please help im having a major air bubble problem?

[Jill Marie Welsh]

What type of substrate?
If lexan, you need to wait a while after removing the masking to allow the panel to outgas.
Love….Jill

[Peter Normington]

Darren, what is the substrate, type of vinyl, and how big is large.?

Peter

[Darren Clark]

hi it is aluminum composite substrate and each letter is just under 800mm square approx vinyl is ritrama l+m grade

[Peter Dee]

Is your squeegee worn (no longer a straight edge?)
Due to the larger size are you being too eager to rub down and not overlapping your squeegee strokes?

[Darren Clark]

all squeegees are brand new other than 1 i am constantly over lapping and squeeging over and over but no luck

[Phill Fenton]

Try applying it wet 😀

[Peter Dee]

It’s possible you are not keeping enough tension on the graphic and not holding it at about 30 degrees as you move along it.
Just a misting of app fluid might help.
Also keep the squeegee at about 45 degrees to stop it bowing under pressure.

[Warren Beard]

A mistake I used to make was to squeegee as hard as I could to get bubbles out and I always got bubbles doing it dry, I used a lot less pressure and now only get the odd bubble when applying dry. Make sure the squeegee pushed the vinyl down and it is not dropped on to the surface before the squeegee hits it.

Otherwise I don’t know and all I can say is do it moist 😉

[Darren Clark]

Ive been doing it with 2 men keeping it tight and correct angles i was trying to keep away from wet application as i started out this way with cars and have had all the problems plus it is layered so want to try and keep it dry never had a problem like this before fitting the odd large graphic or so

[Warren Beard]

It it too warm? I did a van in summer and it got hotter and hotter during the day, the hotter it got the more bubbles appeared.

Just a thought?

[Darren Clark]

the temp is normal we are fitting in the shop which is tee shirt temp not too hot or too cold the pressure quote may be a clue i am putting a bit of pressure on it but not enough to distort the squeegee im am going to have another go now ill see what happens

[Robert Lambie]

are you sure it is not static type bubbles? tiny small bubbles impossible to burst…
if so, check the table your working on isn’t bare wood. it should be something that doesn’t have dust etc caught in the grain. metal, plastic, glass topped is all much better than the likes of wood.
using a wet cloth. wipe down your bench top. now wipe down your material away from the bench top, both sides. sit it on the table and using a dry paper towel dry the sign face. again, making sure nothing is wiped off to land on the table and vice versa.
wipe down both sides of vinyl / carrying paper also…
make sure those dealing with the vinyl do not have shavings, dust etc caught on their clothing. static charge will make the dust jump as soon as the vinyl is removed from app tape!
now try the application again…
the problem maybe just your squeegee technique, but more times than not its dust etc jumping due to static charge when applying dry.

[Darren Clark]

i have just done one wet and it was a bit better i am using 2 aluminium poles to rest the substrate on off the ground etc. On closer inspection of the pannel i have noticed what look like i call fish eyes (car painter for years) example when you paint a car etc and dont clean properly the wax and oil causes the paint do move away from the area i am using alucobest pannels from ATC in rochdale has any body encounterd this with this make or others

[Hugh Potter]

quote :

i am using 2 aluminium poles to rest the substrate on off the ground

have i got this right… the panel isn’t on a flat surface, it’s sat upon two poles to raise it off the floor?

the panel must be on a flat, hard, surface. if it’s bridging across two poles it’ll bow in the middle and cause problems, i had similar probs once, when flood coating a sign tray, it bowed in the centre and as a result, i ended up with huge bubbles and wrinkles near the edges, i ended up sliding lengths of 4×2 timber under the entire sign, so the flat was supported and the edges were off the bench, is this the problem? ie, the panel isn’t laying flat?

Hugh

[Ade Brown]

You will find with the none branded alu composites the surface finish isn’t as good as the Di-bonds and premium alu comps.

They are mass produced in china and the suppliers tend to buy off whom’s offering best price at time so there no consistency to the quality..

If its a 100% quality buy a main brand!!

Ade

[Darren Clark]

the panels are flat and not buckling the bars are supported and rigid i have flood coated many opal panels dry with out a problem but the large lettering is giving me grief