can anyone tell me why has my magnetics stuck to van?

[Richard Urquhart]

Hi mate
I had the same thing a few years back
best way was to use a plastic applicator and take your time. I then mopped the door with compound and then hand glaze.
Just take your time
rich

[David Rowland]

this can happen? wow

How about driving near the US military on a day when they are testing EMP missiles?

[Neil Whyte]

EMP WILL DO THE JOB ……. YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE TO USE 3M HAND GLAZE 😛 😛 😛

[Nicola McIntosh]

this has been mentioned a while back hugh, will have a wee look for you 😀

nik

[Ian Bingham]

Try Peeling the most off then washing down with petrol, then polish if needed
Ian

[Steve Bird11]

Do it when it’s warm as well! And tell him to take them off when he washes his van!…if he ever does. good luck!!

[Nicola McIntosh]

here it is hugh…hope it helps 😉

nik

http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … t=magnetic

[Martin Armitage]

I have heard a rag soaked in petrol will remove the residue left behind when you peel it off. I had a young lady come in a few days ago, I gave her a care sheet and advised her to remove them regularly and clean behind – her reply was "well I wont bother with doing that.

[Hugh Potter]

thanks for the replies,

thanks for the link Nik, will have a look n a mo.

the reason i’m more than a little concerned, is that i can see this causing probs, this guys vans are immaculate, and i can see any possible damage being down to me (not technically, but i can see that being the customers point of view).

not only this, but i recently did a cover up job on a mitsi warrior, the guy’s mags had stuck, when he removed them, eventually, it left cack all over the paint, petrol removed most of it, but has left marks all on the paint, possibly from where he scraped them off, but it looked naff,

thanks.
Hugh

[Martin Armitage]

If they were removed as recommended and cleaned behind then they should not have had this problem.
Mart.

[David Rogers]

I suppose an option to ‘future proof’ the magnetics would be by applying vinyl to the other (vehicle) side of it…no chance of that sticking / disintegrating.

[Hugh Potter]

quote David Rogers:

I suppose an option to ‘future proof’ the magnetics would be by applying vinyl to the other (vehicle) side of it…no chance of that sticking / disintegrating.

i had considered this in the past, i have a feeling i was going to trial this on my car, but don’t recall ever doing it.

Martin.. Absolutely,

these mags were never std anyways, due to having to match his paintwork, and having exhausted aqll my suppliers of available swatches, he had them painted body colour by the body shop who’d recently done some repair work for him.

i gave them a couple of days before applying the vinyl and then a clear laminate to protect the paint.

all was well til a couple of months later, when he said thaere was hundreds of small bubbles in one set (sets were painted / applied at different times), i asked him to pop round, and never heard from him for 4 months or more!

mags still look good, they’re just stuck apparently.

http://www.uksignboards.com/download.php?id=20225

[Hugh Potter]

right, got to go see this customer on friday, both vans are identicle, with identicle mags, both are washed regularly, and mags removed when they sub-con for other companies ‘incognito’, so i have o reason to believe they’re trying to pull a fast one.

i’m starting to think it’s this hot weather that has somehow done this?

the customer has tried hot water to no avail.

any further idea’s i can either try, or use to explain why they may have stuck ?

losing sleep over this now!

tia.

hugh

[Martin Armitage]

Hugh,
i had this happen before at my old place of work, reply from manufacturer stated that it had something to do with plasticisers in paint and magnetic sheet migrating. They would certainly not take responsibility for it. On the care of instructions supplied with the sheet it recommends removing daily but at least every two days, in hot weather they must be removed every day. I seem to remember that problem occurs mostly on very dark colours and on very hot days. We have 5 sets that we sent out to the Gambia at the beginning of the summer and obviously being concerned contacted the supplier and there response was that everything would be ok as long as they adhered to the care of the instructions – bet they wont.
Mart.

[Lee Attewell]

Hey Hugh…I’m feeling for ya mate.

Is it your problem though? Temperature, paint colour of vehicle, type of paint, out gassing of solvents, angle of sunlight, glaze polish vs wax polish are all out of your control. You supplied the magnetics on good faith. You gave instructions as to how to use them… Where does your liability end?

What are you thinking of doing? (I’m interested :-))

[Phill Fenton]

A hammer and chisel should get them off Hugh – any residue left over you can remove with a bit of wet and dry sandpaper…

….not much help was I really 😳

[Lee Attewell]

LMAO Phil…You haven’t changed have you?

