which vinyl glows in the dark?

[Peter Munday]

Brian, Grafityp link on main page (£12.30 a metre) 😮

[Marcella Ross]

Most vinyl suppliers have a fluorescent range. Metamark have 5 colours, so too have Mactac. These are the only colour cards for fluorescent I have, not sure what Oracal do.
It’s quite thick stuff and usually quite rough on your blade, it also has a fairly short outdoor life maybe 6 months 😕 , but in saying that it’s been a while since I’ve used it…. perhaps it’s better now.

Marcella

[Peter Cox]

Brian,

I think what you need is Photoluminescent (glow in the dark). Up to 8years life – white /green / yellow available from Hexis 01543 411221.

Get your credit card out as it is not cheap.

Hope this is of help

Peter

[Robert Lambie]

yeh grafityp do it as do europoint. i hardly use it but i did just buy in a roll from europoint a couple of weeks back. its around £13ish so not cheap product… sticks in mind more because there is a pile of cut sqaures that one of our guys cut WRONG from it sitting in a corner. 😕

[Brian Little]

quote Robert Lambie:

yeh grafityp do it as do europoint. i hardly use it but i did just buy in a roll from europoint a couple of weeks back. its around £13ish so not cheap product… sticks in mind more because there is a pile of cut sqaures that one of our guys cut WRONG from it sitting in a corner. 😕

… bet you could cut the atmosphere with a knife at piecy time Rob

[Brian Little]

quote Marcella:

Most vinyl suppliers have a fluorescent range. Metamark have 5 colours, so too have Mactac. These are the only colour cards for fluorescent I have, not sure what Oracal do.
It’s quite thick stuff and usually quite rough on your blade, it also has a fairly short outdoor life maybe 6 months 😕 , but in saying that it’s been a while since I’ve used it…. perhaps it’s better now.

Marcella

cheers Marcella ….but fluorescent is entiarly different from luminous

[Brian Little]

oh and thanks to peter & peter ….im sure there was a photo of some car that had been lettered up on the boards …but cant fined it

[Shane Drew]

Brian, I use it all the time mate. I print to it as well and laminate in transparent cast.

It is supposed to take a few minutes to charge, and glow for 8 hours (the stuff here anyways), but unless it has had a strong daylight charge, I have never seen it last longer than about 4 or 5 hours.

I think the stuff I buy is out of china or something, so there may be better quality stuff around.

Mongrel stuff to cut on the plotter tho. Strictly a background material from my experience.

Trouble is my son gathers up all my off cuts, and I have little bits of it stuck on everythng from the front gates to his bedroom door. 🙄

[Brian Little]

quote Shane Drew:

Brian, I use it all the time mate. I print to it as well and laminate in transparent cast.

It is supposed to take a few minutes to charge, and glow for 8 hours (the stuff here anyways), but unless it has had a strong daylight charge, I have never seen it last longer than about 4 or 5 hours.

I think the stuff I buy is out of china or something, so there may be better quality stuff around.

Mongrel stuff to cut on the plotter tho. Strictly a background material from my experience.

Trouble is my son gathers up all my off cuts, and I have little bits of it stuck on everythng from the front gates to his bedroom door. 🙄

thats kids for ya shane ..the world over 😀 😀 .hmm thats a bit dissapointing i was expecting it to charge up during the day and last for a while.hmm mabe have to re think

[Brian Little]

i was kinda hoping with the sub tropical climate we have here in scotland it would last for years :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: 😎

[Shane Drew]

quote Brian Little:

i was kinda hoping with the sub tropical climate we have here in scotland it would last for years :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: 😎

mate, it will last for years, just that each charge will not last all night. But it will charge 1000’s of times…

That make sense?

[Brian Little]

cheers Shane mate that makes perfect sense …sent you a private e mail …ignore it apart from the later bit that askes after your health ….if that makes sence 😀 😀

[David Rogers]

Brian, as you are using it outdoors the amount of light it gives off is practically nil compared to average nightime ambient light. eg. street lighting. Also, as it has a ‘half-life’ whereby the output steadily declines until it ‘dies’ after a period of about 5 hours (at best), the effect can be totally lost over the sunset period (of a sunny day) when it gives off most of the light as the sun’s going down (glow not seen). On cloudy days, it’ll barely get charged.

It will look quite impressive though as cars pass by & ‘charge’ it up, with the afterglow left for passers-by!

As an afterthought, you can get paints (about £10 for 100ml)? in photoluminous red, green, blue, yellow & white. I’ll dig out the URL.

here – this guys does it. http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZjoeglo22

[Brian Little]

Hi dave …no its just for my own motor nothing to desperate .I know the stuff can be really boaring to say the least in its natural form so i was just going to use it just as an out line and have reflective in the middle .Its just a bit of suttle lettering at the bottom of the door as apposed to "in your face " style .Is it diffucult to weed dave ?

[David Rogers]

It’s not just the weeding – it’s the cutting!

Prepare to dig out an old blade (no point on knackering a good one) & set the pressure fairly high! I have been known to do two passes over shapes/large text to make life easier. And it’s not the worlds stickiest stuff – might take a wee while for the adhesives to grab.

