Thoughts on Orajet 3551RA for boat wrap??

[Gforce1]

I have no concerns at all about being able to do the install or it sticking, just curious why 3951 is recommended for marine graphics? Anyone have any experience with the 3551 on a boat? Any reasons why I shouldn't use it? Thanks all!!:U Rock:

 

[BigfishDM]

Cast vinyl is the product of choice, its not worth the risk of having a failure using a calandered vinyl would be my guess.

 

[Mike Paul]

Cast is King.

 

[Charlie J]

Cast

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Yup, I wouldn't trust a calendered product in a marine environment to hold up well. 3551 is good vinyl for calendered, it may last a season or so before you start seeing any major wear and tear, but a cast vinyl will definitely outlast it by a significant margin.

 

[speedmedia]

Not only because it isn't cast some say Rapid Air style of vinyls aren't good for marine applications due to the air channels and water getting into them. Not sure if this is true or not but I have heard other voice this concern in the past.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

[cdiesel]

Kurt beat me to it.. Oracal actually doesn't endorse RA for boats.

 

[BigfishDM]

Just got back from a 2 day wrap seminar put on by Oracal.... the Canadian Sales Manager was there (awesome guy) and said that under NO circumstances you should use RA or any air egress type vinyl on boats. If you happen to have the "selection guide for vehicle wraps" they only suggest using 3951 (without RA) for marine applications. No matter how you seal the edges or how well the edges seem to hold, they will eventually fail.
Can't speak from experience but I would definitely keep that in mind if I had to wrap a boat.

Lol I told some accounts that a while back on here and everyone called me an idiot pretty much cause I said dont use Air Release Vinyls. Alot of companies do though and are being successful so who knows..

 

[Rustyrussell]

The failure of air release films on smoth fiberglass boats is inevitable. A good seal around the edges might extend the life of the print but not by much. Cast vinyl is the only good choice.

 

[Gforce1]

Ok, thanks guys, appreciate all the input. Looks like 3951 it is!

 

[BigfishDM]

http://signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63009

Here was a thread with mixed opinons on Air Egress vs Non AE

 

[Gforce1]

Yeah I actually read through that before, that was kinda what started my questioning.

 

[kstompaint]

We wrapped a bass boat 2+ years ago with 3951RA and 290G lam. We sealed the edges with a 1/2" strip of lam. I am very good friends with the guy who owns the business that primarily sponsors the boat and the actual owner of the boat. It is still holding up well, the owner told me that the only problems he has had are damage that he caused by hitting the dock. My personal boat is wrapped with 3551RA and has been for also about 2 1/2 years and is fine. It is a pontoon, so the wrap is not in the water but the boat sits in an uncovered slip during the entire boating season.

Also, I'd like to see somebody install a bass boat with non-air-egress vinyl (and the final product). I'm not saying it can't be done, but I imagine the time would be doubled and the results cut in half.

 

[Williams Signs]

done partial wrap on a sea ray couple of years ago for police department. Used oracal 751 to cover blue stripe on boat and oracal 5600 reflec still holding up good. But it did take a while