Activity Feed Forums Sign Making Discussions Vehicle Wrapping Magnets leaving marks on the vehicle, help?

  • Magnets leaving marks on the vehicle, help?

    Posted by Mark Johnston on May 3, 2022 at 10:46 am

    might sound daft but!

    has anyone had the problem with magnets for fitting vinyl and wraps, leaving a mark on the vehicle?
    if you have, what did you do to get rid of it? I have a few magnet marks on a customers car and i have tried everything to remove them. they are like little faded circles. i tried to get a picture but they only show at certain angles.

    Tim Hobbs replied 1 year, 10 months ago 10 Members · 15 Replies
  • 15 Replies
  • Jeff

    Member
    May 3, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    been in your boat a couple of times mate. i couldn’t get them off!

    my customer didn’t notice them. so all good but it is really annoying.

  • David Gwyndaf Povah

    Member
    May 3, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    i have has this problem in the past but they came off prettty easy with some ipa , to stop it happening again i put some felt you can buy for squeegee wings over them which has stopped it happening again

  • Jeff

    Member
    May 3, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    i tried that david but the magnet loses its strength, mate. ๐Ÿค”

    • David Gwyndaf Povah

      Member
      May 3, 2022 at 4:13 pm

      another thing to try is the suede vinyl wrap ive got that on mine at the moment i dont notice any loss in strength these are the avery red mags

  • RobertLambie

    Administrator
    May 3, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    Like you, I learned the hard way, many times! ๐Ÿค”
    It is one of those things, laziness or convenience, you move the magnet to an area and it creates a stain.
    I haven’t done this for years now and I do not remember if I ever had a solution to fix it right after.
    My take on it is, NEW magnets are worse!
    I think the oil or whatever that is in the plastic/rubber cover of the magnet is drawn out between the van/car metal body and the strong magnet, staining the paint surface.

    I agree, a felt cover does work and helps prevent it, but as has been said, it lowers the grip on the vinyl.

  • Simon Worrall

    Member
    May 3, 2022 at 7:35 pm

    I put masking tape over the magnet to prevent staining.

    One other thing that has hit me hard in the goolies in the past…make sure there are no snap off blades stuck to the magnets before using them!

  • RobertLambie

    Administrator
    May 10, 2022 at 12:16 am

    Just thought I would add this to the topic of magnets damaging the vehicle’s paintwork.

    Magnetic Heat Gun Holders, I do not use these for various reasons.
    They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are used for holding heat guns on the side of a vehicle.
    Not only do you run the risk of staining the vehicle’s paintwork, but just by having it there, you open up accidents happening, like hitting the car’s paintwork with the hot end of the gun. Scratching the paintwork. because these magnets pick up tiny bits of magnetic debris on the surface, even little hard bits of dust. then whack on one of these powerful magnets and damaging the paintwork is on the cards!
    if the gun is heavy or the cable tugged, the magnet will turn and twist whatever is on the surface against the paintwork.
    do not get me wrong, the idea of the tool is OK, but there are too many accidents that could happen to justify using them. I would rather drop a ยฃ40 heat gun on the floor than have to pay for a customer’s car respray.

    • Gordon Smithard

      Member
      May 10, 2022 at 9:03 am

      I use a small fold-up picnic table to put things on, keep it away from the vehicle behind me and it’s easy to pick up and move as you go around the vehicle.

  • RobertLambie

    Administrator
    May 10, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    That type of thing is as good as most, Gordon.
    Toolbelts are great for the small stuff, a portable table for keeping graphics up out of the way of dirt and so on, is perfect. I just think the whole “fix the heat gun to the vehicle” for handiness, is a remedy for disaster.

    • Gary Austin

      Member
      May 11, 2022 at 8:04 am

      I’m still waiting for a Predator style shoulder gun attachment.

      • RobertLambie

        Administrator
        May 11, 2022 at 8:42 am

        or gun for the traditional gun-slinger look! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Richard Wills

    Member
    May 11, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    “You
    can even leave the gun running, the metal holster directs the heat away
    from your body and the wood backing insulates you against direct
    contact.”

    Wonder what damage that could cause to a vehicle…

  • RobertLambie

    Administrator
    May 12, 2022 at 2:42 am

    The holster is a much better option than one of those magnetic car holders.
    However, they are completely over-engineered. Stuff walking around with a drainpipe and gutter, strapped to your leg!๐Ÿคจ

  • Peter Cassidy

    Member
    May 12, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    do you really need to have the heat gun on your so much, that a holster is required? ๐Ÿค”
    I guess it depends if you are wrapping and what you are wrapping. but still.

    good info on the magnets though. thanks. ๐Ÿ‘

  • Tim Hobbs

    Member
    June 10, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    Just thought I’d put in my half penny worth on the heatgun holders. I use the spiral coil type, one of which is illustrated in Rob’s earlier comment. I find them really useful when wrapping high sided vans, stood on steps in particular. Where I kept dropping my heatguns previously. However, I agree with Rob that they should never be put onto the vehicle itself. I bonded squares of galvanized steel to the workshop walls at strategic points and I simply attach the holder to those when I need to. So don’t write them off completely.

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