Cracking Wrap

[Get Lucky]

One of my friends had his truck and trailer wrapped. The problem is that after three yeas the laminate seems to be cracking. Is this normal? What should a person see for wrap life? I have attched a couple picture.

 

[jtinker]

The lam definetly seems to be on the cheaper side. Not uncommon for a lower quality better price laminate. Especially since the color on the wrap isnt too faded to account for the amount of cracking.
We did some wraps for the pharmicutical company across the street so we see them every day that was nearly 3 years ago give or take a couple months and its no where near that level of cracking. This in 70-105 degrees and 80-90% humidity everywhere all the time. The lam we used was an entry level arlon wrap film.

I would say it looks like someone took a torch to it or its just very cheap.

 

[Get Lucky]

The installer used Avery materials not sure if that is defined as cheap or not. The truck and trailer do sit outside at high elevation (5000 feet) Temperature range is -10 to 100F and average humidity is 17-55%.

We talked to the installer, they tried to get the Avery rep out to look at it and nothing ever happened. Seems like Avery wants nothing to do with it.

 

[gabagoo]

maybe it's watered down liquid lam

 

[jtinker]

Theres an idea, that would explain the spot cracking without the ink being sufficiently faded for it. And it does look like a worn down matte finish of old liquid lam.

 

[SightLine]

It also depends very greatly on how they take care of it. A wrap, just like paint must be cared for. Even more so than paint really, it should be waxed with a quality synthetic wax a couple of times a year (ideally). I have seen some here (even our own customers printed on 3M 180 and laminated with 3M gloss lam) start cracking almost right at 3 years on the top. This is only on a couple of customers vehicles like banks. The people that drive it do not care one bit and in 3 years it had only been washed maybe 5 times and that was only going through an automatic wash. The rest of the time it was outdoors 24x7 and cooking in the hot direct sun year round. Yeah - with that sort of care we tell customers to only expect 3 years max. Even with the best materials. We also warn them that if they try to push it and leave it on after it starts cracking it then no longer protects the paint, it starts severely damaging the paint instead....

That needs to come off of those trucks immediately or they will start getting permanent stains and lines in the paint where the cracks are.

 

[Get Lucky]

I went and looked at the installers web page and it appears that they are using a Roland Printer with eco solve inks. Still trying to figure out what Lam they are using.

Edit: I know the truck and trailer are washed weekly by hand or it was until it started to crack. It was never waxed. He wasn't told it should be when it was installed. Last I had talked to the owner was the wrap was coming off right after the next show which is the weekend of Sept. 12. Then off to the body shop for any repairs and it will get large decals. Not going to have a wrap anymore if manufacturers are not going to stand behind it.

 

[SlightlyChilled]

If he was never told to wax it why would that be Manufactures fault. That would be between the shop and the end user.

 

[Get Lucky]

I'm not placing the blame on Avery or the shop. The fact is had the rep bothered to even come and say "Hey you didn't wax it. It dried out and crack. That suck." Life would have been good and we would know why the wrap failed.

Fact is I am new to the industry and still learning. If a product fails I want to know why and how it can be prevented so I don't make a huge mistake at some point. Granted I don't wrap cars but we do trailers and things like that.

 

[player]

Could it be high performance RA calendered vinyl?

 

[striper14]

could be calendered lam on cast

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Smiles ... says nothing for a change

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

... I have seen some here (even our own customers printed on 3M 180 and laminated with 3M gloss lam) start cracking almost right at 3 years on the top.

There aren't any laminate manufacturers that warranty that long "on the top" horizontal surfaces facing direct UV.
But all the rest of what you said is true. Needs to be taken care of. If not washed off...the road debris/dust/dirt will draw the moisture out of the laminate.

 

[SignProPlus-Chip]

My vote is for calendered lam over cast vinyl. We see this a lot here in SC...two local companies are notorious for mixing these materials and the outcome is always the same. We have replaced graphics that were cracked like this for clients before, they originally got the work done at another shop and some only last about a year and a half.