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Ritrama O gloss – didn’t work on my car
Hi,
I used Ritrama 0 for doing a few bit of graphics for a customer’s car.
Unfortunately I could not get it to stick. It was a cold day but it was inside a garage. Used heatguns/hair dryers on it but still simply could not get it to stick.
I had used Application Fluid which I use for other cars I’ve done but it simply didn’t work.
When first started doing signs & vehicle graphics I just used whatever came with the cutter (didn’t label vinyls at the start so don’tk now what it was) which was great – no issues at all. Now I ran out and so bought the ritrama.
Maybe some vinyls aren’t compatible with wet application?RITRAMA O:Polymeric Gloss Vinyl. With a 5 year plus exterior guarantee polymeric vinyl is suited to long term exterior work and conforms to curves extremely well. It has an acrylic adhesive.
I thought this would be perfect for car graphics. How come it didn’t work?
I had to apologize profusely to the customer and said that the graphics weren’t sticking to the car! Felt like an idiot! I thought it was premium vinyl…Can anyone give me advice or shed any light on the situation?
Have I done something wrong?Thanks, Kyle
P.S I also tried Rijet 100 as there was a picture they wanted on the car but this didn’t stick either on the car but I figured it’s just coz it’s not guaranteed for very long….
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6 Replies
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1. Would anyone have a recommendation as to what vinyl works for both signs & vehicle graphics. Must come in decent range of colours and both in matt and gloss variations.
I don’t mind paying more for it considering how much hassle and time it wastes if it doesn’t either weed easily/correctly or adhere to signs/vehicle.
2. I have mimaki cjv30-60 print and cut. Would anyone be able to recommend a printable/digital vinyl that is easily weeded & durable? Again I don’t mind paying…
Thanks,
Kyle
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If you ask what vinyl is best you will get lots of different answers as most people find they get on better with one particular brand better than others so will generally stick to that.
My advice rather than tell you what I use is to contact a range of suppliers & ask for samples. Get yourself a big enough sample of different brands even if it means paying a few bob for it & then test them all out for yourself. That way you will find what works for you best. Forget about monomeric vinyls & stick with better quality pollymerics. Cast is a bit overkill for most of the work you will be doing probably. List of suppliers on the toolbar.As for application sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but learn to fit dry, looking at when you joined the forum you have been doing this long enough now that you should really know that. Yes there are times when a wet application is needed but you should really be fitting the majority of the vinyl you use dry. Takes a bit of practice but is well worth it in the long run.
This time of year you are fighting a losing battle trying to fit anything wet unless it is in doors & both the vinyl & substrate have had time to warm up properly. If your fitting in the cold in a garage & can’t warm the whole vehicle up then get everything ready to go & them warm the panel you are working on before applying the graphics, apply them dry & then post heat them once in place. -
The most likely cause of your problem was the polish used on the car. There is one particular brand (not sure what it is – but have come across this problem myself) that produces a high gloss silicon finish that the vinyl will not stick to. The solution is to clean clean the area thoroughly (I’ve used tar and glue remover before) to get rid of the polish and allow the glue to bond.
And you might have had more success if you had tried to do it dry
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Assuming you cleaned and de-greased, polish is an issue it’s probably a combination of cold and application fluid but mainly the fact you used application fluid!
Sounds harsh but you should be able to fit graphics dry.
No way will Ap. fluid dry when it’s cold.
We’ve used O grade for years with no issues.
Last week we were scraping the ice off 4 vans so we could apply the graphics, thats cold! -
Ill be blunt mate, it’s your use of application fluid that’s most likely the issue here.
Couple it with the cold and there is your answer.Try it dry, use a nylon squeegee and it will stick fine.
Once you remove the application tape apply heat over the whole area till warm to touch. This will promote adhesion in the cold. -
Cheers guys,
Seems to be pretty unanimous about the cold and the use of application fluid being the cause of my issues.
As far as cleaning/degreasing I used RapidPrep so that should be fine (unless someone says otherwise…)
http://rapidtac.com/rapid-prep.htmlI hadn’t realised that most people applied dry… I will do that from now on 🙂
Your help is very much appreciated,
I will let you know how I get on with it as I’ll recut then dry apply and also preheat the garage before I attempt it again either tomorrow or Tuesday.I have only done 2 cars and a few signs over the last few years as I’m a Tshirt printer who just dables in doing other work….
Thanks again for your help (espcially as it’s a Sunday!),
Kyle
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