Potential Problem with Magnetics

[BCP]

A customer of ours is having some trouble with his vehicle magnetics. He washes his vehicle every 2 weeks and says there is always a white residue left on it where the magnetics were. The residue is not sticky but won't easily wash off if it rains - it takes some elbow grease. We thought it could be pollen, but the problem doesn't occur with the other vehicle. Any suggestions?

 

[GaSouthpaw]

It almost sounds to me as if the customer isn't letting the car dry completely before putting the magnets back on. The remaining water behind them dries under the magnet and leaves a "film".

 

[Gino]

Have you ruled out "Outgassing" ??


Seriously, if he's taking them off before the washing, I'm sure it's nothing more than just a milky residue from 2 weeks worth of condensation and maybe some mold. You say it's a white residue, so it must be a rather dark color of paint. Dark colors will hold the heat better and create more moldy kinda conditions. Ask them to wash it once a week.

It is published by all manufacturers to remove and wipe down each day to prevent odd things such as this from happening. So basically, he's not doing that and letting little nasties creep in back there and grow.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Actually, we very recently made a couple of magnets for one of our trucks from our last roll of Magnum material and it left an almost solid area of white residue from having the magnets on the truck for one day. This is the first time I've ever noticed this issue before. We just got a new 50 foot roll the other day, so who knows if the problem will persist with this new roll. We've never had customers complain about it yet, just noticed it with our own set of magnets.

 

[Fred Weiss]

If the graphic is mostly black or a very dark color, you could be getting too much heat being absorbed by the magnet and reacting with the surface of the vehicle.

 

[BCP]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback!

 

[player]

Take a sample of the residue to a university science prof and ask if they would identify it as mold or not.

 

[gabagoo]

...but why white? Magnetics are a dark brown on the back...very odd

 

[GaSouthpaw]

...but why white? Magnetics are a dark brown on the back...very odd

I'm pretty sure it's the clear coat of the paint that's getting milky- not anything on the magnet. Of course, I could be wrong.

 

[MagnetStew]

We had a similar issue a few months ago with most of our flexible magnet. I think thats what it came down to. Most of the issues though were with people who rarely or never washed their cars and if they did they did not remove the magnet when doing so.

 

[Kathi Hauser]

Mags

I had this issue with metallic colored vehicles...
I thought it was reacting with the metallic particles in the paint. It was after the customer left them on a year..
But then it buffed out,
We think it was a dulling of the wax or clearcoat caused by the vibration of the vehicle and the magnetic.