is there problems fitting in colder weather?

[Robert Lambie]

ill try help out too a little later tonight if anyone misses anything i can add too..
best advice is to knock back fittings outside and get them indoors.
before you bring them in though.. tell them to leave it running with the heating on full pelt. open the back doors first so the cold air comes out.. then after a bit close them and let the heating heat the inside then take the van inside. heat the areas of the van that you will apply vinyl to 5 mins before actualy applying.. once the van is done. heat all the graphics with a heat gun.. watch not to do it too much or you may bring up tiny bubbles…

if you have a space heater its always good to have it blasting “from a distance’ the side f the van you will be doing.. just to take the cold air of it though. not so its hot.

even in car garages i knock them back outside. i dont know how many vans have come back after being fitted perfect, graphics simple fall off..
save yourself some money and time.. tell them if you want them to stick properly and get the life they should have. fit inside!

[Steve Broughton]

Brrr I remember having to fit outside, rember one van for a double glazing company, had to brush the snow off before I fitted it 😮 yeah get them to run it with the heater inside on full pelt, keep your heat gun handy also keep the vinyl in your car/van and only take it out as you need it also don’t leave it in the car over night as it gets damp.
Do yourself a favour and beg steal or borrow a garage or workshop that you can use, I had a mate who had a tyre fitting workshop and he used to let me use a corner, he did it for free because he was next door to another signmaker and he hated the guy and liked it cos it used to P him off big style 😆

[John Childs]

Try not to do it Kev…..

We find that even with a thumping great space heater in the workshop we can bring a van in and three hours later it is still cold to the touch.

We fitted some infra red heaters to the fitting bay walls so that they play on the side of any vans. The thing with these is that they do not heat the air, rather they heat whatever they hit, be it the side of a van or the fitter, keeping them warm whilst working as well. The thing is that as they do not heat the surrounding air they are just as effective outside as in. 😀

[Innocent]

we have those infra red heaters John, brilliant for warming up the sides of vehicles, not much fun if you are working in front of them though.

As for applying outside, do it dry, dont use water or you’ll be there all day. The cold will allow you to lift the vinyl if you get any creases/bubbles. Once it is down give it a good “cooking” with the heat gun.

[Robert Lambie]

hi john
yeh your right mate. the infa-red ones are great! we have three that are on constant just now. i actualy use one of these to heat the graham daires panels when stripping the vinyl. i sit it on the cat-walk on my tressels about 3 foot ahead of me.. by the time i have the forst bit off the next is toasting hot and strips with no glue left.. just the ticket for large trucks like that..

a down side that i feel personaly.. 😕
i feel when working with vinyls.. more so with vehicle wrap vinyl. that the air needs to be warm. its all very well keeping the van panels warm but the vinyl can go brittle even before applied.
now having said this.. (and i am only saying the above for the record) i do work mostly under the conditions you mention above and it does work fine. but if given the choice i think i would prefer a warm air room as oppossed to the infa-red.
we have an infra-red in our vinyl production workshop. personaly i dont like it here. it does the job and keeps the room at a decent working temp. but turn it off 5 mins and its cold. we have thousands of pounds worth of vinyl constantly in stock and i have seen me lift a roll & cut only to find the cold has got to it a little and its a little brittle when weeding.
so what am i doing with it then.. well, due to the fire safety we are not allowed space heaters or any naked flame type heaters. other than central heating and its costly. we dont own our units so we have not bothered installing the heating as we have been trying to buy some place for about 2 years now. but thats another story… boy to i rabble on… 😳 😆

[Martin C]

No names 😉 but I seem to recall someone saying to me that if you apply when it is cold you won’t get bubbles in your work?

[John Childs]

As coincidence would have it, I learned yesterday afternoon of a company that is having to pay to have ten vans stripped and re-done because they did them in the cold. All that labour and the cost of ten replacement livery kits is an expensive lesson to learn.

[Martin C]

I’m a little bemused here?

I’ve done less than a handful of vehicles, all in the outside on mediocre days, never what I’d call hot nor cold. In fact as I recall it the Sign School day wasn’t exactly a hot one!

My first attempt was on a poorly finished sand lorry/transit under floodlights about this time of year which I still see around and the graphics are fine. Since then I’ve done a few bits and pieces, names down the side etc., and this weekend am doing the first 2 of a possible long term contract for ‘Courtesy car’ graphics. I never use more than a hairdrier on the occasional loose edge.

Reading the above posts I can only assume you are talking about Ice cold, winter conditions??

As an aside what should I charge for a name, web address down both sides (300mm high)and a simple logo on the bonnett and back?? Previous guy fits in 30 minutes 😕

[Fat Bob]

Hi Guys
Very interesting subject I have fitted more vans out side than I can remember and use all the tricks that you have. I have not seen any premature failures from this, the only total right off for me was when I once applied wet and it froze within an hour of of completion and when it thawed out the letters fell off 😕

Any way to get back to the reason for this post for all you poor buggers who dont have a nice cosy place to stik your vinyls on or get out of the rain. my tip is multistory car park and dont forget to sort out the regular attendant with a nice tip and get him used to you. they then turn a blind
and let you take small liberties and if you find a good one hell even find you a power point and a cuppa occasionaly. Even now I use this method if I have to travel some were to fit a vehicle when they havent got a premises and its raining 😆 😆 😆

[Steve Broughton]

You fit in the early hours too Bob or is Wales in a different time zone than the rest of us, 😆

[Henry Barker]

FB you made me laugh 🙂

Funny you should mention the cold! Its a mild -3 here too today and snowy. I have no special tips apart from similar to whats already been said, I never apply wet to vehicles. Always try and do it indoors or borrow a neighbours building to get tractor units and trailers in , I have a 3M door here which is a shame but its only the winter months that are affected. I have done jobs outside with Heatlamps and hotairguns, but its not much fun, tomorrow we are going to do some windows on three shops should be fun.

[John Singh]

I’m with Bob and Martin on this one simply because I don’t have the luxury of a warm covered area to work in (everybody: Aaaaaaaah! 😥 )

It is getting a tadge colder atm but London always seems to be a few degrees warmer than else where (probably 30 degrees warmer than bonnie Scotland) (Oh! Sorry about the other night Rangers fans but we had to do our job)

I have put on vinyl in the cold and have had no come backs as yet

[image]

Oppss!!!
I have never seen snow in october, but this morning!
😮
…I hate the winter, i can’t work!
😕

[image]

Look this photo!
Car wrapping by “Snow Signmaking” 😉

http://www.imagegrafika.hu/snow.jpg

Hungary – 24. 10. 2003. (!)

[Martin C]

I’d use a hairdryer on the bonnet first for this one Barna! 😕

[Mike Brown]

[BIG LAUGHS!!!] 😉

[John Singh]

Brilliant Wrap!
But where’s the phone number and company details and how’s the driver supposed to see? 😆 😆

I’d give those jobs the cold shoulder and plough through the rest of my work otherwise I’d get snowed under. Just haven’t got enough grit to face it. Might find myself on the slippery slope to no recovery. Hate the snow man!

🙂