• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Polycarbonate Sign Face Installation

truckgraphics

New Member
We are soon going to install a 20' X 3' sign face in a lightbox. Box previously had a formed sign and we may have to cut away part of a center upright (Looks to be two light boxes placed adjacent to one another.)

Anyway, everyone on the shopping strip has a seamless sign of about 20' or so, so that's what the customer is getting.

We plan to use white polycarbonate roll stock, printing the sign on clear cast, then overlaminating with a clear cast, for our sign face.

Questions are:

1) how thick should the polycarb be? .150" or 3/16" ? Our thought on using .150 is that polycarb is supposed to be 30X strongerthan the 3/16" acrylic we have used in the past - and not that much thinner. Also, we are adding the support of two layers of vinyl. But will it be wavy? We've never used it so don't know.

1a - Can we drill through the edging into the polycarb to hold it in place if it is wavy? Will that crack it? (We would never try that with acrylic.)

2) We are worried about handling a 3/16" (or even a .15") sheet that is 20' long. Should we plan on removing all of the edging from the sign box and then placing our sign - whether .150 or 3/16"? Is there any chance in heck that we could feed a .150 thick roll of polycarb in from the edge of the sign?

We will be installing with two people and renting an electric lift of some sort (if we don't outsource the install) because the sign is 10'to 12' high.

3) Perhaps not the topic of this forum, but what do the experts here think of our printing process. Do you prefer printing on translucent white? Does that makethe sign face too opaque?

We are not sign face experts - but we have the equipment to do the job (at least the printing) - and have been successful on a few previous light boxes. We might outsource the install, but will want provide the right materials for the installer and of course get the best results.

Any help is appreciated.
 

Moze

Precision Sign Services
We are soon going to install a 20' X 3' sign face in a lightbox. Box previously had a formed sign and we may have to cut away part of a center upright (Looks to be two light boxes placed adjacent to one another.)

Anyway, everyone on the shopping strip has a seamless sign of about 20' or so, so that's what the customer is getting.

We plan to use white polycarbonate roll stock, printing the sign on clear cast, then overlaminating with a clear cast, for our sign face.

Questions are:

1) how thick should the polycarb be? .150" or 3/16" ? Either would be fine. Our thought on using .150 is that polycarb is supposed to be 30X strongerthan the 3/16" acrylic we have used in the past - and not that much thinner. Also, we are adding the support of two layers of vinyl. But will it be wavy? We've never used it so don't know. Being wavy is going to be more dependent on how tight your retainers are or how thin the track is.

1a - Can we drill through the edging into the polycarb to hold it in place if it is wavy? Will that crack it? (We would never try that with acrylic.) No need to drill it.

2) We are worried about handling a 3/16" (or even a .15") sheet that is 20' long. Should we plan on removing all of the edging from the sign box and then placing our sign - whether .150 or 3/16"? Is there any chance in heck that we could feed a .150 thick roll of polycarb in from the edge of the sign? Remove end retainer, place one ladder about arms-length away from the end, place another ladder about three arms-length from that one. Two people can walk the face up the ladders and feed it in from the end.

We will be installing with two people and renting an electric lift of some sort (if we don't outsource the install) because the sign is 10'to 12' high. I would forego the cost of the lift. This can be done off ladders without too much effort.

3) Perhaps not the topic of this forum, but what do the experts here think of our printing process. Do you prefer printing on translucent white? Does that makethe sign face too opaque?

We are not sign face experts - but we have the equipment to do the job (at least the printing) - and have been successful on a few previous light boxes. We might outsource the install, but will want provide the right materials for the installer and of course get the best results. I'm not sure what the laws are where you're at, but here in Texas you need to be a Master Sign Electrician or working with one to open up an illuminated sign - even for a face change. Depending on your laws (or your willingness to abide by them) and your access to a master Sign electrician, you may have to sub the install out.

Any help is appreciated.

We used two guys and two ladders to install the face below. I believe it was 3' x 15'.
 

Attachments

  • 02.jpg
    02.jpg
    95 KB · Views: 258

Billct2

Active Member
Sounds like a butcher job to me, going from a formed face made from 2 boxes butted together to a flat face.
And a layer of vinyl adds no strength.
 
Top