3M controltac bubbling after hard squeegee – help please?

[Martin Pearson]

Did you try turning the heat down a bit with the Avery, not applied much of it but never had problems with what I have.
Where are you applying the graphics ? inside/outside? Weather has been all over the place recently so if applying out doors could be a temperature problem from sun, try turning the vans round so your working on the shaded side, make sure the edge of your squeegee isn’t curved or damaged allowing air to pass underneath it.

[Jon Marshall]

Are you talking print vinyls here?

[Stuart Taylor]

Hi Damian

To identify your problems properly we could do with product codes but possibly some of the issues could be as follows –

If the Mactac wrap film is the JT5529 range then this is not a cast film but a 55micron calendered product which would probably be fine in normal wrapping but much trickier than a cast in deep recesses.

The Avery blistering problem … was it an Easy Apply product i.e. air channels in the liner/adhesive ? If so the blistering could be from overheating in the recesses causing the air channels to expand and therefore blister.

The 3M Controltac product …. This i’m more familiar with but was it IJ180 or IJ380 ? Both these ranges use Controltac technology – IJ180 comes with CV3 Comply (air channel) liner and would be more suitable for standard fleet work. The IJ380 does not use this air channel technology as it is designed for deep recess work and therefore requires 100% adhesion contact in these areas.

Controltac is an adhesive technology 3M invented many years ago where 000’s of small glass beads are embedded in the adhesive layer, floating on the surface to allow easy repositioning on a vehicle. The adhesive is activated by using firm and even pressure with a hard squeegee (ideally 3M Gold Squeegee) This then pushes the glass beads through the adhesive layer giving full contact to the vehicle.

The small bubbles you describe are normally seen several hours or even days later if insufficient or uneven pressure was used on the initial application and thefore looks like a rash as the surface heats up and trapped air expands.

I would sugest check your squeegee edge, use more pressure over the whole area and you will also need to invest in a 3M application roller for the deep recesses to ensure sufficient pressure is used in the depths of the channel.

If you let us know the exact products used this would help identify if these best guesses are possible.

Stuart

[Nick Atkinson]

Yes I having same problem
is there a different technique to using the squeegee
as I am struggling getting it right

[Dan Piddington]

We have had the same problem with IJ380 applied with a gold squeegee (with felt edge)
3m surface prep before hand and plenty of pressure when applying.
As it’s not air release you have to treat it like normal cast vinyl and apply carefully to avoid bubbles.

However, we applied a printed part wrap full length to a merc vito and luckily it was a busy printed image
because it was covered in tiny bubbles, looked awful but then a week later – no sign of bubbles!

We’ve been spoilt with air release so maybe are technique needs refreshing but still for the price
you pay and then the customer pays for IJ380 it’s a little demoralizing seeing these tiny bubbles and then
trying to convince the customer that they will soon disappear!

It is great vinyl for staying in recesses though and the only one we dare to use for this application.

3M Wrap course maybe? – I’ll start saving now 🙂

[Robert Lambie]

Very hard to give good advice without seeing first hand. however, I am going to guess and say it is maybe a combination of your recess technique of applying the vinyl and also the vehicle surface being too cold.
I say that because your using 3 different types of wrap and getting issues with all.

If you apply into the recess wrong, you will create too much tension on the vinyl film itself. at the same time you will thin out the adhesive. combined this will make the vinyl pull back from the recess due to tension, and if the adhesive is so thin, the vinyl may bubble due to the intense post heat temp as there is nothing behind to hold it to the surface. i.e. your heating the cavity.

If the "vehicle surface" is colder than the required application temperature. then a series of issues can happen. mainly brittle vinyl which will shatter or act very brittle.
The control-tac adhesive system is not good to work with on a cold surface. (nor is any for that matter) but my point here is…
due to the cold surface, the adhesive is not as receptive to the glass beads, as a result you may see what looks like tiny bubbles but is in fact just the impression of the beads. try warming the area with your heat gun and applying more firm pressure.
You should also use a 3M pressure wheel in the recess areas, its actually better to use the small one with ANY wrap vinyl as it promotes adhesive rather than for pressing the beads into the adhesive.