Polycarb Thickness Question

[visualeyez]

Hey guys,
I am installing a new face in a 48" x 240" Single sided lightbox, mounted low to the ground.

The current sign is two 120" x 48" sheets of acrylic and they are cracked and broken.

I was sourcing material and the vendor had two polycarb options. There was .150 thickness, and that came in a 52" rollstock. They also had the .177 but that was on a 100" rollstock. So to use the thicker, I would have to buy way more than needed, and use 3 panels. With the thinner .150" I could do the whole sign in one piece.

Do you think the .150 polycarbonate will do the job?

Thanks.

 

[GVP]

We would use 3/16" or even 1/4" material - I think the .150" would be too flimsy for that size of sign. I suggest you look to another vendor for the right width rollstock.

 

[Andy D]

I doubt it, I would think it would "oil can", meaning ripple.
I assuming when you say

100" rollstock.

you mean a 100 foot roll, right? Why don't you look for a vendor with 4'x10' sheets?
The thinnest we would use is 3/16", or.1875

 

[visualeyez]

I'm located on the southern Oregon coast. Not very many vendors around here, but I am looking. Anything in Portland or Eugene?

 

[Z SIGNS]

.150 poly carb with a hanger bar would work just fine

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

I doubt it, I would think it would "oil can", meaning ripple.
I assuming when you say
you mean a 100 foot roll, right? Why don't you look for a vendor with 4'x10' sheets?
The thinnest we would use is 3/16", or.1875

Roll stock comes in various widths, so I would think he did mean 100", antique there's perhaps several thousand feet of it (I'm guessing).

To the op...who did you get the quote from? I'd check around. My distributor (harbor sales) has .177 in various widths...

 

[SignProPlus-Alex]

I doubt it, I would think it would "oil can", meaning ripple.
I assuming when you say
you mean a 100 foot roll, right?

Lexan comes in rolls of 52", 100" etc wide. My supplier has 3/16 only. The trick is to hang it from a top of the frame so it does not sag. To do so you should glue additional strip of lexan to the top of the sign face.

 

[visualeyez]

Ok I am familiar with a hanger bar. I have re-faced a couple 6' x 12' that had the hanger bar (top and bottom I believe). It was like 1/4" U channel aluminum that we drilled and riveted onto the new pieces.

I could also get 10' of the 100" .177 and have then cut it down tow two 4' x10' pieces and have a single seem. Not sure how to handle that? This would cost me a $150 more than the .150 polycarb.

Either that, find a different vendor, or hang the .150" with hanger bars and save some coin.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

I just looked, and harbor sales has .177 in 54" roll stock for around 18.60 a linear foot...

 

[visualeyez]

That's about what I'm paying, but they only have clear and I need white. Plus freight would be outrageous.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

That's about what I'm paying, but they only have clear and I need white. Plus freight would be outrageous.

That's for white, by the way, but now I now see your in Oregon. When I first looked, I thought it said Ohio... Sorry, I don't know of any distributors on the west coast, other than Pacific sign supply.

 

[fastmax]

i liek polycarbonate but i think u should stay away from roll stock, get sheets of something, 1/8 inch flat polycarb or lexan is fine, if its acrylic id go 3/16 to 1/4 inch, another thing to consider is the thickness of the existing track, if its a 1/4" with wiggle room u might want to stick with 1/4 inch so the new face isnt swimming in it

 

[AaronSSsignsKC]

If you use hanger bars for stability as some other people stated you should be fine.. but I would use something a bit heavier than .150 we use mostly .177 roll stock but like fastmax said we try to stay away from roll stock if we can...

 

[spectrum maine]

put a flexface in it.

 

[signbrad]

.177" would be the minimum thickness for me for polycarbonate faces this big, with at least a top hanging bar. Using top and bottom bars is even better.

Hanging bars allow the faces to hang flat. When faces are allowed to bow, the center seam can open up. This would be even more of a problem on thinner face material like .150." I would think that a top and bottom bar would be best for .150," but I have never actually used .150" on a big face so I really don't know.
Hanging bars also make servicing much easier. It can make the difference between needing two men to service a sign rather than one. Manhandling large faces can be difficult, especially if the face is the least bit tight-fitting. A hanging bar can make a big difference

I was a one-to-two-man shop for many years, with one bucket truck. So when I built a lighted sign I always made it as serviceable as possible, since I figured just one of us would be working on it later. I used center seams even when others didn't, say, on a 2x12 polycarbonate face.
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to slide an ill-fitting heavy face without a hanging bar when you're by yourself. I have resorted to putting a clamp on one edge of the plastic and tying it off with rope to the boom to use the rotation control to pull the face sideways, then cleaning out the retainer track and waxing the heck out of the edges with a chunk of paraffin before pushing it back in. Those big suction cups that glaziers use can be helpful.

When I first serviced a sign that had a retro-fitted flexible face on a hinged frame, I thought it was a genius thing to do. I figured that soon all lighted signs would be made this way. Obviously, it didn't happen. But from then on I tried to talk customers into using flexible faces on bigger cabinets.

Brad in Kansas City

 

[printhog]

if youre using hanger bars there is no real concern between .150 an .177 thickness, the sign load is on the bar and the face merely hangs free from that. But if youre going with one piece then the hanger bar needs to be metal, not plastic, and riveted in addition to vhb or silicone. its carrying a lot of wind load. Leave at least .25 inch shorter than your cabinet on three sides so face doesnt expand and buckle in the sun (ugly) and so the hanger is supporting it at all times. Since its ground level, crane service of a long piece isnt an issue but vandalism is. The single piece option would be a benefit to prevent further damage despite service hassles.

 

[TSC1985]

I'm located on the southern Oregon coast. Not very many vendors around here, but I am looking. Anything in Portland or Eugene?

Call Craig/Robert at Denco in Portland, they have 3/16 roll stock in 50"+ widths. We have used a few from them before. Sun Supply runs to Medford/Eugene almost daily and I know that they have roll stock as well just don't know how wide.

 

[printhog]

Denco Sales in Portland has 326 ft of 52" poly carb .150" masked instock as of tonight.

Denco Sales

 

[MikePro]

put a flexface in it.

+1 flexface-worthy dimensions for sure. but I doubt your client is expecting to retro-fit their sign with new hardware.

we don't do signs this large with plastic faces, but .177 for sure would be ideal if you did.
I'm extremely against using thinner material that may get blown-out by a heavy gust of wind. I have to drive-by cheap Walmart signage otw to work everyday, after losing a bid to a cheaper company that cut corners and the faces have been blown-out for weeks. saw them "repair" it once, and it was blown-out again the next week. (and that was just a 3'x18' face.) hanger bar is nice, but 20ft. of it? good lord.

 

[MrSigns]

Ditto on Spectrum maine comment. I would refuse to do poly that size.