[Hugh Potter]

thank you Martin, and Phil!!

Lee,

i guess legally i’m not responsible, i gave him verbal instructions on the care of the mags, and all has been well for 5-6 months,

my concern is that he’ll want me to remove them, which i am not too keen on doing, in case it damages the paint. for the sake of £20 worth of materials, i’d supply another set as a gesture of goodwill, but cannot afford any problems with paint.

cheers.
Hugh

[Paul Humble]

Sorry to drag this one back up but what was the outcome Hugh?

[Roy Roffey]

hugh,

I feel for you mate, the bottom line is that people dont really take care of magnetics and they seem to think its a cheap way of getting signwriting. I have had this problem like most here and the best way i found to remove them was to slightly heat them with a hair drier while you prise them off with a squeegie.

we dont sell magnetics now cuse there always a pain in the bottom..

good luck pal

roffs

[Darren Summers]

Had this happen to me too……I now refuse to supply magnetics and have lost jobs because of it but, I’d rather lose the job than be faced with this kind of headache. I do not care what anyone say’s, no customer washes their vans, dry’s the mag’s and replaces them on a regular basis.

Magnetics are horrible. I’ve known them to also dull the paintwork as grit and dust collect behind them and agitate the mag until the paintwork is ‘sanded’ dull.

9 times out of ten I’ve managed to talk the customer into having their van permanently displaying their stuff and having a blank magnetic to cover the graphics up if they’re subbing for another company. At least that way the mags are only on for a short time.

As far as removing ‘welded’ mag’s go, as advised in an earlier reply, I’d take it steady with a plastic scraper until you’ve prized off all the mag then remove as much of the residue as possible using petrol / tar and glue remover. Then buff the paintwork with a mop and compound. If the paintwork is original or a decent respray you shouldn’t have a problem. Ypu’d be amazed how 2K paint can buff out.

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve just this minute received an email from a customer I supplied magnetic signs to two years ago. In the email she tells me she can’t get the signs off so is hoping to pop around tomorrow to see if someone can remove them for her 😕

I have always handed out an advice note with any magnetic signs I’ve supplied – I also explain the need to clean behind on a regular basis and still this happens.

I just don’t understand why someone buys magnetic signs – then never removes them from the car – then seems surprised two years later when they can’t get them off again.

And I presume they think it’s all my fault 😕

[Lynn Normington]

:yes1: you are supposed to be a mind reader 😀 you should have known she wouldn’t take them off 🙄

Lynn

[Graeme Harrold]

I think a few pictures of welded magnetics being removed would be a nice addition to all those who supply them (me included) as a warning to customers………..dont follow the care instructions and this is what happens…..

[George Elsmore]

quote Phill:

A hammer and chisel should get them off Hugh – any residue left over you can remove with a bit of wet and dry sandpaper…

….not much help was I really 😳

hmmm 😕

[Peter Normington]

I now always tell my clients that magnetics, by nature are temporary signs.
I also give them a care sheet that says that at best, they should be removed and cleaned every 2 days, in hot weather, daily

peter

[Peter Normington]

just as an after thought, do you find that the average buyer of magnetic signs does not run a serious business?

Peter

[Peter Dee]

quote Peter Normington:

just as an after thought, do you find that the average buyer of magnetic signs does not run a serious business?

Peter

I find they usually live in a caravan on some else’s land, and don’t pay tax.

[Gwaredd Steele]

Most of my customers who want magnetics are subbing for another firm & want to be able to remove them when A) not subbing & B) when asked by the subbee.

I always advise them to get the vehicle panel lettered in vinyl, then I can supply them with blank magnetic sheets to cover them up if need be, as it’ll be lettered far more often than covered up.

