is anyone noticing vinyl failures on the new shape sprinters

[Matt Hards]

seems strange they would do that to a van, knowing that 80% of vans end up with graphics of some sort on them

[Lee Ballard]

I haven’t had a new sprinter to do yet so I as I am sure many others on here will be interested to see the outcome. Seems strange that different teams of fitters using different medias are all failing especially if their mainstay is wrapping.

I’ll now be looking closely at any I see parked that’s for sure.

[Jon Marshall]

We did one a while back where a printed logo went over the rear quarter and it kept popping out of the recess at the top corner. We put it down to the wrong laminate though and re-done it with liquid lam.

I haven’t had any complaints from the customer yet so presume it is still ok.

[Robert Lambie]

i havent wrapped a new sprinter craig so im guessing here mate…

the idea that it is the paint thats causing the bother may well be credible, but im a bit dubious on that one.

MD7? ive not used or know much about… i did hear that metamark was using MD5 as a wrap material nowadays but wasnt actually meant for this type of work. regardless it was used successfully on tons of london cabs and the like round the country. whats the idea behind MD7? is this now being branded as a wrap by metamark?

anyway, multiples of vehicles failing in one area is going to raise the question to why? sprinters are big vehicles… wrapping a full sprinter gets boring, you tend to speed by areas that "need" allot of attention… i.e. recessed areas.
has the recesses been heated to the required temp right around the recesses using heat temp devices?
do the fitters know the required temp recommended by each of the suppliers. e.g. oracal have stated 180 degrees in deep recessed areas like this. others 100 degrees…

as the vehicles are new they come polished. has this been properly removed before wrapping? polish and the like are culprits allot of the time.

if the laminate was delaminating from the prints ide blame the laminate. but as the base vinyl and laminate is coming away im more inclined to look at the prepping and application of the vinyl before blaming paintwork.

all this said i could be wrong… i just havent heard of any paint being an issue unless its not been factory painted.

[John Childs]

Oh bugger. I’ve got a yardful of these. 🙁

Shot with DMC-TZ1 at 2007-08-03

[John Childs]

Oh yes, meant to add….

Boil kettle and hold steaming spout to the paintwork. If there’s any wax or polish left, that will find it.

Then you can make a nice cup of tea while you decide what to do about it. 😀

[Craig Brown]

Thanks for the replies guys, when you look at the new sprinters the corrugations are not deep and the body panels are relatively flat unlike the old Sprinter where you could lose a small child in the corrugations and the paint finish looked like Hammerite with added dust…so I am surprised about these failures.

Apparently one of the original sprinters was done as a prototype with MD5 but after it failed it was refitted with MD7 which again has failed. Then we have the other project using the Avery films.

I’m not going to mention the names of the fitting companies involved as they have stood by their fitting and refitted most of the failures and other work on different vans I’ve seen has been first class.

Hopefully come Monday my contact at Daimler-Chrysler will be able to give me feed back on the paint and let me know if there has been any changes…if the answer is “no change” it’s back to cleaning, application technique, heating and reheating…I’ll keep you posted on feed back

But if anyone else wants to throw their 2 cents worth in feel free

[David Rowland]

Have you any photos ?

[Craig Brown]

Not that I’m allowed to share at the moment as it’s a launch for a new brand and It’s not my customer…but have been asked to give feed back on reason for the failures.

the failure with the Avery films is not so sensitive but don’t have any pictures on my home PC but can post up on monday.

[John Childs]

quote CABROWN:

Hopefully come Monday my contact at Daimler-Chrysler will be able to give me feed back on the paint and let me know

I would appreciate knowing what they say. The answer could cause problems here,

For information, we used Avery 900 on the van above.

[Jason Xuereb]

If you want to be sure there are no containments on the paint work of any vehicle. Clay the entire car using a clay bar. This will remove any dirt, wax, polish etc and leave the surface entirely smooth.

This is used in paint correcting process and is done after washing the car. It will also remove most grease build up on any paint work. It basically acts like a rubber for the paint work.

Any car detailing supplies will carry this. If teflon is indeed in the paintwork then I don’t think it will remove it. But from what I’ve heard this is a rumor and the automotive paint industry hasn’t come out and said there is teflon in the paint.

New vehicle do ship though with protective coatings on them and you have to be sure these are removed.

Is the wrap material failing also on the flat panels of the van? After how long?

[Craig Brown]

quote John Childs:

quote CABROWN:

Hopefully come Monday my contact at Daimler-Chrysler will be able to give me feed back on the paint and let me know

I would appreciate knowing what they say. The answer could cause problems here,

For information, we used Avery 900 on the van above.

Hi John – More than happy to let you know what they say…kind of hoping that it’s nothing to do with the paint work and it’s all down to preparation.

[Craig Brown]

quote jxuereb:

If you want to be sure there are no containments on the paint work of any vehicle. Clay the entire car using a clay bar. This will remove any dirt, wax, polish etc and leave the surface entirely smooth.

This is used in paint correcting process and is done after washing the car. It will also remove most grease build up on any paint work. It basically acts like a rubber for the paint work.

Any car detailing supplies will carry this. If teflon is indeed in the paintwork then I don’t think it will remove it. But from what I’ve heard this is a rumor and the automotive paint industry hasn’t come out and said there is teflon in the paint.

New vehicle do ship though with protective coatings on them and you have to be sure these are removed.

Is the wrap material failing also on the flat panels of the van? After how long?

Thanks for the feedback.

All your comments make perfect sense and pre-delivery wax can be a right royal pain to remove. My first reaction was that the vehicles hadn’t been cleaned properly but one particular Sprinter is now on It’s 3rd set of graphics inside a 2 month period and it’s last clean was within an inch of it’s life.

The vinyl failures are most noticeable around the panel corrugations (which are small) and swagelines which makes sense as that’s where the vinyl is under most stress –

Thanks again for the feed back guys

[Pryam Carter]

We did a part wrap on one of the new sprinters two months ago, i saw it yesterday and it is fine.
mind you i thought that the recess around the main flat panel was deeper than most, definatelt deeper than my vivaro.
We used grafiwrap and it was the 1st time i have noticed this film to lose a little colour when stretching into said recess.

[Craig Brown]

Quick update, my contact at Daimler-Chrysler is not aware of any changes to the paint process on the commercial vehicle side but did mention that the lacquer on the passenger car side had been changed to make it harder wearing and more impervious to the external elements (he’s double check that this lacquer hasn’t found its way into the commercial vehicle production line).

One other bit of info that you may or may not be aware of is that the new Shape Vito has plastic wheel arches at the front (but not rear) and these can cause problems with vinyl adhesion (a bit like a low energy surface).

Will post up more details later but does rather look like this one likely down to the fitters.

[Robert Lambie]

thanks for the update craig…

just thinking out loud here… 😕 but is the vinyl being given long enough to out-gas before it is laminated? i.e. 24-48hrs

[Craig Brown]

quote Robert Lambie:

thanks for the update craig…

just thinking out loud here… 😕 but is the vinyl being given long enough to out-gas before it is laminated? i.e. 24-48hrs

That was one of the questions I asked the Customer to put forward…but the fitters have pointed out they have a couple of failures on the Avery 900 SC as well (on a Merc Sprinter rear quarter wrap).

the only other thing to mention is all the pictures I have been shown are metallic silver vans (but that hasn’t been offered up as an excuse yet)

I really now think it’s more likely a fitting issue as I’m sure the statement "There are new Sprinters right across the UK with failing graphics at the moment." would have been seen more members on here voicing concerns if it was true…

again if I get any more feed back on this I’ll post up details but thanks for everyones input

all the best Craig