Vinyl Lettering Not Sticking to Spray Painted Bus Van

[Jo Hill]

Question:
is there some sort of sealer that can be applied to vehicle graphics to keep them from falling off?


So we have this new customer who wanted us to patch up the lettering on his bus van. He was experiencing issues with letters falling off. Upon inspecting the bus van, it became entirely evident the bus was not painted using conventional methods.. it looked as though the entire bus had been spray painted.

I had a lot of trouble getting the vinyl to remove itself from the transfer tape once applying it to the vehicle. Afterwards I hit it with a heat gun for a few seconds for good measure.

the customer returned a few days later informing me that the lettering was falling off yet again !

He doesn’t care too much about the old bread bus they are using for a church van so here is my question: is there some sort of sealer that can be applied to vehicle graphics to keep them from falling off?

 

[bannertime]

Short answer, no. Long answer, it'd be about the same as getting the van repainted, so no.

 

[ikarasu]

If you're using 3m vinyl you could primer 94 it. I've heard it doesn't work with oracal... Not sure about the rest. It'll leave a finish wherever there isn't vinyl... Unless you make a template and apply it only under the letters.


Or use a really high tac vinyl. OraJet 3105ht has worked well for us on difficult surfaces.

 

[Jo Hill]

Short answer, no. Long answer, it'd be about the same as getting the van repainted, so no.

thank you for the reply reply!

 

[Jo Hill]

If you're using 3m vinyl you could primer 94 it. I've heard it doesn't work with oracal... Not sure about the rest. It'll leave a finish wherever there isn't vinyl... Unless you make a template and apply it only under the letters.


Or use a really high tac vinyl. OraJet 3105ht has worked well for us on difficult surfaces.

Dang we mostly carry mostly oracal and some Avery.. I’ll looking into the higher tack stuck thank you sir !

 

[Gino]

Don't waste your time experimenting. It's kinda easy to recognize a rattle can paint job. There is SOOoooo much overspray connected with this, the vinyl has nothing to adhere to, but the overspray itself and that just does not give enough surface for good adhesion. Tell the guy to either prep it right or hand paint the lettering on.

 

[Billct2]

Yep, what Gino said. Don't waste your time. Any of the ways to solve the problem won't interest them because they cost $. So offer an alternative, an aluminum sign screwed to the side.

 

[Andy D]

I would refund his money, you will have to pay his cheapskate penalty.
If you ever have to apply your product to the customer's substrate, you need to have the
clause that there will be no refund or do-over if, at your discretion, the failure was due to their product.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

When I get a truck that is chalky from the paint being a century old, I spray carburetor cleaner on just as I'm getting ready to apply the vinyl, wipe it with a clean towel and apply the graphics. Sticks great and it's cheap. Might be worth a shot.

 

[d fleming]

Maaco, 3-600$ paint that sucker and come back for lettering. Other than that, walk. I'm surprised the transfer tape didn't remove the generic Home depot white rattle crap.

 

[Gino]

A test we used to do on all re-painted vehicles was a simple scotch tape trick. Take a piece about 3" long and put it on suspect areas, press it down re-al good and use your finger nail, let it on for a minute or two and then lift it off. Now, that was back in the days of hand-painting them, so there was no vinyl or application tape to worry about, just the paint adhering to a lousy paint job, overspray or the real thing.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

The problem is the surface you are applying the vinyl to

sounds like a wig on a pig situation going on


What type of vinyl are you using btw?


over the years I’ve seen this stuff. Client is informed and educated on this. No warranty what so ever.

 

[visual800]

walk away from this before you waste anymore time

 

[SheBeau]

Better late than never... It’s an old bread bus that they aren’t too picky about so why not just attach magnetic vehicle signs?

 

[petepaz]

if the paint is not coming off and just the lettering is not sticking you could try a high tack vinyl

 

[Billct2]

"A test we used to do on all re-painted vehicles was a simple scotch tape trick." I was one of those scoundrels that used tape a lot for top & bottom of letters So I learned this trick the hard way... when I peeled the paint from a checker taxi that had been repainted well enough that I didn't notice it was a reapint, but not properly prepped enough to keep the paint from peeling with the tape.

 

[Gino]

Yup, that's how my old boss found out. I rarely did that, but on occasion used the T & B method. It's hard to have a letter looked finished off though, when using the tape thingie.