90% of them just have the van lettered anyway after this & don’t have the blanks regardless. The other 10% never come back, presumably because I didn’t say "Oh, you want magnetics? Yeah, they’re free they are – here, have some extra sets for your mates too"

🙄 :lol1:

[Derek Heron]

i do a few for local taxi firms
always put a care sheet with every panel
had a few lost in the first few weeks.
(what instructions and care sheet)
🙄
lately nothing so fingers crossed
i flashed an e mail across to them last week to tell all drivers in the extreme heat to make sure they removed daily and cleaned them.
apart from the taxis not a lot

derek

[Hugh Potter]

blimey, was hoping to never see this thread again!

wasn’t a happy ending,

i told customer (after an irate text telling me he was at the airport and the mags had better be off when he got back) that as an act of good will i would go and see if i could remove them… "i want them gone when i get back, do what you have to do" he said. "ok… but if there’s any damage i’m not accepting any responsibility" says I. "just do it" he says, so i did,

tried every suggestion going, even asking his neighbour for hot kettles of water etc. in the end, the only thing that mad a jott of difference was petrol, 8 cans of petrol lighter fluid, a razor scraper, lots of elbow grease, sweat, and about 5hrs later, i stood back and admired the disaster!

there were dark patches ‘in’ the metallic top coat, properly in it, i polished the thing but the marks were still there!

so the paint was knackered anyways, a plastic chipper thing had snapped under the pressure and a corner of it had gouged the paint, at that point the scraper came out, there were a few inevitable marks in the top coat but, nothing outside the area damaged or marked by the mags.

i emailed him photo’s of the damage (he was in the canaries i think so nice and expensive to receive them) and tried to explain what had happened, I got a brief reply about dealing with it when home. he hit the roof on his return, reckons i’d wrecked his van etc etc etc, telling me i would have to pay for it so i reminded him of the texts i still had and suggested his insurance co try and pursue me for it, not my fault. he wanted near £800 for the repairs, when i refused i was reminded that i had insurance, to which i duly repied, reminding him of the fact that my insurance covers my mistakes, not the customers lack of care.

I did eventually offer to replace the mags with proper vinyl signage to the same value as the mags but that wasn’t good enough at all.

long story short, i let it drag out for months and in the end he stopped pestering me, he’s now got vinyl signs where the mags all were – dunno if he had the paint done or not, I kind of chuckle to myself everytime i see the van now, thinking he could’ve had the vinyl done for free if he’d taken my offer.

should i bill him for my artwork?

some pics are here http://s558.photobucket.com/albums/ss25 … magnetics/, not pretty.

there are a more marks where the scraper blade dug in than i would have wanted, more so on the tailgate panel but, with what i had there wasn’t much i could do, not like he wasn’t gonna have to re-do that bit anyways. many of the marks came from the plastic cover on the scraper handle and the edge of the broken chiseler (i came to realise).

if you look at pic 6 and 10, you’ll see the ‘spots’ these areas didn’t stick, while the rest did, i’ve no idea why, possibly where his sprayer painted the mags?

He did proclaim that his partner got his off with less damage than i’d caused (well derrr.. he knows what not to do now!) but, it did take about 11 hours for three mags, if he’d done it 4 with no damage, then i would’ve been impressed!

one of my neighbours, a gardener, has got mags 3×2′, i made it so clear about their care that as soon as he see’s me in the evening, the mags come off and are stored away!

[John Harding]

mm wanted a look but duff link hugh 🙁

[Hugh Potter]

quote John Harding:

mm wanted a look but duff link hugh 🙁

try this one John,

Hugh

http://s558.photobucket.com/albums/ss25 … magnetics/

[John Harding]

ohh painfull 😮

[Phill Fenton]

More importantly – how did you get the name "Crazy plums" Hugh :lol1:

[Hugh Potter]

quote Phill:

More importantly – how did you get the name “Crazy plums” Hugh :lol1:

the nick name was actually just ‘plums’, stemmed from being blessed with three of em 😮

[RayRosher]

quote Hugh Potter:

quote Phill:

More importantly – how did you get the name “Crazy plums” Hugh :lol1:

the nick name was actually just ‘plums’, stemmed from being blessed with three of em 😮

Show Off! :lol1:

[Hugh Potter]

quote RayRosher:

quote Hugh Potter:

quote Phill:

More importantly – how did you get the name “Crazy plums” Hugh :lol1:

the nick name was actually just ‘plums’, stemmed from being blessed with three of em 😮

Show Off! :lol1:

well he did ask!

[Lynn Normington]

too much information 😳

Lynn

[Harry Cleary]

quote Hugh Potter:

the nick name was actually just ‘plums’, stemmed from being blessed with three of em 😮

You can get tablets for that………………and underpants. :lol1:

[Hugh Potter]

quote Harry Cleary:

quote Hugh Potter:

the nick name was actually just ‘plums’, stemmed from being blessed with three of em 😮

You can get tablets for that………………and underpants. :lol1:

I think M&S do a nice selection of tri fronts :lol1:

[Jeremy Howes]

quote David Rogers:

I suppose an option to ‘future proof’ the magnetics would be by applying vinyl to the other (vehicle) side of it…no chance of that sticking / disintegrating.

