I have installed two vans for a client using cut vinyl. I used a 3M 7125/7175 series cast vinyl. The installation took place in fall of 2010 and both vehicles have the same problem of the edges coming off. I can still see the adhesive on the vehicle in which has attracted dirt. Can anyone tell me if they have seen this before, and what the cause actually is? I have talked to other installers who have been installing cut vinyl on vehicles for over 30 years, and none have seen this before. Anybody with any experience with this, I would like to know what you found out. I have other vehicles for this client in which were done 2 years before these were installed, and the vinyl still looks fantastic.
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Cut Vinyl Graphics on Vehicle, little pieces coming off of edges, Anybody know why?
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J Hill Designs
New Member
honestly it looks picked off.
Kevin-shopVOX
New Member
running it through a brush car wash? pressure washed maybe? the direction of the flaking looks like a horizontal action
Car Washing
My client has over 15 vehicles I have installed vinyl onto and these two are the only ones that are doing this. They run them all thru an automatic car wash that has no brushes, just power washers. Why would only these two have the edges coming off and none of the other vehicles? I have talked to dozens of people who install cut vinyl and they have told me they have ran vehicles dozens of times thru the car washes and never have they seen this before. I would assume the car wash is the culprit, but also the vinyl has to have some kind of problem in order for just these two to be doing it.
My client has over 15 vehicles I have installed vinyl onto and these two are the only ones that are doing this. They run them all thru an automatic car wash that has no brushes, just power washers. Why would only these two have the edges coming off and none of the other vehicles? I have talked to dozens of people who install cut vinyl and they have told me they have ran vehicles dozens of times thru the car washes and never have they seen this before. I would assume the car wash is the culprit, but also the vinyl has to have some kind of problem in order for just these two to be doing it.
All vehicles we install graphics on are washed with a detergent mixed with water, and then with 70% alcohol solution. The vehicles are spotless before putting on the vinyl. If it wasn't cleaned properly, why can't you get the rest of the vinyl off without heating it up?
gabagoo
New Member
I had a customer who owned a no touch car wash and I asked him why when I ran my black vehicle through his wash it always came out clean unlike other no touch car washes that left a film on the vehicle.... he said that they ran a higher %age of acid on the initial rinse with soap and said it is the acid that removes the dirt....maybe they take it to a "too good car wash?"
TammieH
New Member
Thats why I believe these two vehicles weren't cleaned well enough, perhaps they needed special attention, who knows. If it was only one of the colors I would have guessed bad vinyl, but since both colors are failing, its not likely the vinyl is failing.
The vinyl should hold up to a carwash, we all know that.
I have cleaned vehicles before and noticed that when installing the masking tape wasn't holding as well as it should, so clean again. We all get in a rush sometimes especially on simple jobs like these.
I do a little test with a paper towel and see if it drags or glides across the surface of the vehicle while cleaning.
Seems to work.
The vinyl should hold up to a carwash, we all know that.
I have cleaned vehicles before and noticed that when installing the masking tape wasn't holding as well as it should, so clean again. We all get in a rush sometimes especially on simple jobs like these.
I do a little test with a paper towel and see if it drags or glides across the surface of the vehicle while cleaning.
Seems to work.
Techman
New Member
Calendared vinyl that shrank just a little at the edges over time.
If not that then....
Pressure washer. See it all the time. This has been posted about before several times.
Also, in fact recently watched an employee acting all pissed off because he had to wash the company vehicle. He was hitting edges of the vinyl with the spray and little flecks were flicking off as I watched..
Has nothing to do with install or how clean or anything like that.
If not that then....
Pressure washer. See it all the time. This has been posted about before several times.
Also, in fact recently watched an employee acting all pissed off because he had to wash the company vehicle. He was hitting edges of the vinyl with the spray and little flecks were flicking off as I watched..
Has nothing to do with install or how clean or anything like that.
You are correct, it should hold up in a carwash. I have had this problem twice and both times the client has used the same carwash. I just went to the carwash and all the decals that are applied to their kiosk and on the building and inside the wash bay, are all coming off exactly like this vehicle is. I would say, it has to do with the carwash more than anything, but cannot prove anything about what the true cause is. I can't go by the cleaning, since I am the one who installed the decals, and I clean very thorough on everything I do, no matter what.
ddubia
New Member
They appear to have contracted Papyrus disease.
When I hand lettered vehicles many years ago, every once in a while I'd run across one that my paint flaked off. The problem was usually that the painter, doing a economy paint job, had problems with fish eyes so he used silicone in his paint as a remedy. The only remedy I had was to, in turn, use silicone in my paint, one-shot, to avoid my own fish eyes and to keep the paint sticking longer. Nothing sticks to silicone very long.
Since I've been doing vinyl for about 7 years now I've not encountered anything like you're showing but wonder if those 2 vans had been repainted and hacked like the ones I would see on occasion.
When I hand lettered vehicles many years ago, every once in a while I'd run across one that my paint flaked off. The problem was usually that the painter, doing a economy paint job, had problems with fish eyes so he used silicone in his paint as a remedy. The only remedy I had was to, in turn, use silicone in my paint, one-shot, to avoid my own fish eyes and to keep the paint sticking longer. Nothing sticks to silicone very long.
Since I've been doing vinyl for about 7 years now I've not encountered anything like you're showing but wonder if those 2 vans had been repainted and hacked like the ones I would see on occasion.
GRGraphics
New Member
Techman
New Member
If I opened a vinyl install school. I would...
Replicate various tests myself and others did years ago to show how certain vinyls react to...
Various weasel pee concoctions.
How to ruin a vinyl install using windex.
How to ruin vinyl edges of installed vinyl with a pressure washer.
How to remove vinyl with a heat gun.
How to recognize shrinking vinyl.
How to recognize cast from calendared and the failures of each.
How to avoid pickle skin.
What causes pickle skin.
And dispel the myth of "outgassing" with vinyl on smooth surfaces.
Instead of guessing, speculating and spout opinions we would know what to look for and avoid all the speculation involved with our trade. Then we would be experts and few people could buffalo us.
Replicate various tests myself and others did years ago to show how certain vinyls react to...
Various weasel pee concoctions.
How to ruin a vinyl install using windex.
How to ruin vinyl edges of installed vinyl with a pressure washer.
How to remove vinyl with a heat gun.
How to recognize shrinking vinyl.
How to recognize cast from calendared and the failures of each.
How to avoid pickle skin.
What causes pickle skin.
And dispel the myth of "outgassing" with vinyl on smooth surfaces.
Instead of guessing, speculating and spout opinions we would know what to look for and avoid all the speculation involved with our trade. Then we would be experts and few people could buffalo us.
visual800
Active Member
LOL if he asked a 3M rep the rep would come with with 200 reason why it failed and all were his fault!:ROFLMAO:
This post reminds me also of the other thread BUT on that one it was all on the top of the graphics. If the high pressure hoses were doing this than why not just rip the whole thing off? thats whats weird