Decal shrinking when applied to PVC pipe

[pixel_pusher]

I printed some decals on MacTac ImaGin vinyl, laminated them with MacTac ColorGard lam and contour cut them into ellipses. My customer then applied them to sections of PVC pipe that look to have been painted flat black (the pipe looks almost textured). He brought one back to me today on which the decal had shrunk by a little less than 1/16 all the way around, leaving a ring of adhesive residue behind. Anyone know why this might happen with no exposure to direct sunlight and less than a year after application? see the pic for a better idea of what I mean...

 

[SightLine]

High performance or intermediate MacTac?

 

[2B]

Heavy ink coverage + calendered vinyl + possibly not enough dry time before laminating/cutting.....

specifically BLACK heavy ink coverage, full rich black is notorious for this when calendared film is involved

 

[petepaz]

Heavy ink coverage + calendered vinyl + possibly not enough dry time before laminating/cutting.....

specifically BLACK heavy ink coverage, full rich black is notorious for this when calendared film is involved

yeah what they said

 

[pixel_pusher]

Would I be better off suggesting vehicle wrap and lam instead? It's also possible that he painted the PVC pipe too soon before applying, isn't it?

 

[rjssigns]

Would I be better off suggesting vehicle wrap and lam instead? It's also possible that he painted the PVC pipe too soon before applying, isn't it?

Yup. Depending what it was painted with there could be solvent leaching.

 

[John Butto]

MACtac IMAGin® JT829P is a 3.1 mil gloss white, soft-calendered PVC film designed for solvent-based ink jet printing. The product is coated on one side with a clear permanent, acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive and supplied with a 74# Kraft liner. JT829P is designed for general purpose indoor and short term outdoor advertising and promotion on flat or slightly curved surfaces.

Flat or slightly curved surfaces... needed it to be cast with cast lam. What are all those grazes or scratches on the decal.

 

[pixel_pusher]

MACtac IMAGin® JT829P is a 3.1 mil gloss white, soft-calendered PVC film designed for solvent-based ink jet printing. The product is coated on one side with a clear permanent, acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive and supplied with a 74# Kraft liner. JT829P is designed for general purpose indoor andshort term outdoor advertising and promotion on flat or slightly curved surfaces.

Flat or slightly curved surfaces... needed it to be cast with cast lam. What are all those grazes or scratches on the decal.

The scratches on the decal are actually printed there. So you guys are saying I should use cast vinyl but not wrap vinyl? For some reason, I have always thought the two were synonymous.