Has anyone undertaken a trial of David’s suggestion? seems to be the obvious answer!

Jeremy

[Alan Drury]

Sounds a good idea but I suspect manufacturers may say it is a reason for the magnetics to come off as they are not directly on the vehicle. Just playing devil’s advocate.
Alan D

[Jeremy Howes]

Good morning Alan,
They must have taken the layers of paint into consideration, or any guarantees would only be subject to magnetic direct to metal… I tried it with a 50 micron cast and all seems ok.
I can’t understand why the manufacturers haven’t addressed this problem, surely it would be a good selling point.

Cheers
Jeremy

[Phill Fenton]

I hadn’t understood Davids suggestion at first but do now :doh:

Brilliant idea, applying vinyl to the back of the magnet to protect the bodywork. So simple and effective.

[Karen Spooner]

Omg that is horrendous….

Two things-
Had the van been sprayed just prior to the mags being put on and would this have affected them?
Has spraying the mags themselves affected them?

According to some replies on here the best policy here is to blame the customer :roll:. Surely for your own satisfaction though, you have to find out what caused this. Did you contact the mag supplier and sent them samples? Have you contacted the paint suppliers to see if there are any advisories for the paint or thinners about use on magnetic sheet? Have you used the same mag on your own vehicles and/or tried it painted?

Yes customers don’t take a blind bit of notice of instructions, but if that had happened to one of my vans (let alone two) there would be hell to pay. You were very lucky to get away so lightly I think.

[Peter Dee]

I always apply clear print laminate to the rear of magnetics. It’s super thin and seems to be OK as far as magnetic pull.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Karen Spooner:

Omg that is horrendous….

Two things-
Had the van been sprayed just prior to the mags being put on and would this have affected them?
Has spraying the mags themselves affected them?

According to some replies on here the best policy here is to blame the customer :roll:. Surely for your own satisfaction though, you have to find out what caused this. Did you contact the mag supplier and sent them samples? Have you contacted the paint suppliers to see if there are any advisories for the paint or thinners about use on magnetic sheet? Have you used the same mag on your own vehicles and/or tried it painted?

Yes customers don’t take a blind bit of notice of instructions, but if that had happened to one of my vans (let alone two) there would be hell to pay. You were very lucky to get away so lightly I think.

Karen,

I wouldn’t say that blaming the customer is a way to get off lightly but, i’ve made and supplied a fair quanitity of mags and other than through my own laziness on my own 2nd vehicle some years back, have i ever encountered this prob. i left my own on for near 6 months, never washed it but never cleaned the mags after rain etc, come removal time… stuck solid, they left bubbles in the paint and all sorts (no matter on an old motor that was gonna be run into the ground anyways). they didn’t require scraping off though.

these transporters had been painted, i’m not sure if total resparay or not but, they had been painted recently, a custom grey with metallic top coat. they also had their sprayer paint the mag sheets in the body colour. at this point the customer was warned that this hadn’t been done by anyone i could speak too so was at his own risk. he had to have everything done asap, at the time.

I did send the mags back to the supplier who, after examining the biggest fragments i managed to retain, told me it was down to lack of care, though possibly due to plasticisers etc in the paint and the new top coat laquer migrating into one-another, the customer poo-poo’d this idea, of course. the supplier also mentioned something about not knowing ‘how they were sprayed, was it poss that a thin layer of laquer got onto the back of the mag during the process… too many unknowns for them to make a full assessment, the customer wasn’t interested in what the maker had to say, just kept on that it was my fault. I did ask if he checked the oil in his van, and if it blew up due to no oil, would he expect the manufacturer to cover the cost?… he didn’t answer.

if you read the full first post you’ll see that after his first complaint to me about some bubbles appearing in the laminate (which covered the paint and vinyls on the mag) that it was some months before he contacted me again, and then again, another few months after that that they were permanently stuck. The care sheet was issued as i always attach it to the invoice and make the customer aware of its importance. If the customer could not be bothered to stop and get me to have a quick look at the ‘bubbles’ when he drove past at least once a day, how can i believe the mags were cared for?

as for me getting off lightly? not at all, financially I probably did (though no court in the land would’ve awarded him anything), I ultimately offered to pay 20% of the cost of the respray… for my very minor addition to the damage which might not have been there if he”d removed them so much better than me. the next thing i knew was that he’d got vinyl signs done elsewhere.

to be honest, this whole episode had me properly sick with worry, it genuinely kept me awake at night and i even dreaded the phone ringing. for a few months it was the baine of my life and i regretted ever getting involved with the customer. should’ve known it was gonna be trouble when he tore apart all my swatch books i an attempt to match a vinyl to his paint.

anyways, not gonna worry about it anymore, it happened and i’d forgotten about it until this post resurfaced!

