Best vinyl for long term flat signage

[Signed Out]

Going to be doing a fairly big sign soon that is 30'x16'. 12 10'x4' dibond panels on an existing frame installed 60' up on a building. I'm just supplying the printed panels.

Normally for flat outdoor signs we print on oracal 3551 and 210 laminate, 7 yr calendered, on our roland with eco-sol. Since this is quite a big project for this company to redo their sign I'm wondering if using something like oracal 3951, 10 yr cast, would actually last longer for them? Or would the ink fading be the about the same? The sign faces west.

 

[Gino]

In my experience, the life span of the vinyl has nothing to do with the ink adhesion, unless you have access to a ScotchCal system. I think that's what they're called. Those suckers lasted like 10 years. Your Roland is only gonna last about 4 years and with laminate maybe another 18 months or so. So according to what direction it faces [sun-U/V related], you can pretty much count on a 5 year sign, unless you are down south. Another key factor is... the colors being used. The more magenta needed to achieve colors, the faster the colors will shift.

Southern exposure fades by far the fastest, with a westward direction following close behind even for the New York area.

 

[Mosh]

I have had some south facing prints last 6-7 years on 3551 using 210 laminate....Like Gino says the ink in the print will go before the film does.

 

[Signed Out]

Ok thanks. That's what I suspected.