Tank Decal Fail

BrianPaul69 · Post by **BrianPaul69** » March 29th, 2012, 6:25 pm

I just installed a set of tank decals (3M material) I got from Fastguystuff.com which are sold by another site that I can't remember right off the top of my head and when I came out the next day they were all bubbled up. What the hell is up with that? Anyone else have this problem? and where would you recommend getting some tank decals (wings) for an 84 CR500?

Brian

TYSTYX · Post by **TYSTYX** » March 29th, 2012, 8:42 pm

Gas and/or vapors naturally seep thru the sides of plastic tanks which are actually microscopically porous, so if the tank decals arent made correctly with little cuts in them to allow them to "breathe" you'll never get them to stay on or stop bubbling. Even if you do get correctly made decals, chances are the edges are still going to peel away. Now this will happen over time, not right away so as to why yours bubbled overnight Im not sure....I always use a spray bottle to wet the surface of the decals with water before applying. This makes it easier to squeegee out all the air bubbles and wont affect the adhesive of the decal.

BrianPaul69 · Post by **BrianPaul69** » March 29th, 2012, 8:50 pm

I just got a reply from the place I bought the stickers :

Tanks must be sealed from the inside to prevent bubbling. No
matter how thick or perforated the material is, they will still bubble until
sealed. I know some guys have used 3M™ Scotch-Weld™ Fuel Resistant Coating EC-776 or EC776SR with success. I'll be glad to replace your stickers, but you definitely need seal the tank before using the new ones.

I never heard of this from any other place that sells stickers. Anyway, I'll check the stuff out and see how much it is first. What a pain in the ass....

BrianPaul69 · Post by **BrianPaul69** » March 29th, 2012, 8:54 pm

TYSTYX wrote:Gas and/or vapors naturally seep thru the sides of plastic tanks which are actually microscopically porous, so if the tank decals arent made correctly with little cuts in them to allow them to "breathe" you'll never get them to stay on or stop bubbling. Even if you do get correctly made decals, chances are the edges are still going to peel away. Now this will happen over time, not right away so as to why yours bubbled overnight Im not sure....I always use a spray bottle to wet the surface of the decals with water before applying. This makes it easier to squeegee out all the air bubbles and wont affect the adhesive of the decal.

The decals actually felt like a good quality material and went on perfectly without a bubble. They didn't just bubble from between the tank and decal they bubbled between the decal layers. He's sending me a new set but now I have to coat the inside of the tank just to use them. This is starting to majorly suck

TYSTYX · Post by **TYSTYX** » March 29th, 2012, 9:30 pm

Hmmmm...sounds like his decals suck if they're bubbling between layers. If it were me I wouldnt waste my time sealing the tank. I would shop elsewhere for decals. Maybe go with OEM...bike bandit has the OEM decals for 16 bucks per decal..

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorc ... #sch402109

BrianPaul69 · Post by **BrianPaul69** » March 30th, 2012, 12:09 am

TYSTYX wrote:Hmmmm...sounds like his decals suck if they're bubbling between layers. If it were me I wouldnt waste my time sealing the tank. I would shop elsewhere for decals. Maybe go with OEM...bike bandit has the OEM decals for 16 bucks per decal..

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorc ... #sch402109

I was thinking the same thing, maybe his decals aren't as high quality as they look. I never bought from bike bandit buy, Service Honda is showing the decals as discontinued which I would sort of believe.

http://www.servicehondapsn.com/fiche_se ... &fveh=3280

I read another article where guys were having the same problems with newer bikes and they found that if they used a small pin and perforated the whole sticker they didn't bubble up. I can't imagine that would look very attractive either.

Tharrell · Post by **Tharrell** » March 30th, 2012, 4:45 am

What kind of coating will stick to plastic?

BrianPaul69 · Post by **BrianPaul69** » March 30th, 2012, 10:40 am

Tharrell wrote:What kind of coating will stick to plastic?

According to the guy I bought the decals from this stuff is suppose to work :

3M™ Scotch-Weld™ Fuel Resistant Coating EC-776 or EC776SR

Problem is that its $63.00 a quart!!! and only one place that I found will just sell you a quart ( RS Hughes). Its listed as an aerospace product which is why its so expensive. I also called my local auto paint shop and anything short of painting the whole tank that's all there is.

TECHNICAL INFO :

Product Description 3M™ Fuel Resistant Coatings EC-776 and EC-776SR are general purpose, solvent based adhesive/coatings with good adhesion to synthetic rubber, metal, glass, and many plastics. 3M EC-776SR Coating includes a red dye for identification purposes.

Features

• Resists oil, gasoline, and aromatic fuels.
• 3M EC-776 Coating meets the specification requirements of MIL-D-17951E sealing compound.
• 3M EC-776SR Coating meets the specification requirements of MIL-S-4383C.

Note: Not recommended for use with alcohol containing fuels (gasohol) or jet fuel containing microbial organisms.

Here is the whole data sheet if you want to read it :

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebse ... _EC776.pdf

I also emailed a Honda dealership here in NC ( Ron Ayers ) with the actual Honda part numbers ( 87123-KA5-680 and 87124-KA5-680 ) and they said the factory decals are discontinued just as I thought they would be.

Kuma · Post by **Kuma** » March 30th, 2012, 12:57 pm

I would think this would be the deal breaker for coating a used tank
"Surfaces to be coated should be clean, dry and free from oil or grease."
Since the problem is that the tank is pourous I would think that it would be difficult if not impossible to clean the oil and gas which has soaked into the tank.
If you do it, then report back to this thread in a year or so.

BannedCR500Riders.com

Tank Decal Fail

Tank Decal Fail