posted
Any hints other than the obvious .... do it some other time when it's cooler! Unfortunately this was not an option.
Yesterday afternoon temps were hitting 38c (nearly 100f) in the shade. I had to apply logos to two existing 6x3 BLACK roadside sign faces in full sun. The metal was almost too hot to touch
I put the 2'x 2' white background panels on wet. Very wet!!!! Even so the vinyl was so soft in the heat, I was having problems removing the backing paper without stretching it. It was also very difficult to squeege down without stretching. Fortunately the signs were 15ft in the air, and from the ground the "imperfections" were not visible.
The rest of the two color logos went over the top dry application without too much problem. Except I had to be careful removing the app tape as it tended to lift the background. A 1 hour job extended to over two
Any suggestions? How do you cool down a surface like that long enough to get vinyl on?
PS: I spent 15 minutes in the Butcher's cold store cooling down afterwards
posted
Hiya Jon, I know what a pain in the butt these jobs could be. Unfortunately, there's no easy way around them other than getting up eary to beat the sun. All my other suggestions are time consuming, making the job less profitable. If you had a water hose near by, you could try to cool it down, then, work quickly. Set up a tarp & sheild it from the sun. Or, the coolest thing I saw in the sign mags was a "yankee engineered" scissor lift. It had a window air conditioner mounted to it & then it was enclosed with one of those blue tarps leaving only one side exposed to work flush against a wall.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Hot, melting,butterly vinyl is not fun, But I sure wish I could be down there with you working in the sun, I just got back from working outside in 34 degree (farenhigt) damp cold foggy weather.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3813 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I know your going to laugh but this actually worked for the bloke who did it... and I am still amazed at how inventive people can be
an trade customer of ours worked out west in nsw and did a lot of road signs
he came up with an idea one stinking hot summer afternoon when he was looking through his van for a dropsheet to wet and lay over the sign panel to cool it down a bit, he reconds you could have cooked the bbq on it (it was so hot)
he could only find a blow-up air mattress he'd used a few times to grab a nap in the van on long trips
he knew he could use it for shade, but being that it was made of plastic with that fuzzy stuff on one side he figured he couldn't wet the outside because it wouldn't soak in
soooo.... he put some cold water inside the thing with as much crushed ice as he could grab out of the eski, shook it up so that the ice went in all the little chanels, he hung it over half the sign while he grabed a smoke and a cold drink and took a few minutes in the shade
he told me that it worked so well to cool the sign face down quickly that when he went home he rolled it up loosly with an old bed sheet acting as an interleave and stuck it in the freezer for the next hot day
now when he grabs the eski for side of the road type work, he chucks the old 6x4 cold pack in the top and away he goes
who would have thought? hehehe
cheers gail
-------------------- Gail & Dave Hervey Bay Qld Australia
gail@roadwarriorproducts.com.au
sumtimes ya just gota! Posts: 794 | From: 552 O'Regans Creek Rd Toogoom Qld 4655 Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Next time, I'll wet some old towels and freeze them overnight. Thinking of getting a portable fridge for the van anyway. Going to need it in Rockhampton!
posted
Just the opposite here...I installed vinyl window lettering for a client who insisted it needed to be done...it was @ 30 degrees F here today-I told him no warranty-we'll see if it lasts...
-------------------- Jereme Gauthier Kustom Kolor Norway, MI Posts: 33 | From: Norway, MI | Registered: Dec 2003
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