General Formulations GF830 ANY GOOD? (with drift, cast wrap vinyl)

[signpro]

What's everyone's thoughts on General Formulations GF830 wrap vinyl? with drift technology

We're doing a collaboration with a company to get a trailer wrapped, we are printing & installing, they were to provide us
3M IJ180 vinyl and 8519 laminate, which is what we normally use (they are a retailer for 3M as well they told us)
and another full roll of vinyl/lam to cover our labor to install the wrap once printed.

However, they sent us this GF830 instead. and GF clear gloss laminate. (not the deal that was made)
We've never used GF stuff. Reviews seem decent, but not sure I want to offer this to my
customers (after this job) since i've never used it before, and don't really plan to either.
hate to have 1 roll of random vinyl out there, when everything else for printed vinyl we use 3M
to be consistent, and if there's issues, we know how to handle it (also, never really had problems with 3M printed vinyl *knock on wood*)

Any personal reviews or long term advice on this GF830 vinyl is appreciated!
This trailer DOES have a lot of rivets as well, how does GF go over the rivets? (and hold up)

Thank you in advance!

 

[SightLine]

No idea but I'd not trust it. Too many times in the past 20+ years that sort of thing blew up on me. Either failing, leaving 100% adhesive and nightmare to remove (when the time comes), super agressive or (not enough and practically falls off), etc.
I get amused by some random brand with a new vinyl claiming clean removal with little to no adhesive..... How can they truly know how its going to remove in 3-5 years or hold up for the same? Accelerated aging in a lab is not real world.

One thing for sure - I'd certainly not accept that in lieu of a roll of 180.
They are both cast wrap vinyls but are about as equivalent as a Toyota Corrolla is equivalent to a Mercedes AMG sedan.

 

[signheremd]

Haven't used GF830 over rivets yet, but it lays really nice. It is engineered for cold stretch and not warm but otherwise similar to many wrap vinyl. I like it. That said, it cost them less than the 3M stuff to fulfill their part of the agreement. I would want the promised material even just to be sure the base white matches what I stock. Nothing like printing 3/4 of a vehicle and using a different brand for the rest...

So GF830 - cold stretch, still post form heat, quality product. Haven't removed a wrap after years yet for this product, so not sure how it will compare as 3M is very good in that way.

 

[signpro]

Thanks for heads up guys.
I'm sure it would work for THEIR project...
but I'm not warrantying ANYTHING since they sent a product I've never used before.
(not really worried about the install, honestly... i know we can handle it)
just don't want issues a year from now, and they ask me WTF is going on with failing vinyl, etc.
i'm going to mention that BEFORE we print anything.

anyone else wanting to chime in, please do.

 

[signheremd]

No idea but I'd not trust it. Too many times in the past 20+ years that sort of thing blew up on me. Either failing, leaving 100% adhesive and nightmare to remove (when the time comes), super agressive or (not enough and practically falls off), etc.
I get amused by some random brand with a new vinyl claiming clean removal with little to no adhesive..... How can they truly know how its going to remove in 3-5 years or hold up for the same? Accelerated aging in a lab is not real world.

One thing for sure - I'd certainly not accept that in lieu of a roll of 180.
They are both cast wrap vinyls but are about as equivalent as a Toyota Corrolla is equivalent to a Mercedes AMG sedan.

FWIW, General Formulations is not some random company - they are one of only two American companies who manufacture here in the USA, they are debt free which allowed them to invest in more raw material as we entered Covid so that they could stay in stock. Their packaging is very plain, and maybe they should invest in better package graphics. Their products are as reliable as a Toyota, but I would not say the comparison of Toyota to Mercedes is apt other than perhaps price. We have been using a number of their products for a good while and quality and consistency is there. Now their 830 Automark is new I can't say anything on removability, but they are certainly not like one of the random companies that pop up.

 

[SightLine]

I'm well aware of General Formulations and we do use some of their vinyl (their transit vinyl is very good).

That being said, I dont remember which vinyl it was but it was one of their vehicle "wrap" vinyls - about 5 years ago were were asked to remove a wrap that was that material and it was pretty horrifying. Had been on 2 years (I know the shop that had printed and installed it and he told me what it was), it looked okay but would tear and break constantly so only able to get small bits off at a time and left near 100% of the adhesive on removal. So a removal that should have taken 4 hours took 2 full days and nearly anentire gallon of Xylol to clean up.

 

[caribmike]

I've used GF vinyl for years with no issues.