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Trick to getting vinyl to stick to Polyethylene plastic...big plastic tanks

jster171

jster171

New Member
Customer has a Pressure Washing business and wanted his water tank lettered up. Long story short, Oracal 651 will not stick to it, and Oracal 3651 is barely hanging on, thats whats in the pic. The water tank manufacturer is Rotoplas and its a Polyethylene material, which Im starting to find out has a non stick agent in it to help prevent molding etc. The surface is kinda rough as well, not very smooth at all, like the surface of a igloo ice chest. I wiped down the tank with alcohol first as well, to make sure it was clean. Anybody have any tips or tricks for this type of situation?
 

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equippaint

Active Member
Can try and heat it up a bit before you apply it too. Make the guy a sign instead and screw it into the side of the tank :)
 
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ikarasu

Active Member
Oracal makes some of the strongest high tac I've ever used.. if it doesn't work, nothing will.

Lots of plastics are oiled so they don't crack, or have lubricant in the molding process. he to ship them easier. We always use a blow torch for a few seconds on any plastic surface we know won't melt - it burns the oil/residue away and makes it easy to stick.

Vvid makes a spray that promotes adhesion... Its nowhere'snear as good as primer 95, but it's a true clear, you can spray it on the whole back and hope for the best... Not sure how well it would do with plastics though .
 
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tager_rot

New Member
Hit up your the rep for Arlon in your area. They have 2 versions that will work DPF8000 and DPF8200 (low shrinkage). Ask for a sample roll. They sent me both. It's stupid tacky. I have not used it for hdpe yet but I'm confident it will stick to it. They specifically list it as a compatible substrate.
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
Using vinyl made for low energy plastics is the best answer.

But, you can also corona treat it. That is where you let the flame of a torch touch the surface. Then you will need to clean it well before you install the vinyl.
 
Skeezix

Skeezix

New Member
jster171 said:
Customer has a Pressure Washing business and wanted his water tank lettered up. Long story short, Oracal 651 will not stick to it, and Oracal 3651 is barely hanging on, thats whats in the pic. The water tank manufacturer is Rotoplas and its a Polyethylene material, which Im starting to find out has a non stick agent in it to help prevent molding etc. The surface is kinda rough as well, not very smooth at all, like the surface of a igloo ice chest. I wiped down the tank with alcohol first as well, to make sure it was clean. Anybody have any tips or tricks for this type of situation?
Click to expand...
Look at Convex vinyl
I have had the same issue with shifter Kart sidepods and white or clear convex worked well with the edge 2
 
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Oroscoe

New Member
you need a vinyl that will adhere to a low energy surface. We use Ritrama vinyl. Part number is RIT-3-9909-54150
 
Sign Pro Salina

Sign Pro Salina

New Member
We have a customer that applies decals to plastic tanks. We use clear MacTac Rebel High Tack that has worked well for them. We also us Orajet 3951HT (High Tack) Gloss White that works equally as well.
 
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