Hugh

[Karen Spooner]

Hugh,
Shame the post has resurfaced and opened old wounds. Sorry didn’t mean to upset you! I too would be mortified if this happened to me. To start with I was concerned about mags getting stuck . . . then saw the photos and was shocked . . . then read some of the more idiotic replies (not from you) and couldn’t hold back any longer! (:)

Glad to hear you investigated it and it does seem that the paint job was involved – good warning for anyone in the same situation. Crumbs I see a builder’s van with mags that must have been on there for 5 years at our local garage regularly, might start wearing dark glasses and cross the road when I see it there next time :peek: (though he’s at the garage so often I think magnetics sticking are the least of his problems!)

While we’re laminating the back of them can’t we print the care instructions on there too? Just a thought. I’ve always advised my lot to wax the van and the back of the mags when they take them off and clean it weekly (can live in hope . . .)

[Hugh Potter]

quote Karen Spooner:

Hugh,
Shame the post has resurfaced and opened old wounds. Sorry didn’t mean to upset you! I too would be mortified if this happened to me. To start with I was concerned about mags getting stuck . . . then saw the photos and was shocked . . . then read some of the more idiotic replies (not from you) and couldn’t hold back any longer! (:)

Glad to hear you investigated it and it does seem that the paint job was involved – good warning for anyone in the same situation. Crumbs I see a builder’s van with mags that must have been on there for 5 years at our local garage regularly, might start wearing dark glasses and cross the road when I see it there next time :peek: (though he’s at the garage so often I think magnetics sticking are the least of his problems!)

While we’re laminating the back of them can’t we print the care instructions on there too? Just a thought. I’ve always advised my lot to wax the van and the back of the mags when they take them off and clean it weekly (can live in hope . . .)

no worries Karen,

not a sore point at all now to be honest. from what i can gather, it’s far more an issue with metallic paint finishes.

before i now accept an order for mags, I either email the sheet (if doing online) of i make the customer stand and read it infront of me before i proceed, they very often choose the vinyl route!

Hugh

[Martin Armitage]

Hi I have just been contacted by a customer, a set of magnetics that we supplied last month have apparently stripped the lacquer off of a truck, we supply care instructions which he reckons he follows, removing every night. This is in four areas of the vehicle. Anybody heard of this particular issue? He had a set off of us before with no problems on the same vehicle
Thanks
Mart

[Alan Drury]

Out of intrerest, who is the manufacturer/supplier of the magnetic material. It would be interesting to know if it is magnetic problem in general or one particular brand.
Alan D

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve always bought my magnetic material from Europoint Display (Now Robert Horne) – But I do not know who they source it from – indeed I believe they have switched suppliers over time.

Perhaps a supplier could provide their perspective on what is obviously a problem!

[Hugh Potter]

quote Alan Drury:

Out of intrerest, who is the manufacturer/supplier of the magnetic material. It would be interesting to know if it is magnetic problem in general or one particular brand.
Alan D

pretty certain it’s suremag I use, I’ve only ever bought it from sign trade supplies in maidstone and have used copies of the suremag sheet from the original roll, unless it’s changed in the past few years, it’s suremag!

Martin A,
i’m not sure it’s possible for it to strip off laquer (ie be stuck) in just a matter of what, 8-10 hrs (assuming he removes them as he says), was the vehicle repainted at all recently?

[Martin Armitage]

Hi,
That was my initial reaction, we give quite comprehensive care instructions purely because the supplier gives them to us, including taking them off everyday in hot weather – washing behind – letting them dry making sure the van is clean before reapplying. From my point of view I am buying vehicle grade magnetics, there surely must be a reason why this is happening and why hasn’t it been put right.

[Matty Goodwin]

😀

[Hugh Potter]

quote Matty Goodwin:

😀

care to expand?