Printed Translucent Adhesive and old lightbox acrylic

[gplough]

Can you get away with putting printed translucent adhesive over a lightbox that has older yellowed acrylic or should the customer buy new acrylic?

Thanks!
Greg

 

[ProSignTN]

Poly-carbonate Sheet yellows after a few years, but is much 'tougher' than Acrylic. NASCAR windshields are made of Poly, and it would replace glass in all autos if it could be made not to yellow. It's tough stuff. Acrylic should stay white for many years, but will became brittle sooner than Poly. If it is Acrylic, and it's yellow, then it's really old and should be replaced. At the least, advise your client you will not be responsible if breakage occurs. If Acrylic is yellow, you can bet it is brittle. Talk to your sign supplier about Acrylic SG (Sign Grade).

 

[ProSignTN]

Back to the question. Yes, you can, but it's not the right thing to do. My youngest daughter just bought a compact SUV. She asked the dealer if she could mount a trailer hitch on the car. He said, yes you can. And you can, but it voids the drive train warranty on the new ride. He didn't lie, but he did deceive. Be a Pro and sell them new faces.

 

[Johnny Best]

Are you printing on white translucent vinyl with translucent adhesive then it should be alright but clear vinyl with translucent adhesive would be better with a new face.

 

[weyandsign]

Mineral spirits and simple green will sometimes clean the yellow off.

 

[Caw]

Old lightboxes that are "yellowed" could be burnt in by the florescent lights that were standard behind them(most are nice LEDs now) and will always backlight yellowed. Sometimes it's just smoke that can be cleaned, worth a try but usually doesn't cut it. I work in the arcade industry, I've seen my share of old backlit marquees that are completely burnt out. IMO, they need new plastic(definitely look into what would work best for the location, many options) to make any new graphics you do actually look decent.

 

[MikePro]

i've done it plenty for cheap-o tenant updates... buuuut its not a great fix.
the yellow will cast-thru. daytime clean & new, but antique-old illumination appearance.

sometimes a good scrub of rapid remover and then isopropyl alcohol will take out the harsh burnt-yellow and leave more of a popcorn butter yellow behind
....buuut at that point, what's your labor worth? new plastic is cheaper than hours of elbowgrease for subpar final product.

 

[gplough]

Man! I appreciate everyone's feedback. I'll urge them to get new panels!

 

[gplough]

Are you printing on white translucent vinyl with translucent adhesive then it should be alright but clear vinyl with translucent adhesive would be better with a new face.

It would be white translucent from b2Sign but I think I'm gonna tell them they need a new panel. I don't want them calling me back...

 

[Caw]

What?! I mean, that's cool, I thought it was dead though?

It sure doesn't feel dead, we've been busy. Home use market is crazy coming out of the pandemic...people sat at home a bit too long I think....lol...