It's a total and complete non-issue.
Corrosion under vinyl is a total and complete non-issue? Tell us how you know.
It's a total and complete non-issue.
An excellent write-up Bruce, thanks.
Your airplane illustrates one interesting use of vinyl...a true bright chrome finish. We've all seen plenty of polished RVs with painted intersection fairings, tips, and cowls because there is no real good chrome paint, at least none I've seen. Silver doesn't match polished aluminum for sure.
You mentioned some increased difficulty with compound curves when using the Avery chrome film. However, it looks like you successfully covered the upper gear leg intersections. Being critical, do they look good up close?
Wrap vinyl also comes in clear, I believe sold as "paint protection film". Has anyone applied it over polished aluminum?
Corrosion under vinyl is a total and complete non-issue? Tell us how you know.
He has never seen corrosion under any vinyl
Ahhh, because the vendor said so. Got it.
It's pretty hard to prove a negative. Just takes one contrary data point to disprove it. So I think we'd all be open to seeing any example somebody could provide of corrosion under properly applied vinyl wrap to intact alclad aluminum, under normal use conditions.
It may be there aren't enough data points and time in service to have a definitive answer, but we may be getting there thanks to people willing to experiment.
Ahhh, because the vendor said so. Got it.
I don't know of any, but I have some vinyl wrap here that I intend to try out on mine to see if it's a viable alternative to paint with blind rivets. At some point some, most or all of the paint is coming off (jury is out as to how much of it) and I'm not ruling our vinyl yet for the new covering.Has anybody wrapped an RV-12? It seems like it would be pretty difficult with thousands of non-flush LP4-3 rivets to deal with.
I don't know of any, but I have some vinyl wrap here that I intend to try out on mine to see if it's a viable alternative to paint with blind rivets. At some point some, most or all of the paint is coming off (jury is out as to how much of it) and I'm not ruling our vinyl yet for the new covering.
I have wrapped a few small parts. The tail fairing and inspection covers are wrapped, and I'm very happy with those. I also wrapped the forward top fuselage skin. There I was not as thrilled. It looks great, but I managed to scratch it in a couple of places putting the canopy back on. With paint I could have buffed it out and maybe touched up the paint if the scratch were deep enough to need it. With vinyl, either you re-wrap the whole piece or you just live with it - the scratch or a patch will look just as bad.
Countersunk screws are a problem too. You'll either need to cut around the heads or, well, I'm not sure what. I just put them in gently with a little Boelube on the heads to minimize the twisting.
So here's the cool thing... the guy I had do my new N-number and Woodstock graphics has a shop just a few blocks from the airport, AND does a lot of vinyl wrap work on vehicles, AND he flies an ultralight. I'm definitely going to see what advice (or maybe assistance) he has to offer.
A friend had a Zenith 650 that was vinyl wrapped and it looked good. Even around the pulled rivets. I did note one area of concern, which is on the belly's edge at the firewall. The wrap delaminated due to an ongoing oil or fuel leak.
So, if there is something about wrap vinyl that makes corrosion a "complete and total non-issue", it could be very useful.
I painted white and covered the wingtips and empennage tips in Hot Rod Red 3M 1080 Vinyl. I also cut a design and put it on the sides. I really like the Idea that I can change up my trim scheme any time I want. But I am having trouble covering the compound curves on the empennage tips with a single piece. At first it looks great but over time the edges wrinkle. There is probably something I'm doing wrong but it is difficult to heat and stretch around the compound curve and expect the straight line near it to not wrinkle after sitting a while.
Gentlemen, my question to Sid was serious as a heart attack.
We know corrosion can happen under the blue shipping vinyl.
We know corrosion can happen under paint.
So, if there is something about wrap vinyl that makes corrosion a "complete and total non-issue", it could be very useful.
My RV-8 has Grove billet aluminum gear legs. They're made of 7075, an alloy which is not naturally corrosion resistant. They must be primed and painted, or kept polished and waxed. Mine are polished. It looks good, but I think regular polishing is a PITA.
Recall I found Bruce's work with chrome-look vinyl interesting, and asked about clear film over polished aluminum? You see where I'm going here? If either film can go over the polished gear leg (a) without concern for corrosion, or (b) with the expectation that is will absolutely prevent corrosion, why, I would be a very happy camper.
Turns out to be a statement based on anecdote from a vested interest. That's not an accusation. On the other hand, it's not science.
3M seems to have a fixed number of years warranty for their products, which seems reasonable. I've also read that removing the vinyl gets harder after a number of years.
Does this mean that a re-wrap will be needed after a period of years? How would you know if it's needed? What are the failure modes of the vinyl, besides fading colors?