Paving dump truck printed vinyl failing

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Wanted to give an update on this, I recently had another paver come in with this problem. While cleaning the vinyl off I accidentally separated the laminate from the print, and to my amazement found that it was not the vinyl that was discolored but the laminate was the culprit. The print is absolutely perfect under there. The laminate has failed. Check out the pictures. This is ij180 with 8518

The laminate failure is likely due to UV exposure. The problem is that both the vinyl and laminate are only rated to 220ish degrees, so you're not likely not get any kind of support from 3M.

My guess is that the increased temperature didn't cause the laminate to fail quickly or spectacularly, but accelerated the UV damage.

 

[petepaz]

i have a paving customer with similar trucks.
i solvent print the graphics with oracal 3751RA and 290 gloss lam haven't had any issues.
i would think if it was the temp of the asphalt it would effect both sides but maybe it's a combo of the asphalt temp and direct sun on that one side?

 

[FatCat]

For our issue we tested using a silicone/rubberized sheet as an insulator - 1/4" thick which was adhered to the bedside and then we wrapped the sheet. (Similar to the stuff they make pot holders and cooking sheets out of) My customer direct ordered this stuff and it was their responsibility to put it on. (They used adhesive only.) So far our 4-5 test trucks made it through all last year without issue. Our problem was DEFINITELY caused by asphalt that was too hot, not sun or chemical issues. Looks like we'll be doing more this year to replace the old graphics on the rest of the fleet.