We did a job where we applied a large amount of small 3mil white letters to a 4'x8'x1/4" sheet of blue plex.
When the client picked it up and installed it, they placed a clear 4'x8'x1/4" plex in front of it and screwed them both to a wood board. These were placed in the direct sunlight for most of the day.
A few days later, they brought them back with the a lot of the vinyl letters out of place, migrated from the piece they were on to the top piece. There was hardly any space between the two pieces.
Any one out here know why this would happen? My guess is that the front piece became a magnifying glass and did a number on the vinyl letters. The one board that was inside had no problem.
UGH!
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I don't have a definitive answer for you but for outdoor signs like that I would recommend using 2 mil cast vinyl....NOT cheap 3 mil!!!
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
Why did they put acrylic in front of it, just asking for dirt or moisture to get behind it, I agree with Dave, use H.P Vinyl.
Rick
Posted by Bruce & Deb Newton (Member # 2312) on :
Have to agree with the others that high-performance vinyl should be used but, that won't solve the problem.
The customer has to create a gap between the two sheets of acrylic. Try clear acrylic washers (Ridout Plastics) or fabricate your own. Make sure that the customer is not just screwing around the perimeter only. It will need to be secured in the middle as well, using the washers/spacers.
The sign faces will still buckle, due to expansion and contraction of plex. Remedy: oversized holes in both pieces of acrylic and washers on the top side of the clear acrylic as well.
Dirt will still be a problem!
If the reason for the clear was to create a vandal-resistant surface, next time try graffiti film by 3M, or sub-surface(painted)sign.
Hope this helps, Bruce
[ July 30, 2003, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Bruce & Deb Newton ]
Posted by Vipul Chitania (Member # 3113) on :
Yes, they wanted to protect it from vandals.
It would of been too much trouble & expense to try to apply HP vinyl...so, I just screen printed it.
But, this is definitely one for the learning process.
Thanks for all the replies!
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Vipul,
The first sign I did had a similar situation.
The customer added a couple of pieces of plexiglass over both sides of an MDO sign with screws. Just like your caase, they wanted to prevent vandalism. Even though it was painted and so was the lettering, the moisture that seeped into the plexi caused mildew and it did not last a year. The main sign above it has lasted 15 years with the same materials.
I'm not sure how many of us have had this happen, but I often have customers who do their own installations trying to save money. In such cases, I try to explain that the installation can sometimes be just as important as the paint for making the sign last longer.
Rapid
Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Well I believe that the 3mil vinyl has not much to do with it, unless it was of the poorest quality, Arlon 3 mil performs just as good as some so called 2mil High performance super duper vinyl that's out there. so I'd thought that I'd give my opinion on that subject, but that does'nt answer your question, could be a number of things, like Magification, maybe, poor cleaning of substrates as well, or just poor quality, or defective vinyl.
