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GRP Truck Panels Out gassing issues, views?
Quick question..
Can anyone tell me how long a lorry should be out gassed for before graphics are applied to them?
Im talking about a lorry that has literately just had its back section built and fitted.
Reason i ask is because i was asked by a refurb fitter that we supply graphics to and he said that he was getting out gassing blisters in the material 24 hours after fitting the graphic, yet when the same graphic is fitted to a old lorry it sits perfect.
Its something i actually dont know the exact answer to
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5 Replies
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Stuart
depends on the paint type, if applied in a booth/oven etc, most will say 7-14 days but as said depends on a load of variablesKev
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Sorry should have said.
they are brand new built from GRP panels. They don’t get painted.
they are built in the factory and fitted to the chassis then,wheeled round to the fitting bay where the graphics are fitted while they build the rest of the lorry uo… All in iirc it takes five days from fitting to,chassis to getting a PDI
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The GRP shouldn’t still be out gassing, its not like your applying the graphics 24hrs after it has been manufactured.
your installing onto the GRP after the coach builder has purchased, shipped in, lay in storage, manufactured the truck etc… all this is days/weeks down the line from purchase. even then the purchase isnt made as the grp is hot off the production line.not saying it cant happen but… certainly not in the 23 years ive been fitting to same. maybe ive been lucky? 😀
i have fitted tons of trucks and never once had outgassing issues.
im talking they are still building the rear ends of the truck and we are installing the graphics on the sides.going to contradict myself here though…
in the past 6 months i have 2 fitted trucks, the rear "roller-up-and-over" doors
appear to be be made with a new product rather than aluminium. perhaps its GRP i dont know as it has a sort of rubber skin feel to it. anyway, i have fitted 2
and came back to do more a week or so later and there has been blisters on the the back doors only, the size of golf balls. i have removed the blisters/burst. came back a week after and same thing. this only happened on two vehicles and my theory on why it happened is the new doors have a porous face, when the doors are rolling up and down air is being forced through the pours via a cavity in the panel. i say that because it appears to be the same blisters appearing, or around same area. -
GRP is still curing for up to 2 weeks after it has hardened so it is feasible that it is out-gassing styrene. I’ve never put graphics on any GRP that new so have no experience of it happening. Another thing to watch out for on new grp products is mould release wax used in the mould which is transfered to the product when released you can also get synthetic mould releases which are like silicon and are a lot harder to remove than traditional wax.
Steve
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Steve you might be onto something there …
I have also experienced the same issue now with a "brand new, still in the wrapper" lorry..
Literately rolled into the workshop 30mins after being glued onto the chassis and immediately had graphics fitted to it..
By the time panel 3 was fitted panel 1 started to form blisters….These don’t settle down after a few days either, they get worse…I have been watched fitting by a 3M representative and they have confirmed that the printing, outgassing, prep and fitting of graphics all appear to be done correctly and to the recommended requirements…
In the last few weeks tho, this issue has simply diapered :/
Nothing has changed from our end….Strange one to stay the least but hopefully seems to have sorted itself out 🙂
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