The Letterville BullBoard: Properties of Lexan polycarbonite

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Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

Howdy,

I have a customer who wants me to use, and place new vinyl on, Lexan that's been in an illuminated cabinet for about a year. It has, no doubt, browned a bit. Believe it or not, I've not met up with this in the last few years I've been doing these types of signs and am wondering if there anything that will clean it up a bit? OR What happens if I were to reverse - or turn around - this face?

Thanks,

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :

I bought a (I think 1/4"x4'x6')piece of lexan in 1990, We applied a rather intricate(rapidtac)logo to one side.

This sign has been hanging on the front of our production bldg.(facing south/east) for
at least 8 years.

The vinyl(cast premium)is just now starting to chalk a bit.
There is no protection from any of the elements(105degrees summer/ 20degrees winter,snow,slete u.v.).

I have to say that Lexan still looks great(clear).

Roger

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Roger Bailey
Rapid Tac Incorporated
Waikoloa, Hawaii

Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :

I bought a (I think 1/4"x4'x6')piece of lexan in 1990, We applied a rather intricate(rapidtac)logo to one side.

This sign has been hanging on the front of our production bldg.(facing south/east) for
at least 8 years.

The vinyl(cast premium)is just now starting to chalk a bit.
There is no protection from any of the elements(105degrees summer/ 20degrees winter,snow,slete u.v.).

I have to say that Lexan still looks great(clear).

Roger

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Roger Bailey
Rapid Tac Incorporated
Waikoloa, Hawaii

Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

Thanks Roger,

I appreciate your description.

To clarify, however, the lexan has turned a bit (when old letters are removed the "ghost" of them are noticible) are there any means to alleviating this? Or as I'd asked what happens if I turn it around?

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

BTW, it's a white sheet of Lexan.

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :

Dean, that (white) explains the difference in mine and your customers.

I'm not sure if there is a way(buffing with compound,heavy cleaning)to restore and loose the "ghosting".

If you try either, make sure your customer knows its at his expence if it dosn't work or damages it.
Then give it h*#@.

Good luck!!
Roger

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Roger Bailey
Rapid Tac Incorporated
Waikoloa, Hawaii

Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

Thanks Roger,

I do appreciate the advice. I'm checking with some local suppliers to see if there's something I can use to buff it out. Of course, they want my customer to use new stuff . . . as do I. Don't want to spen too much time on it or it's a moot point! But just tryin' to please.

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :

Hiya Dean,
I've found that rubbing alcohol works well on cleaning most stains off most plastic without damage. But, always test first.
Lettering the wrong side of lexan can be a real bummer. It's coated on one side to protect it from UV rays. If you letter the wrong side, it will yellow real quick.
I think the real problem will be removing the adheasive residue left from the old lettering. I'm not sure if rapid remover will damage the UV coating on the lexan though. Check with Roger on that.
IMHO, if you strip & reletter the existing face, offer no warranty against fading.
Have you looked into Duraplex yet? It's a plastic that has the high impact qualities of lexan & it's less expensive.
Havin' fun,
Checkers

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a.k.a. Brian Born
Harrisburg, Pa
717.652.9073
members.home.net/sign-it/
This isn't Burger King, you can't have it your way.

Posted by Pierre St.Marie (Member # 1462) on :

Ghosting on Lex is NOT going to go away. If you turn it around you'll be on the back side of the UV side. No amount of buffing will restore white Lex. Get it up in the air and backlit and the ghosting won't be very noticeable anyhoo.

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St.Marie Graphics
& Makin' Tracks Sound Studio
Kalispell, Montana
stmariegraphics@centurytel.net http://www.stmariegraphics.com
800 735-8026
We're chiseling every day of the week! :^)

Posted by VICTORGEORGIOU (Member # 474) on :

The way it was explained to me is - the UV protection is only to prevent or slow down the yellowing, and yellowing does not affect the mechanical strength of the lexan.

I have seen lexan signs that were lettered on the wrong side, and what it looks like is a piece of ivory acrylic. The customer was not even aware his signs were supposed to be white.

More in answer to your question - if it is not a problem that the material will yellow you can simply turn it over and letter the other side.

If you want to use the UV side, I recommend that you turn the sign upside down before you reletter it. You and I notice the shadowing because that is who we are. The rest of the world only reads text, and does not look at the background unless it is really obvious. By turning the panel upside down, it is less likely that a reader will pick out the shadow of an old word. At least that is Vic's theory. Vic G

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Victor Georgiou
AnchorBlanks.com
Designer Sign Blanks
Clipart CD's & FONTS

Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

Thank you folks for all the valuable information -- this board continues to amaze me.

I'll take my newly expanded knowledge base to my client, show him the sign face and place the ball squarely in his court.

Thanks again,

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by Chuck Churchill (Member # 68) on :

I ran into this problem head on a couple of months ago. We took down two 6'x10' backlit faces that I had judged to be acryic. Started to strip the old message and discovered white underneath. My client was not interested in having a ghost of their old name showing under and around their new name. This was the head office of a substantial software company. We considered turning the faces around but discovered that the ghost was still visable when backlit. We ended up replacing the polycarbonate with high impact acrylic. I was a little concerned abut using regular acrylic on faces that size because of windload issues.

You might consider contacting the good people at General Electric to see if they know of any solution that will reduce or eliminate the yellowing of an aged piece of Lexan.

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Chuck Churchill,
It's A Good Sign Inc.
3245 Harvester Rd, U-12
Burlington, Ont.
Phone: 905-681-8775
Fax: 905-681-8945

Posted by Dean Stafford (Member # 1212) on :

Well everyone,

Just for resolution's sake . . .

Armed with numerous options and an old sign face has resulted in the client s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g his budget for a new sheet. And not only that, it seems that since I went in with newly acquired options/limitations as to what could and couldn't be done (and his best interest in mind, of course!)it looks like I picked up another 2 signs at his other office.

Thanks to you!

Dean

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Dean Stafford
Dean's DeSigns
Phoenix, AZ

Posted by Kevin Landry (Member # 1352) on :

This sign face that has Lexan has to be older than a year. If it was installed using the correct side facing our then the product failed. Bring it back to the supplier and the customer should get their money back. Check first. If this works the customer will love you. Another suggestion is to check for rust sources.

A heads up on Lexan. Do not under any circumstances use adhesives on it. It has a tendency to crack and split. (I don't know why) When using your starter strip (strip across the top to keep the sign in the frame) use 3m tape to stick to the sign face. Just a recent lesson learned by my supplier and I.

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Kevin Landry
KnL Signs
Halifax NS
knlsigns@hfx.eastlink.ca

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