Mainly, I just lay a square of the photolum & reverse weed a vinyl overlay to let the letters shine through…is that cheating? :lol1:

[Brian Little]

cheers dave …ill give it a go let you know 😀

and no it aint cheeting :lol1:

[Lynn Normington]

Dave if it makes life easier it can’t be cheating 😀

Lynn

[Cammy – Europoint Display]

HI Brian,

Its sold by the metre so wont break the bank, 2 grades kept in stock it absorbs uv light very quickly then discharges it very slowly when the lights go out.

given that its effect will be minimal on a van , would it not be better to use a pale coloured normal vinyl ?

Cheers

[Marcella Ross]

quote Cammy:

given that its effect will be minimal on a van , would it not be better to use a pale coloured normal vinyl ?

Cheers

…… are you prepared to lose a few quid and sell him cheaper vinyl? 😉

P.S. … you’re delivery driver arrived at lunchtime …… I had my clothes on 4 hours earlier!! 😀

[David Rogers]

quote Lynn:

Dave if it makes life easier it can’t be cheating 😀

Lynn

I suppose! 😛 I only wish somebody had told me that earlier, my guilt complex is starting to affect my ability to eat chips 😕

[Brian Little]

quote Cammy:

HI Brian,

Its sold by the metre so wont break the bank, 2 grades kept in stock it absorbs uv light very quickly then discharges it very slowly when the lights go out.

given that its effect will be minimal on a van , would it not be better to use a pale coloured normal vinyl ?

Cheers

cheers Cammy. mabe the effort aint worth it .their was a great wee demo put on here a while ago about building up similer but slightly differnt shades of vinyl to give you a neon affect …ive done it myself to great affect ….mabe go along that line ….cheers mate 😀 😀

[David Rogers]

Hi Brian, just a wee thought. Why not do a halo of reflective, facing it off with the same colour of normal vinyl. That way you get ‘normal’ colours with a spangly edge during sunny days & thin halos at night (not overpowering reflective). I done some for customers – so it’s been incorporated into my van too. Have Emailed you a picture as attachments not allowed.

Dave

[Alex Pirozek]

Has anyone had more experience with this type of vinyl. I have the hexis glow in the dark (which is KPMF) and was wondering how much charge (light source) is needed to make it glow slightly. The use required is for illuminating numbers on race cars during the night. I was thinking of a sheet of electro luminescent which most teams use but its a pain to wire in to the bodywork and also requires masking and maintenance when the car is in the bodyshop for spraying etc. The sheet sizes required are only up to 500mm square in which numbers will be stuck on to. I was just wondering if anyone knows who supplies the electro luminescent sheet with 12v feed in..
Any help would be greatly received
Alex.

[Mike Grant]

I think we are all loosing the plot here. Photoluminescent is only of use when in a building, ship or plane etc. The idea is that if the lights go out these will be luminous enough to guide your way out of the building. When you are in total darkness is when the effect is best seen. They are not meant to be able to read books by 🙄 or illuminate for a long time. Yes you may get 5 or 6 hours "light" out of them but if you are in complete darkness your eyes will acclimatise to any available light and they will not look so bright.
I fixed small squares to some light switches so that I could find them in the dark corners but it was a waste of time, you can’t see them until your about 2ft away then you can only just see them.

[Ian Bingham]

try this lot, ive used them in the past, amazing stuff
Ian

http://www.everglow.de/ussites/

[Phill Fenton]

Some information about Phosphorescent Vinyl:-

Phosphorescent vinyls are mainly used in the production of fire safety signs. This material literally does “glow in the dark” (unlike Fluorescent material which only glows when there is a visible or UV light source shining on it). It works by absorbing visible or UV light which causes the electrons surrounding the molecules of the pigment to become excited. As a result these electrons jump to a higher orbit thus containing more energy. When the light source is removed, the electrons gradually return to their former state (lower energy orbit) and in the process of doing so they give off visible light causing the material to glow for an extended period until all of the electrons have returned to their former (pre-excited) state.
Phosphorescent vinyl is effectively “charged up” during daylight hours, and gradually discharges (gives off light) when the daylight is removed. This is not an electrical or radioactive process but is merely a physical property of the pigment used in the vinyl. Consequently there are no safety issues attributed to the use of these materials.
Unlike Fluorescent materials, Phosphorescent vinyl has an extended lifetime and will continue to work for many years.

[Alex Pirozek]

Sorry, i should have worded it correctly. I have the Photo luminescent glow in the dark stuff (like the kids fun stuff shapes etc) but was really wondering if this type was comparable to the powered 12v or more Electro luminescent stuff. I’m not after lighting in order to see or read from etc, it’s only to give a little extra light behind the car numbers so they are more visible at night on the track (mandatory requirement) as standard vinyl would be OK during the day but at night wouldn’t be seen in the dark unless it was in a lit up area etc.

Alex.

[Warren Beard]

Try this guy, he produces or supplies the flatlite material that was used on some of the LeMans cars numbers etc.

http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk/page. … ibID=01295

Peter Sargent

Amber and Green
Unit 40
Silverwing Industrial Estate
Imperial Way
Croydon
Surrey
CR0 4RR

0208 256 5980
07966392257

He should be able to help.

cheers

Warren

[Alex Pirozek]

Warren… you’re a star,
That’s exactly what i was looking for. I know it’s not cheap but will ring them tomorrow for more info.

Thanks again,
Alex.

[Darryl Seager]

http://www.kemcotech.com

its in Kent, no mimimum quantity nor charge.

[Alex Pirozek]

Cheers Darryl,
Spoke to them and very helpful, they’re are sending a sample. I just want to see if it’s near to the electro luminescent sheet so we can save on wiring and maintenance.

Alex.