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Clear Air Release Vinyl

feckmo

New Member
Hello!

Just wondering if anyone knows of a *clear* air-release vinyl that will work well with eco-sol inks? I've got a specific product line where clear AR vinyl would be extremely useful. Many thanks!
 

petepaz

New Member
+1 to above
the closest thing i have seen is glass etch or frost with air release
clear AR would be very handy
 

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
Mac - Tac ( I know....crap vinyl) makes one that actually works pretty well...It has a slight cross hatch pattern (like old 3M IJ-180). Be Free Air Release it is called I believe.
 

feckmo

New Member
Thanks for the feedback! I ordered a 30" x 10 yd roll of the 3M product mentioned above from Beacon Graphics, but they say it's on "backorder." Fellers doesn't seem to carry it either.

Does anyone have suggestions of trusted sources for the 3M, Orcal or MacTac products?

EDIT: Fellers has the MacTac product (JT5999). I'm going to see if I can get a sample roll and give it a try. I couldn't find any Orcal products that fit the bill (they have a 3651 NON-AR clear), so if anyone knows which product is clear AR I'm all ears! :)

Thx!
 
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johnnysigns

New Member
I've used rolls and rolls of the mactac. It's a breeze to install when you back it up w/ white so it's good and heavy. There's definitely a light pattern in the clear after install.
 

feckmo

New Member
Just wanted to follow-up on this. After some use, the MacTac JT5999 seems to image better than the 3M on our main machine (Roland XC-540), BUT they have what I consider to be a huge problem with their quality control that makes the material totally unusable.

We've tested two rolls so far, and in both cases the ink that they use for the gridlines and their logo on the BACKER is contaminating the print side of the media that it's pressed against while rolled. The result is a faint (but distinct) pattern of those grid lines and the reverse image of their logo in the print, ruining *every single print* we make. Wow.

We've returned both rolls back to Fellers for testing and reached out to MacTac directly but have received no response in either case. It's really too bad that such promising material is compromised by what I consider to be a senseless mistake. By every other criteria they would have a winner.

So, unless anyone has another suggestion, we'll probably be going with the 3M clear AR...if we can find it!

--Jim.
 

bfranzen

New Member
MACtac did have one lot of B-free Window material where the ink on the backer transferred/embossed onto the face, but that issue has been resolved and any media still out there with this problem can be returned. It was simply too much ink on the liner, and it was an easy fix once reported.

MACtac is still the only manufacturer of B-free air egress window graphics designed for solvent, eco, latex, and UV. Available in clear, dusted, and frosted.
 

feckmo

New Member
MACtac did have one lot of B-free Window material where the ink on the backer transferred/embossed onto the face, but that issue has been resolved and any media still out there with this problem can be returned. It was simply too much ink on the liner, and it was an easy fix once reported.

MACtac is still the only manufacturer of B-free air egress window graphics designed for solvent, eco, latex, and UV. Available in clear, dusted, and frosted.

This is good info. I'll give it another shot and report back.
 

JBusch260

New Member
Mac - Tac ( I know....crap vinyl) makes one that actually works pretty well...It has a slight cross hatch pattern (like old 3M IJ-180). Be Free Air Release it is called I believe.

+1 We used the MacTac B-Free Clear 5999 on some corrugated metal. It honestly worked very well. It comes with a matte or glossy laminate as well, I believe the matte is 3638.
 

Patentagosse

New Member
I use Oracal products for a decade now and have made few contacts at headquarter along the years. Once I've spoke to a guy in R&D dept and asked why the hell they never released their 3951 clear with RapidAir. I wanted to print a full wrap for my GrandCaravan but still see the metallic of the silver paint shinning throught the ink OR using a laminate with sparkles in it.
He replied: "well, 'seem like a great project, great idea but I bet we won't get enough requests (volume) to put it in production.
He also liked the idea of a metallic laminate film that turns solid colors into sparkling ones. Mactac have a special effect serie of laminates but they made it of calendred so it cannot be used on car wrap. Bravo...:frustrated:
 

feckmo

New Member
Just a quick follow-up - we got a new roll of the 5999 and it printed and applied perfectly. No backer contamination of the print side at all. Looks like a winner! :thumb:

From what I remember, the backer printing on the problem media was dark (almost purple). The backer printing on the new stuff is a very light gray. Might help anyone out there identify a problem roll if they're still out there.
 
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