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Calendared on backlits

Techman

New Member
For all those who insist on using calendared vinyl for back lits because it works and is cheaper...

Good luck with that mess.

IMG_0449.JPG
 

Marlene

New Member
wonder if the person posted on the site to ask if cheap temp crappy vinyl would work and didn't listen
 

ddarlak

Go Bills!
I made that...

They had asked if I could make it where the sign would age/weather faster to make it look like they had been in business longer than they had...

I told them I could, but it would cost more, as aging vinyl is a bit more expensive.....
 

CanuckSigns

Active Member
We made a backlit out of 2 mil cast translucent from ritrama, after 2 years it looks WAY worse than that! When I called them their excuse was that you are not supposed to apply translucent vinyl to white polycarb because they shrink/expand at different rates. I asked him what i was supposed to put translucent vinyl on, he told me aluminum.....

Havn't purchased a ritrama product since!
 

2B

Active Member
We made a backlit out of 2 mil cast translucent from ritrama, after 2 years it looks WAY worse than that! When I called them their excuse was that you are not supposed to apply translucent vinyl to white polycarb because they shrink/expand at different rates. I asked him what i was supposed to put translucent vinyl on, he told me aluminum.....

Havn't purchased a ritrama product since!

:dog42
 
Anybody ever have this affect from using a quality vinyl like the 3M translucent series? It's happened to me before, but not sure if it's from perhaps facility maintenance cleaning the building faces with possible detergents or pressure washers, or the client using chemical to clean?
 

Billct2

Active Member
I don't get it, how much did they save and what percentage of the total cost was it...peanuts compared to the bad rep and/or cost of a redo.
 

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
I just drove past a west facing translucent lightbox that is peeling (finally). We did it back in 2001 using 3M Translucent.
 

CanuckSigns

Active Member
I don't get it, how much did they save and what percentage of the total cost was it...peanuts compared to the bad rep and/or cost of a redo.

Like I said earlier, it's not always the fault of cheap materials, the ritrama material i posed about above was over $25/yard for 48" wide material, still failed spectacularly after 2 years.
 

Billct2

Active Member
I understand even good materials can fail my point is about those who deliberately choose a cheap material to say a few dollars on a multi thousand dollar project.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
So, why didn't it happen to the green portion ??


Do you think this person might've mixed vinyls...... ?? :omg:
 

Billct2

Active Member
I can remember about 20 years ago when a guy I knew was telling me what a great discovery he made when he noticed that regular calendered vinyl was translucent, how much he was making using it and charging for cast! I did end up trying it, we had a customer who did temporary electric faces for promotions and the stuff actually looked pretty good, but it was only up for 6 months at a time. The place changed owners and the new guy didn't use us and left the last special face up for years, looked like this after a while.
 

J Hill Designs

New Member
I often see reds peel/crack/fade/etc first

edit: dont know info about age/type/etc of this face, I just surveyed it last year, hence the photo :thumb:
 

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gabagoo

New Member
Plenty of shops up here that have never even heard of CAST vinyl.

They never last long, but poison the well
 
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