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Vinyl failing, refund etc?
Hi all,
I did a job on a friends van last April using matt ritrama 3-5 year vinyl.
He wanted matt and at the time, it was the best grade I could find.He recently called me to say that its coming off slightly – As result of the mega hot summer or the freezing winter?
The van is left for days at a time in direct sun, and was also parked for weeks over the winter.
I bought it from MDP. Is this grounds for a refund or something as its only lasted 10+ months?
Is there a process for this kind of thing?obviously ive told him I will re do it free of charge which will be timely and costly..
Cheers
Toby. -
13 Replies
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From their website it is a monomeric vinyl, not something I would suggest for vehicle graphics unless for short term graphics only, you would ideally use a 7yr polymeric vinyl for this type of work.
Nigel
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dont know if i agree with that nigel, it says 3 – 5 years so should last as long.
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Yes it does say it is a 3-5 yr outdoors but it is still a monomeric vinyl, if anyone asked me what vinyl to use for long term vehicle graphics then I would always suggest a polymeric vinyl.
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unfortunately Nigel is right you should not use a monomeric vinyl out doors for extended use.
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I did a VW camper about 6 months ago with a 3-5 vinyl (black)
It was supposed to last for 2 years. The client came back a week ago – the rear of the Combi (at the engine) was in tatters. It lifted out of the recesses, cracked, tore, shrunk – you name it.
I,m now printing black on white air release vinyl, and applying that. My cost. I was wrong…… 😳 Should have done it proper the first time round.
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Apart from the fact that mono isn’t really recommended for the application, you would need to prove to the manufacturer / supplier that the vinyl was applied correctly, the vehicle cleaned to their specs etc etc. I am afraid it will be down to you to foot the bill for this and take it on board as experience. I would think you won’t use mono for this application again.
Peter
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Damn straight!
Lesson well and truly learnt.
Just had this back from MDP which is interesting,, explains the year rating..:
———————————————————————————-Hi Toby
Thank you for your enquiry
The 3-5 Year refer’s to its resistance to sunlight and UV rays, in short, how long before any colour fades in the material.
The adhesive can be affected by numerous thing’s, such as how it was originally applied, where the surface of pre-treated with any wax (or had been previously) and how the van is washed. The reason Ritrama do not warrant the adhesive is also because of this, there are various factors that alter how long the material will last.
For example our branches use 3-5 year for all our Internal and External signage on our window and car park signs etc, all of which have been here now for just under 3 years and are all fine as they where back when applied.
The most common cause for van graphics is the customer has been washing the van using a car wash centre/machine instead of hand washing, with the aggressive nature of these machines vehicles with graphics on them should generally not be used in such places, we always recommend hand washing them.
I hope this helps you Toby but if there is anything else I can do please just let me know.
Best regards
Luke Jones
MDP Supplies -
what is the ritarami code for the vinyl?
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Like the others have said it is not a simple case of telling the supplier and they refund you, proof of how it was cleaned & applied, how it was looked after etc etc all required and even then you are unlikely to get any sort of refund unless the material came from a bad batch that they know of.
Can be an expensive learning curve, there is a lot more to vinyl than some people think, obvious from this.
Not sure what the manufacturer says about the vinyl but most will not include vehicle graphics in the list of uses for a polymeric vinyl and will only mention flat panel work for polymeric vinyl’s.Expensive lesson Toby but you are best not using the cheapest of vinyls at all if you can help it and then only for short term stuff. I can’t afford to keep stocks of different grades of vinyl so just about everything I do is with something like Oracal 551 which is good quality polymeric vinyl. The difference in price between that and something like the 651 range isn’t really very much and I know I won’t have any comebacks.
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quote Dave Rowland:what is the ritarami code for the vinyl?It’ll be he L and M series. Dire stuff and just about suitable for safety sign indoors. For all the cost difference go for 3m 50 series or ritrama 400
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it is awful stuff for cars/vans and it will shrink. I did a van about 18 months ago, was only meant to be on it for 6-12 months and was just for a friend to get him out of a jam. After 2 months it shrunk leaving a dirty line around the lettering where dirt had settled onto the glue. Thankfully this was applied to all flat panels avoiding all recesses so it only shrunk and didn’t tear. I do still use it from time to time for either very cheap temp stuff (max of a month use) or for short term indoor stuff, where it won’t get any sunlight or heat.
Cars/vans i always use polymeric as the cost isn’t that much more.
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I know, wish I had but my mate wanted matt finish so my choices were very limited.. Have found that Spandex have a larger range of matt and on Poly & Cast…
gonna go with that this time!Thanks for the advice everyone!
Toby, -
Not much help now but apart from the fact that other suppliers do do a better quality matt another option might have been to use a gloss vinyl and then cover it with a clear matt vinyl or laminate, OK does take more time and increases the material costs on the job but should give you a matt looking finish.
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