Mounting IJ-3630 on 20' lexan...Help!!

[KolSteinke]

Hey guys,
Need some advice. I have a 20' x 30" sign can front. Full coverage with IJ-3630 translucent vinyl. The art involves the install to be straight as possible. I tried to hand mount it today by myself and about 3rd of the way in it tracked off so I pulled the vinyl back to where it started but it stretch the vinyl and ended up throwing the entire sign off....needless to say that was a huge waste of time and money for vinyl and lam. Any mounting suggestions?? I do have a 64" laminator I could use. But will it still track off a bit? I was also thinking pre mask the vinyl and do a centre hinge... Thanks in advance gents!

 

[signbrad]

A 20-foot application can be done by one person.
Pre-mask and center hinge. Wet application with soap and water only. No solvent.

We did 4x90-foot, full coverage overlays at one place I worked (producing back-lit awnings). Translucent vinyl with a 6-inch stripe (void) running the entire length and a Pilot truck stop logo reversed out at each end was common. No seams were allowed. Alignment was absolutely critical.
Pre-masking, a center hinge, and very wet application were essential.
Doing a 90-foot lay is best done with four people.

Hinge in the center with 2-inch tape. Lay down a couple of layers of tape so the hinge is thick and resists tearing. After you pull the first ten-foot half back over the second half of the 20-foot piece, peel the backing from the entire first half, cut it and remove it. Spray the application fluid liberally on the adhesive side. We also sprayed the substrate, because laying a 90-foot piece of vinyl in two halves required a good 45-minute wet window for squeegeeing. So we soaked it. Then, two people with 8-inch rollers was followed by two people with hard squeegees to work out the water.
Do not use application fluid, such as Rapid Tac. It dries way too fast. Soap and water only.

A trick for the initial lay: Insert a broom handle between the two halves after you've pulled back and wetted the first half. Then, holding it horizontal, move the broom handle toward the end of the substrate, letting the vinyl curl over and lay down all the way to the end. If it's crooked, you can pick it up at the end and re-lay it straight. Obviously, there needs to be a lot of wetness to do this. If you pull it up more than once or twice you may need a helper to re-wet under the suspended vinyl.
After the pre-mask was pulled off, we always did another squeegeeing, very wet.

None of our stuff was printed. It was all straight translucent vinyl.
Our preferred brand was Neschen. 3M seemed to tear a little easier. It was more brittle. Neschen was easier to sgueegee.

I have never done very large overlays with printed vinyl, so there may be issues I am not familiar with, but I would expect the mechanics to be the same.

..........

Once, we had to overlay a 100-foot piece of awning material to simply change its color. No graphics, but the vinyl color was custom manufactured. The vinyl roll cost 3,000 dollars (ten years ago). Avoiding tears while trying to squeegee rapidly was nerve-racking.

Brad in Kansas City

 

[KolSteinke]

Wow thanks Brad I really appreciate the advice! I never considered wet mount that's a really good call. I will try it next week when I get more material in for the reprint. Thanks again Brad!