Paint coming off of trailer - what to do?

[gabagoo]

A customer brought in a 12' trailer that we lettered up about 8 - 10 years ago... We used that premium chrome vinyl by Coburn. One side that sits in the sun for the most part is completely faded to clear and he wants 1 side and the rear redone.

I started with the steamer and a plastic razor blade. the old chrome comes off OK but so does the paint revealing a silver stainless steel. I switched to a heat gun and less paint is coming off but I get scratching. I spoke to the customer about this and that I have never seen this happen before. He is fine with me matching a vinyl to basically cover the bad areas before relettering and 3m has a pretty close match. I decided to use some rapid remover to get the glue off and it is taking the paint right off!!!! I then tried methyl hydrate and the same thing is happening.

The paint job looks very good, and not amateur and the original decals are still on the trailer from the dealer with advertising that the panels are held on with 3M vhb tape...so I have to think this paint is original.

What the hell is going on here?

anyone experience something like this, cause in all my years I have never seen anything like it

posting a pic. You can see that the lettering has turned basically clear and the part I removed using rapid remover took only the paint off under the letter.....just strange.

 

[KMC]

whats the product number for the chrome, ive not heard of that brand before

 

[Baz]

That's going to need an acid wash and repaint (or wrap).
There's no way you are going to clean off 8-10 year old chrome vinyl and have the surface ready to "re-letter".

 

[Jburns]

I have heard that chrome shouldn't be applied directly to paint - cant remember from where- maybe Oracal.
edit:Trailer probably needs new paint anyways

 

[Terry01]

At 10 years old, he's had some pretty cheap advertising. Advise him to repaint the whole trailer again if he wants the next job to last that long.
Alternatively.vinyl wrap the panels.

 

[Gino]

Is the paint only coming off where a vinyl letter was ?? Or does paint patches come off all over ??

Remember..... an acid wash for steel is totally different from an aluminum acid wash.

 

[TimToad]

I have heard that chrome shouldn't be applied directly to paint - cant remember from where- maybe Oracal.

Yeah, the only time we do mirror chrome is if we lay a full letter with outline behind it and then chrome goes on top of the underlying layer. I'm amazed that it lasted even five years. Its probably been faded to clear for several years.

If the trailer is still in good shape, a stripping and repaint seems like the best course to follow.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Holy crap! Ten years for chrome vinyl??? That's impressive.

 

[Johnny Best]

I've had paint come off in sheets on those size trailers removing wraps because of old bad paint jobs. Tell the customer your dilemma and suggest a new paint job. You've been "Gabagood".

 

[Pat Whatley]

His options are having it repainted or having you wraps over what is there even though you'll see the impression through the front

 

[studio 440]

A customer brought in a 12' trailer that we lettered up about 8 - 10 years ago... We used that premium chrome vinyl by Coburn. One side that sits in the sun for the most part is completely faded to clear and he wants 1 side and the rear redone.

I started with the steamer and a plastic razor blade. the old chrome comes off OK but so does the paint revealing a silver stainless steel. I switched to a heat gun and less paint is coming off but I get scratching. I spoke to the customer about this and that I have never seen this happen before. He is fine with me matching a vinyl to basically cover the bad areas before relettering and 3m has a pretty close match. I decided to use some rapid remover to get the glue off and it is taking the paint right off!!!! I then tried methyl hydrate and the same thing is happening.

The paint job looks very good, and not amateur and the original decals are still on the trailer from the dealer with advertising that the panels are held on with 3M vhb tape...so I have to think this paint is original.

What the hell is going on here?

anyone experience something like this, cause in all my years I have never seen anything like it

posting a pic. You can see that the lettering has turned basically clear and the part I removed using rapid remover took only the paint off under the letter.....just strange.

sell him on a complete wrap or have it repainted

 

[GAC05]

See if you can up-sell them to something that will cover the failing paint.
We did some Isuzu aluminum box trucks about that long ago with contour cut text 3M 7725 (red and blue). Pulled up on one the other day and the paint is almost completely gone from the sides. The only thing left is the vinyl lettering. Not looking good but still hanging on & readable.
Going to do a new truck for them soon - full wrap.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Coburn turned into (or was bought by) R-Tape.

