Manuel Upton
New Member
I know. We have a powder coat oven large enough but it's not something we want to be bothered with doing. We did some tests of our own. see attached The 3M is 40C-114R, the Arlon is 4500 clear.
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Backlit Vinyl Bubbling After 3 Years
- Thread starter AGinVT
- Start date
White Haus
Not a Newbie
That's a big difference. Did I miss the part where you explained why you use clear vinyl for your faces? We don't do much any more, thankfully, but always used 3850 when we printed graphics for faces.
Manuel Upton
New Member
We found that using white translucent vinyl with white poly was blocking to much light on fully wrapped faces no matter how many LED's we used. It could be an LED issue but I'm not sure about that. We switched to clear vinyl a few years ago and are much happier with the way the signs look at night.
Aaron Hunter
New Member
Only time I've ever seen bubbles like this is when we used IJ180v3/8520 on SunRite Polycarbonate but it took only a few hours in the sun to develop. Our supply dealer went through it with 3M and the results we received that it was the polycarbonate. Even though we outgassed it, apparently polycarbonate is never completely outgassed and is made with definitive sides. One side is finished and meant to receive graphics the back is porous for continual out gassing into the cabinet.
For outgassing we will peel the protective film and let it sit at least overnight. If need be we will use a torch to accelerate the process.
For outgassing we will peel the protective film and let it sit at least overnight. If need be we will use a torch to accelerate the process.
JBurton
Signtologist
Agreed, but I'll warn you that arlong 4500G clear is going to curl unless it's in a sign with retainer.
This is the first I've heard of this, other than the one side having a UV inhibitor on it. Very interesting. I wonder if this is part of what generates the curve that never really goes away (aside from obviously being rolled onto massive reels)
gnubler
Active Member
Good info to know!
And glad I have a shop big enough now where I can let polycarb panels gas out on a spare table or rack.
At my old shop they would sit coiled until it was their turn on the table, out to the parking lot to uncoil them on big sheets of cardboard, then back inside to apply graphics immediately. Even had to uncoil some out in the snow.
And glad I have a shop big enough now where I can let polycarb panels gas out on a spare table or rack.
At my old shop they would sit coiled until it was their turn on the table, out to the parking lot to uncoil them on big sheets of cardboard, then back inside to apply graphics immediately. Even had to uncoil some out in the snow.
Aaron Hunter
New Member
A couple of the shops I used to work for would buy it by the 100" x 150' roll and then fab a cart to be able to move and unroll it. Was always a dreaded day when we had to load a new roll lol.
JBurton
Signtologist
The guys told me to sit on it then cut the cord. Bunch of fricking joksters, but it's the way I get anything longer than 12' unrolled. I weigh over 200 though so ymmv.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I hope Tex never tries that! It would shoot him halfway to the moon, or China.
The sign shop trebuchet.
Ridin the poly...
GaSouthpaw
Profane and profane accessories.
We used to get at least one brand of poly that marked as "either side out". Their "60 inch" sheets were, in actuality, only 58", "their protective film only 52-54" inches, the edges were always scratched, and in inevitably came rolled up, and the meatheads in the shop would unroll it on the floor- then wonder why it was scratched under the film (never mind that they'd also walked on the damned thing. The second time I had a sheet of that to run, I had to tell the purchasing manager "no more" and insist they get sheets that were shipped flat and were actually sized correctly (or over). Our go-to is Tuffak, which is clearly marked "this side out", unless we're stuck needing something so large, the supplier doesn't have it.
Well, mystery solved. One of our techs (now former tech) failed to remove the protective sheeting before applying the backlit vinyl .
The good news is, I can stop banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what went wrong and as a bonus, this was the easiest vinyl removal in the history of vinyl removal.
Thank you for all of your time and sorry for wasting it. Life was much easier when there were only a few of us working in the shop. This was at least a good training opportunity. We now remove the sheeting as soon as these sheets come in the door.
.The good news is, I can stop banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what went wrong and as a bonus, this was the easiest vinyl removal in the history of vinyl removal.
Thank you for all of your time and sorry for wasting it. Life was much easier when there were only a few of us working in the shop. This was at least a good training opportunity. We now remove the sheeting as soon as these sheets come in the door.
Johnny Best
Active Member
Holy Shit is all I can say.
White Haus
Not a Newbie
Wowsers, I can see why they are now a former "tech"...............
We all make mistakes but that's pretty bad.
Glad you got it sorted out, regardless!
We all make mistakes but that's pretty bad.
Glad you got it sorted out, regardless!
Well, mystery solved. One of our techs (now former tech) failed to remove the protective sheeting before applying the backlit vinyl
The good news is, I can stop banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what went wrong and as a bonus, this was the easiest vinyl removal in the history of vinyl removal.
Thank you for all of your time and sorry for wasting it. Life was much easier when there were only a few of us working in the shop. This was at least a good training opportunity. We now remove the sheeting as soon as these sheets come in the door.
It's great you were able to narrow down the issue. I wonder what's up with all of the other panels that popped up in this thread. Good info all around, nonetheless.