3165ra Failing

According to this page, Oracal recommends these for vehicles:
ORALITE® 5600 Fleet Engineer Grade
ORALITE® 5650RA Fleet Engineer Grade
ORAJET® 3169RA
ORAJET® 3551
ORAJET® 3551RA
ORAJET® 3551DT
ORAJET® 3675 Window Graphics Film
ORAJET® 3751RA
ORAJET® 3951
ORAJET® 3951RA
ORAJET® 3981RA Premium Eco Digital Print

But... if you're already using 3M for wraps- why not use it for other vehicle graphics? While I do understand that 3M is usually the more expensive brand, you shouldn't have the failures- and you won't have to stock multiple rolls.

 

Are you talking print/cut, or just cut graphics?
Much of the print media with air release can be tricky for cutting smaller items- especially when laminate is added. I solve that by always having an extra plotter blade/assembly that's used only for small text/items. It's always the newest, sharpest blade.
If it's just cut graphics, I'd just switch to HP vinyl. Oracal's 751 line would work fine for vehicle graphics.

 

It only says it's not recommended for vehicle wraps. It doesn't say you cant use it on vehicles..... just not wraps.

 

Actually, Oracal specifically says 3165 is "NOT for vehicle graphics or wraps." And, personally, I would never use calendared vinyl or print media for vehicle graphics.

 

We use 180 with either 8519 or 8520 for vehicle graphics.
If you're using Oracal, I'd go with 3951 with 290 laminate.
I'm not sure what 40C is?

 

Oh... yeah, you'd probably be good with that one.

 

We use 3165ra for equipment decals and company names on equipment all the time. We also use some 3551 from time to time with 215 lam which we also use on the 3165. The 3551 isn't near as tacky and is a little thinner also. We haven't seen any of our stuff with curling edges except for a couple misprints I stuck on a door but they were just slapped on. Is it possible that they are being hand applied and not being squeegeed or the surface has wax or something on it? With no lam, full bleeds do curl pretty bad too.

I know calendered isn't recommended for vehicles in general but everyone knows in reality its used a lot for this purpose by many shops. Id assume it has more to do to the fact that it ruins paint on vehicles in time which is a potential liability for a mfg but correct me if Im wrong. 3551, which is calendered, has a removable adhesive which makes me wonder if this is the case more so than the fact its cal vs cast. When we sandblast, a lot of door lettering jobs are still visible in the steel after blasting and will show through the new paint sometimes.

 

If it works for you, that's great. I was only pointing out that Oracal says it is not for vehicles.
In my experience, calendared films always shrink faster, fade faster, and fail faster. And just because "many shops" might use calendared doesn't make it the right material- it just means that they're more concerned about saving money on material. No judgement on that front (I'm a big fan of money), but I'm just more comfortable using the material that is made for the job. Cast films- again, in my experience- will just last longer.
Again, if the 3165 works for you- that's great. I hope you continue to have success with it, but the OP was not having the same luck- which is why I suggested the 180 or 3951 (I did not recommend the 3551 because it's calendared).

 

nope, more than one piece of literature, from various suppliers, recommends NOT using 3165 for vehicle graphics or wraps. most likely result of known issues in the past.

anything exposed to the elements, especially those not on a perfectly flat surface, we use cast/highperformance materials: Arlon 6000XRP, 3M IJ180Cv3 or 3630/180series have been my go-to vinyls for the past decade-plus.