn't as brittle. there is actually debate about this, and i think i brought it up in an old discussion comparing foams (might have been info i posted from helmets.org, my other favorite safety site :)). EPS, despite its simplicity, and brittleness, has amazing energy management properties. better than EPP, because EPP has slight rebound characteristics. on the other hand, EPP is desirable when you want something that can be used repeatedly, like a skateboarding helmet. that's why EPS is "one-time only". when the energy is redistributed, the redistribution is permanent.

EDIT: ah, yes, i did get that from helmets.org. this is the page on crushable foams (http://helmets.org/foam.htm). excellent read!