Removing reflective from aluminum street signs

[BK Vinyl]

I have been charged with the task of removing the vinyl from a lot of street signs to reuse them to save money. They are 3M 3930 HIP reflective on aluminum.
I have tried lots of different chemical options. Rapid Remover, Acetone, Goo Gone... Even left one soak in Goof Off overnight... nothing I've tried would be cost effective. I have read here about using a wallpaper steamer.
Does anyone think this would work in this application?

 

[mjames]

I have been charged with the task of removing the vinyl from a lot of street signs to reuse them to save money. They are 3M 3930 HIP reflective on aluminum.
I have tried lots of different chemical options. Rapid Remover, Acetone, Goo Gone... Even left one soak in Goof Off overnight... nothing I've tried would be cost effective. I have read here about using a wallpaper steamer.
Does anyone think this would work in this application?

you will spend more on time and removers than you could but new blanks

 

[SightLine]

The labor required to remove the material and truly get them cleaned and prepped for new vinyl will not save them money. It will be cheaper to buy new aluminum. The plastic facing on HIP is not going to respond to a steamer. Now if you have access to a 4000+ PSI Steam Pressure washer - that might be able to blast the majority of the material off. Still will hardly be worth the effort though.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Agreed...

... scrap them and start new.

 

[BK Vinyl]

Indeed, Pat. The person making this call has no experience with reflective at all. Telling him isn't cutting it. I think he needs to try this with me...

 

[signed off]

cover them in white and flip them over to use the back side. But first choice would be to get new ones.

 

[Biker Scout]

HAHAHAHAAA! :ROFLMAO:

Sucks to be you!

I don't think that's what they meant when they said aluminum is highly recyclable. Think about it for a moment... they were designed from the very get-go to withstand weather, harsh chemicals, road salts, tornados, hurricanes, sleet, ice storms.

 

[Mosh]

Clean them and cover them! Honestly you could buy new reflective blanks for what you are going to have in new film and labor, just covering them.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

This......
http://www.washingtonci.com/products-services/signage/sign-recycling.html

 

[BobM]

Take a sample to the "decision maker" and show how time consuming it is. They never seem to believe until they try it themselves.

 

[Mosh]

This......
http://www.washingtonci.com/products...recycling.html

That is in a prison in Washington state....

 

[Biker Scout]

Maybe his boss is trying to say something? (His time is worth less than an inmate's using high tech, advanced machinery?)

 

[SignosaurusRex]

That is in a prison in Washington state....

Yes, and many other States including NJ have a Hydrostripper. State Corrections facilities do contract their services to most anyone that pays. There are also various companies nationwide that offer the service.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

If memory serves me correctly regarding signs "qualifying" for the process, If the signs you have, have already been stripped once and reused, there may not be enough thickness to withstand the stripping process and still be useable for street signs. I believe .08 is still the min. thickness of Aluminum that can be used on street signs and last I recall, the process does take off some aluminum along with the sheeting. The last time I had anything to do with using this service, I believe we shipped .10 aluminum and when they came back, they were .08 (but that was 20 years ago). The process may have changed some since then.

 

[BK Vinyl]

From what I've read, hydrostripping can save half the money we would spend on new blanks. Now I just have to find a place in New Jersey... I have found NH, OR, FL...
Thanks for the tip Rex. Back to Google...

 

[skyhigh]

Coincidentally, I had asked this question to a national supplier (all they do is street signs) many years ago. At that time, they said they USED to strip them, but had given that up a few years before that. Now they sell them to recyclers who strip the vinyl and scrap the aluminum. They said the cost to strip didn't make it worth their while.

Evidently their recyclers find it worth while to strip.....but I don't know if the aluminum is suitable to reuse for signs or not.....I'm betting not. Hah, perhaps they "plane" it off, sandblast it off, or burn it off....who knows. One thing I do know.....YOU or your boss is not going to get it off. Cost effectively that is.

3 choices.....
1) clean and cover with vinyl (most cost effective)
2) pitch em
3) decorate the walls

Boss's are like a baby's diaper. Always on your ***, and usually full of $hit.
Show him this thread, if he doesn't believe ya..... or better yet, have him demonstrate to you how its done.

 

[TammieH]

Clean them and cover them! Honestly you could buy new reflective blanks for what you are going to have in new film and labor, just covering them.

+1

Like everyone else is saying it cost more to remove vinyl than use new blanks,

If they want to reuse the aluminum, just cover with new reflective (screen, digital printed or add vinyl)

Finished signs will cost you 18x24 $27, you cannot strip a sign and put new graphics on at that cost. 18 x 24 Engineer Grade Prismatic blanks are $17.75


jeesh!

 

[ABPGraphics]

I have been charged with the task of removing the vinyl from a lot of street signs to reuse them to save money. They are 3M 3930 HIP reflective on aluminum.
I have tried lots of different chemical options. Rapid Remover, Acetone, Goo Gone... Even left one soak in Goof Off overnight... nothing I've tried would be cost effective. I have read here about using a wallpaper steamer.
Does anyone think this would work in this application?

Page 104 of the Fellers catalog has something called "Reflective Vinyl-Off". I haven't used it, but might be worth a try.

 

[MikePro]

paint thinner does the trick. highly toxic, but it will eat-away vinyl and leave the adhesive soft enough to be scraped-off.

+1 to being more cost/effort-effective to either get new panels or apply new reflectives over the top of the existing.

 

[BANNERS2GO]

Flame Thrower. No but seriously. If white on the back would be fine just throw a roll on your laminator and line them up and put them through. It would end up saving you a little if you had some cheap labor and a large quantity. Like everyone else said if you only have a few don't waste your time. I would throw a ridiculous price at them to cover the back. Good luck!

 

[Techman]

real street signs are not standard aluminum. They are a special alloy that meets DOTS specs. Try bending one if you do not believe it. They are nearly impossible to bend by hand.