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Capt'n Morgan

Applying Oracal 651 Vinyl Stickers On Auto

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What do you guys reccomend? Do you use some kind of application liquid? And if you dont have any available can you use distilled  water and a drop of dish soap in the water added to a spray bottle okay? Any Ideas?

 

Thanks :thumbsup:   Duke

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I've used a cap full of isopropyl alcohol and a drop of dawn in a spray bottle with distilled water.

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I use Rapid Tac for cast, and Rapid Tac 2 for calendered vinyl  and or cast in cold weather.  I also had some splash application fluid but didn't have great luck with it.  I do intend to try it again as i still have some concentrate of it.

 

I wish USCutter would sell Rapid Tac products, guess i will send another email asking for it.

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I don't use app fluid unless there is some reason such as size of graphic or possibly a body contour that may be tricky. When I do I have used splash and rapid tac. Both seemed fine. Don't use clear app tape if you plan to wet apply. Once you get it squeegee'd down you can also spray the app tape to help loosen it up for removal. 

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I was applying 651 to a rear window the other day, using splash, and I had one heck of a time squeegeeing the Water out from behind the vinyl. Most of my issue was with 1 inch letters. Larger items were not an issue. I'm guessing that it is not recommended to do a wet application for 1 inch lettering. I will be searching through to forums to learn techniques. I was doing a rear window advertisement that had lots of lettering. I wanted to apply several lines of text at once, mostly so I could keep the lines parallel to each other, without "lining it up" myself. Any tips?

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If the window is curved then it's probably a good idea with a lot of text. You just have to work systematically from the center out and do your best to squeegee it all out. After you think you have it then let it sit a little while and give the adhesive some time to gain a hold on the car and then spray the top of your app tape with some more app fluid and it will help soften up the tape and release from the lettering. Just don't use clear. There are some that claim to be ok to use wet but I'm skeptical of those. Maybe in a real flat application that would work with clear but in a real flat application you wouldn't ordinarily need the fluid in the first place. 

 

As you gain skill installing you will probably find you use fluid less often. Youtube is your friend at this point. 

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I had 2 bottles of splash concentrate and have since went back to rapid tac. The price was sooo tempting but the results were lacking at least for me.

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Best bet is learn to apply dry. Much faster and no issues. 

This was done dry all one piece last week, Took longer to clean the sides than to apply the graphic. 

post-7594-0-06018900-1415288305_thumb.jp

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="SeeJaysPlace" data-cid="376588" data-time="1415327215"><p>

I have never installed anything with the wet method .. only Dry Installs! :)</p></blockquote> no wet? How about on wet paint lol. Got a picture somewhere :)

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="SeeJaysPlace" data-cid="376588" data-time="1415327215"><p>

I have never installed anything with the wet method .. only Dry Installs! :)</p></blockquote> no wet? How about on wet paint lol. Got a picture somewhere :)

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On the window I was referring to, it had some curve. I squeeged the hell out of it, but there was a thin layer of water under it, like a drop of water that was creating a suction. I also did spray the paper (tape) with the solution several times and let it set long enough that it looked like it was lifting off all by itself. So to finish the job in a timely manner, I went dry. Mopar691, how do you do such a large piece dry? plenty of patience and experience I suppose!

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I went back and forth with this myself and after researching here it seemed most use the dry method. I wanted to lean towards the wet method figuring it would give me more time to position the vinyl and shift it around. In the end I decided to use the dry method. I figured if I couldn't get it right the first time then I would be forced to recut and obviously needed more practice. I have only had to recut once. I believe this method will make me a better installer.

I am a huge fan of wetting the app tape for a minute or two before removing it though. It releases with ease.

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