help required with airflow wrap

[Martin Pearson]

Craig, what vinyl were you using and what sort of temperature did you heat it to on completion of fitting. Oh and how did you clean the van before you started especially any recessed areas.

[Peter Normington]

if its popped, you will not get it to go back,
airflow? not sure what you mean, if its air release type stuff, most are not suitable for recesses.
How did you form the vinyl to the panel?

Peter

[Craig Newton]

cleaned all panels up with isopropanol, im not 100 percent on what media it was, sounds daft but trade direct printed it for me as i couldnt laminate it, heated using heat gun, didnt go over the top with the heat tho, gun only on number 1. cheers guys

[Craig Newton]

cleaned all panels up with isopropanol, im not 100 percent on what media it was, sounds daft but trade direct printed it for me as i couldnt laminate it, heated using heat gun, didnt go over the top with the heat tho, gun only on number 1. cheers guys

[Peter Normington]

Any wrap into recesses needs post heat to set its memory,
if you dont know what material it was, was it supplied fit for purpose? did you get instructions and guidelines on how to fit? have you done a wrapping course?.

Sorry to sound a bit harsh, but you are probably up the creek without a paddle.

If you undertake to do a wrap, you should at least be able to specify the material, and know how to apply it.

I am not having a go at you personally Craig, but I see wraps that have failed all to often, simply because the job was done by amateurs, or using the wrong materials.
Perhaps you should have asked advice before fitting, rather than when you have a problem through not doing it correctly in the first place?

Peter

[Warren Beard]

quote Peter Normington:

Any wrap into recesses needs post heat to set its memory,
if you dont know what material it was, was it supplied fit for purpose? did you get instructions and guidelines on how to fit? have you done a wrapping course?.

Sorry to sound a bit harsh, but you are probably up the creek without a paddle.

If you undertake to do a wrap, you should at least be able to specify the material, and know how to apply it.

I am not having a go at you personally Craig, but I see wraps that have failed all to often, simply because the job was done by amateurs, or using the wrong materials.
Perhaps you should have asked advice before fitting, rather than when you have a problem through not doing it correctly in the first place?

Peter

I agree 100% with Peter and would like to add (sort of in Craig’s defence) but he is still to blame, I also have to buy in my wrap prints and although I knew what it was and knew well enough to ask for specs on how to fit it regarding temps etc it was very hard to get these details from the print supplier. I even made them email me rather than telling me over the phone just so I had some kind of recall if things didn’t work out too well and I buy/bought from a very large company so you would think they would be more clued up on it.

I have done the courses and done a few wraps now but still don’t feel comfortable enough to push the service due to lack of proper fitting areas and nobody to help me etc, wrapping is a tough area of signage and it needs to be done right or you will make a bad name for yourself quicker than you think. If you want to wing it then be prepared to go the extra mile to fix the job when it goes wrong and in your case probably will, do whatever you can to keep a good name because it will end up coming down to how well and quick you react to fixing the problem.

I suggest if you want to keep doing wraps then get on a course and find a supplied who knows what they are doing/supplying who can help you with information and give some back up support if things go wrong.

Good luck mate

Warren

[Craig Newton]

i done a sort of privately run course last year and was only basics, because of this a good mate of mine who does a wrap a week gave me a touch on it before he went away, when he gets back ill ask him what the media was as he ordered it. if it has to be replaced then so be it im not one for scrimping or cutting corners as like you say its your livelyhood that will suffer and result in no customers!! like i say ill do everything i can to sort it, was just really after any advice as to whether its wise to steer clear of the easy apply?? or is this just a one off, i seem to remember a few people on here saying they had trouble with these vinyls in recesses, cheers for your help guys

[Robert Lambie]

i cannot comment on media used or much else as i have seen you do it first hand. but from the sounds of it your MAIN problem has been heat.
buy yourself a hand held heat thermometer.
buy yourself a decent hot air heat gun…
once the vinyl has been installed 100% to the book, go back over the recessed areas with the air gun and thermotere and make sure the area has been taken upto around 110-120 degrees… (some vinyls vary but this temp is a safe sorta all rounder, but i have heard of some specifying 180 degrees.
dont just blast the vinyl in one spot though, do a minimum of a 12inch square area at a time keeping the gun ALWAYS moving or you will scorch the vinyl.

i wouldn’t advise using air-escape type vinyls for wrapping. there are the obvious no-no’s when using it but i personally am not keen on it.

[Martin Pearson]

Craig, what makes you thing it was an air release vinyl ? If your mate does a lot of wraps and ordered the material is it likely that he would have ordered air release ?
I only ask because a lot of people have said that it is not suitable for recess work and I would have thought he would know about this.
A lot of failures are down to poor preparation of the vehicle which is why I asked about cleaning but as Peter and Robert have said if you haven’t post heated it then that is probably the cause.
Any course that you did even if it was only the basics should have covered this and given you a good idea about the tools required including a decent thermometer to ensure you are heating to the required temp.

There are some good wrapping courses about so if you want to do this sort of work your best bet would probably be to get yourself on one before you do any more wraps.