polycarb face snapping in half?

[spectrum maine]

hey guys- just finished a polycarbonate oval out of 3/16" size 5' by 7' painted with lacryl and grip flex. trimmed with 2
' trimcap with channel bond. While inloading the face literally snapped in half. the masks we used were vinyl meaning we did not cut or score face. Am i wrong in thinking this should not have broken?
the plastic was a very small expense compared to the 6 color paint job. As usual my supply house is blowing me off. doesnt long pieces get rolled up? this was not nearly bent as it gets in the roll. feedback please......

 

[petepaz]

that definitely seems out of the ordinary. we recently did some back-lit signs with 1/4" polycarb 12ft and 24ft lengths all came rolled up with no issues.
i think you would need some extreme circumstances to get it to snap like that

 

[DChorbowski]

Are you 100% sure it was poly? How cold was it when this happened?

 

[Johnny Best]

Lot of nice work down the drain. Have had poly break like that and it was bent when it happened.

 

[weyandsign]

I've never seen polycarb break like that. Trimcap broke too? crazy

 

[Gino]

If it's truly poly and not an old piece, it should never have happened.

I was at a trade show, probably 35 or 40 years ago and the guy was demonstrating how strong poly is. He said this is so strong, I can hit it with this hammer. WHAM-O. Thing broke in a weird shape, just like your pictures. Acrylic, even modified acrylic will break much easier than poly, but usually, you'll have several breaks. Poly as it ages...... inside or outside slowly loses it's ability to not break. That's why they change out all these safety domes in cars for important people like every 2 years or so.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I've never seen that before. I've seen small cracks but nothing like that. Looks like how acrylic would break.

 

[JBurton]

I've definitely seen poly break right in two, but it was well below freezing, and dropped over 6'. If it's not poly, then you should be able to clamp a vicegrip to a corner and snap it right off. If that's the case, I'd raise hell with the distributor who sent you acrylic instead of pc.

 

[Todd Jelle]

YEP....I had a New 5' x 14' poly face recently break. We had to glue a hanger bar to it with SCIgrip #4. This came rolled up off the reel like always. My guys finished the graphics on the face & were moving it so they could do the second face.
They slightly bent it, ( very slightly) I might add. It cracked from the hanger bar 3/4 way thru to the bottom of the face. I flipped out. 30 years & I have never seen this happen except on aged poly. My shop guys were shocked, as this never happens.
So I took a piece of the hanger bar we used & glued it to a scrap piece drop from the face. I Waited about an hour & hit it with a hammer. CRACK. "Unbelievable" I can hit the poly & no issue until I introduce SCI grip. It seems to weaken the polycarbonate No more SCI grip on Large faces in this Shop. We will now staple or rivet our hanger bar. We will continue to use it for trim cap on channel letters ans faces smaller than 6 ft long possibly.

 

[bcxprint420]

Ask to verify how old that piece was from the distributor. Im sure they will sandbag you but if its the end of the roll then it may be old and should be replaced at no cost.

 

[JBurton]

We will now staple or rivet our hanger bar

I'm a fan of double stick + staples, we used to use channelbond, but found without great application it would leave gaps big enough for the hanger bar to bind on the lip, so you'd be pushing all day swearing in the air.

should be replaced at no cost.

That will likely happen, but the real issue is the hours of paint that has to be re purchased and applied.

 

[Grizzly]

We were just playing with a 10'x2' piece we pulled out that was more than three years old and were testing just how strong it was. We folded it in half and were jumping on the rolled/folded area and couldn't get it to break. Like 1 person holding and another jumping on it like a trampoline. It would just spring you off. We then barely scored it in that area and it snapped almost immediately. Something was definitely off with your piece.

 

[Souldar]

Could it be a reaction to the paint? Just had a flashback to when we cleaned a huge Polycarbonate panel with tons of adhesive remover and it disintegrated on the way to the installation. Read the adhesive remover directions the next day that said do not use on polycarbonate.

 

[gnubler]

Are there any issues with installing polycarb in freezing temps? Can it get brittle and crack?

 

[Scooter13]

We were just playing with a 10'x2' piece we pulled out that was more than three years old and were testing just how strong it was. We folded it in half and were jumping on the rolled/folded area and couldn't get it to break. Like 1 person holding and another jumping on it like a trampoline. It would just spring you off. We then barely scored it in that area and it snapped almost immediately. Something was definitely off with your piece.

I had an older piece that I had to get rid of once. I tried bending it in half and jumping on it to try and break it. It just stayed bent. Although I had a piece crack on me when pulling out of the face of a cabinet. It was very old and I'm not certain it was poly.

 

[JBurton]

Are there any issues with installing polycarb in freezing temps? Can it get brittle and crack?

Yes, but I wouldn't call off an install because its a cold day, just go a little slower and don't force it.

We then barely scored it in that area and it snapped almost immediately.

I'm going to try this, I have a stack of 1'x8' pieces to get rid of anyways.

 

[gnubler]

I had an older piece that I had to get rid of once. I tried bending it in half and jumping on it to try and break it. It just stayed bent.

You should have called Gino. He could probably press on it with one foot and have a clean snap.

 

[JBurton]

We were just playing with a 10'x2' piece we pulled out that was more than three years old and were testing just how strong it was. We folded it in half and were jumping on the rolled/folded area and couldn't get it to break. Like 1 person holding and another jumping on it like a trampoline. It would just spring you off. We then barely scored it in that area and it snapped almost immediately. Something was definitely off with your piece.

Ok, confirmed, never thought that would work, did it on a fresh sheet of .177" Tuffak.
My first rodeo with lexan was being told to cut down some drops and throw them in a dumpster. I was on the billboard ground clearing crew, so my tools were an axe, kaiser blade, and a sling blade. Me and the other green horn try to fold it to bust it like acrylic, no luck, so we go get the axe, whale on it for a bit, flip it over, whale again, curse, piss, moan, but nothing would break it. Had to sheepishly ask my dad, who had quite the chuckle as he got the sawzall.

 

[Aaron Hunter]

Are there any issues with installing polycarb in freezing temps? Can it get brittle and crack?

We've used and installed it at -50 F in Fairbanks and zero issues.

 

[bcxprint420]

I'm a fan of double stick + staples, we used to use channelbond, but found without great application it would leave gaps big enough for the hanger bar to bind on the lip, so you'd be pushing all day swearing in the air.

That will likely happen, but the real issue is the hours of paint that has to be re purchased and applied.

Well they say sometimes you fly with the eagles sometimes you scratch with the chickens so get scratchin’. Or i guess paintin’ lol.