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alternative for 3M IJ180CV3 & 8518

B

BOTS

New Member
Hi,
I have been having issues with 3m for the last two years, the quality has gone down & price has gone up!

The last 20 rolls of lamination have marks in them half way though the roll (most of it comes out with heat), & IJ180 doesn't seem to stay in contours as well.

I have tried Avery in the past, but doesn't leave a clean removal 5 years later like 3m.

Allot of shops are switching to Brightline by grimco, apparently its basically arlon. (I haven't used it)

any recommendations?
 

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LarryB

New Member
When Covid hit and you couldn't get 3M I switched over to Arlon SLX+ along with Arlon 3220G laminate and haven't looked back. I have had no issues at all and save $350/kit compared to 3M. Just remember you have to post heat after install.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
And it's not very sticky which makes it great for repositioning...ask me how I know that LOL Post heat is the key
 
Patentagosse

Patentagosse

New Member
To be honest, I think all mfg have had some quality-control issues since Covid. The only bug I have with the 8518 is on the last 10ft of the roll (dull spots that disappear with heat). My trouble comes from the IJ180mC-10. I'm printing with a Roland VG2-540 (OEM inks) and on solid colors (which I print a lot) there's spots/sponge pattern/contaminants-like effects that is not acceptable for my standards. When printing on any other 3M films of this serie (ij180-114 clear, SLS for stainless tanker, LSE for hitack) everything comes out PERFECT. Regular white 180 is crap here on my printer (and all my ink pouches are stamped 3M MCS Warranty (...)

After trying about every other films on the market, my very best combo for the jobs I do here (mostly semi truck graphics) is Oracal 3751GPS + 3M 8518. Arlon offer some very nice films too, prices are very good but nothing beats the clarity and gloss of the 8518. I'm a long-time Oracal user (2004) but as soon as I tried the 8518 I was sold. Side-by-side comparison of 3M's vs. the other will proove my point. Print a vivid blue patch and try 'em you'll notice how minimal the 8518 shift the color and gloss level is second to none. The worst being the Oracal 290G/GF.

Curiously, the roll of laminate cost less in 3M than Oracal's (over here 3M is usually the most expensive range of films)

Just my 0.02¢
 
B

BOTS

New Member
Patentagosse said:
To be honest, I think all mfg have had some quality-control issues since Covid. The only bug I have with the 8518 is on the last 10ft of the roll (dull spots that disappear with heat). My trouble comes from the IJ180mC-10. I'm printing with a Roland VG2-540 (OEM inks) and on solid colors (which I print a lot) there's spots/sponge pattern/contaminants-like effects that is not acceptable for my standards. When printing on any other 3M films of this serie (ij180-114 clear, SLS for stainless tanker, LSE for hitack) everything comes out PERFECT. Regular white 180 is crap here on my printer (and all my ink pouches are stamped 3M MCS Warranty (...)

After trying about every other films on the market, my very best combo for the jobs I do here (mostly semi truck graphics) is Oracal 3751GPS + 3M 8518. Arlon offer some very nice films too, prices are very good but nothing beats the clarity and gloss of the 8518. I'm a long-time Oracal user (2004) but as soon as I tried the 8518 I was sold. Side-by-side comparison of 3M's vs. the other will proove my point. Print a vivid blue patch and try 'em you'll notice how minimal the 8518 shift the color and gloss level is second to none. The worst being the Oracal 290G/GF.

Curiously, the roll of laminate cost less in 3M than Oracal's (over here 3M is usually the most expensive range of films)

Just my 0.02¢
Click to expand...
I was also having issues with spots on 180 but last 5 rolls have been fine.

I'm going to order a roll of Oracal 3751GPS & slx+. Thanks everyone!
 
jfiscus

jfiscus

Rap Master
180c-10 & 8519 are our go-to films here. We do use a decent amount of 8518 (around 15%), but haven't had that many issues out of it recently. We switched back to regular old 180c and stuck with it after some issues with 180cv3 years ago.
 
SightLine

SightLine

║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
Agree that the pricing on 3M has gotten out of control but the others have also gone up as well. We are in the same boat in that the removability is a MAJOR selling point. Sure we can save the customer a few bucks up front but if I have to charge them $800 for removal in 5 years instead of $400 did I really do them a good service by pushing the cheaper option on the front end? In my opinion that is doing the customer a disservice. Now if you are a small shop that does not care and your customers never come back for removal when they replace their fleet then whatever. The majority of ours do and some, including state agencies have been using us long enough now that we have literally proven the difference to them in ease of removal later on. In 20 years I still have not found a single other that removes as nicely when the time comes.
 
S

Subysti

New Member
Old thread but I’d figure I’d add my name to the list of people getting bad 8518. Last 10 feet of so on the roll is all blotchy. Basically useless.
 
D

dj Japaï

New Member
BOTS said:
Hi,
I have been having issues with 3m for the last two years, the quality has gone down & price has gone up!

The last 20 rolls of lamination have marks in them half way though the roll (most of it comes out with heat), & IJ180 doesn't seem to stay in contours as well.

I have tried Avery in the past, but doesn't leave a clean removal 5 years later like 3m.

Allot of shops are switching to Brightline by grimco, apparently its basically arlon. (I haven't used it)

any recommendations?
Click to expand...
arlon slx+ is amazing, we love it here.
 
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