 

[gabagoo]

The Coburn polyesters were designed for vehicles...Cost a lot more than traditional polyesters.

 

[Mainframe]

Bad paint on the trailer, probably cheap primer actually , trailer needs stripped and painted by a professional , stop and advise customer, not your fault I see this all the time. Seen a lot of this on chevy trucks in the 90s

 

[unclebun]

Typical box trailers aren't actually painted. They use prepainted aluminum sheets, just like what we buy for signs. And it doesn't matter what kind of vinyl you put on them, when they get old the paint will come off with Rapid Remover or pretty much anything you use.

 

[Gman75]

A customer brought in a 12' trailer that we lettered up about 8 - 10 years ago... We used that premium chrome vinyl by Coburn. One side that sits in the sun for the most part is completely faded to clear and he wants 1 side and the rear redone.

I started with the steamer and a plastic razor blade. the old chrome comes off OK but so does the paint revealing a silver stainless steel. I switched to a heat gun and less paint is coming off but I get scratching. I spoke to the customer about this and that I have never seen this happen before. He is fine with me matching a vinyl to basically cover the bad areas before relettering and 3m has a pretty close match. I decided to use some rapid remover to get the glue off and it is taking the paint right off!!!! I then tried methyl hydrate and the same thing is happening.

The paint job looks very good, and not amateur and the original decals are still on the trailer from the dealer with advertising that the panels are held on with 3M vhb tape...so I have to think this paint is original.

What the hell is going on here?

anyone experience something like this, cause in all my years I have never seen anything like it

posting a pic. You can see that the lettering has turned basically clear and the part I removed using rapid remover took only the paint off under the letter.....just strange.

Warp the trailer and call it a wrap

 

[Jester1167]

Those trailers aren't painted at the factory. They get the material in sheets with the color already on it just like your aluminum for real estate signs. That paint is so thin you sneeze on it and you scratch it, and that's why you often see the blue protective plastic sticking out behind the screws on new trailers. Nature of the beast.

 

[decalman]

It's totally not your fault the paint came off. What you are guilty of is not warning him, that the paint coming off is likely to happen. A good solid warning clears the king's hyway. Plus you bounce back their attitude first. If they're too sensitive about damage I want no part of it

I did the same thing to my own trailer. I used rapid remover, and the paint come off. Trailers paint isn't like car paint. I learned, when faced with trailer or re- printed cars, to use oil to remove the glue.

 

[fuzzy_cam]

It's totally not your fault the paint came off. What you are guilty of is not warning him, that the paint coming off is likely to happen. A good solid warning clears the king's hyway. Plus you bounce back their attitude first. If they're too sensitive about damage I want no part of it

I did the same thing to my own trailer. I used rapid remover, and the paint come off. Trailers paint isn't like car paint. I learned, when faced with trailer or re- printed cars, to use oil to remove the glue.

I have to backup decalman here. Unfortunately, we deal with this type of issue all the time. Customer comes in with a 2-8 year old cargo trailer and they want a wrap or lettering. Rub your hand across it and come back with a bunch of oxidation "dust". After a couple of burned jobs, all of the sales staff knows how to test a trailer for vinyl adhesion.

If the oxidation isn't too bad, regular 'ol cut vinyl will adhere fine. BUT, we let the customer know before hand the condition of their paint, and the we will install the vinyl with no warranty provided. Wraps are not an option for almost anything other than a brand new trailer, or freshly re-paneled trailer. We have to turn down probably 1 or 2 trailer graphics jobs a month due to this. On some of the larger wraps/serious customers, the customer will actually op to hook up with a trailer manufacturer we work with, and get the trailer re-paneled. Repaint is usually not an option, just from a price standpoint.

In your situation, looks like the trailer was in ok condition when you installed the graphics, but that paint on those panels is simply crap.