removing part of a decal from my Burstner ixeo

[fesspark]

Has anyone tried removing a part of a decal by scoring straight lines on it without damaging the under surface 0f the vehicle .if so what is the safest way to do that ?,using a stanley knife or something else.? fesspark

 

[Brian Kirby]

I understand the usual way to remove a decal is to heat it with a hot air gun until the adhesive softens, and then peel it off. Remnants of the adhesive can then be removed with, if I remember, white spirit, or other solvent (possibly meths - experiment on a small, less visible, area). This might work to loosen the offending part, allowing it to be cut as required with the part to be retained being smoothed back into place with a credit card or similar to remove any air bubbles.

 

But it will be a risk, as the adhesive may not prove as durable once heated in this way. Scoring through the decal without damaging the underlying paint finish (assuming the Ixeos are aluminium sided) would, I think, be a near impossibility, and in any case you'd still need to remove the offending part of the decal and adhesive from the side of the van.

 

But what is puzzling me is why you would want to do that. It might help to get a more relevant answer if you could explain the problem. If the decal is damaged, why not replace the whole thing? It would probably be easier and less risky.

[Derek Uzzell]

Plenty of online stuff about removing decals from motorhomes (including past advice here)

 

https://tinyurl.com/xt5mdapa

 

There’s the occasional decal-removal “Stanley knife” reference, but this always relates to using the knife’s blade horizontally as a scraper and never as a ‘scorer’.

 

Using a Stanley knife to score domestic wallpaper to aid its removal is sometimes recommended

 

https://www.franceshunt.co.uk/news/2013/02/how-to-strip-wallpaper-diy-weekend/

 

but using a knife to score a vehicle decal is a definite no-no.

 

Partial removal of a decal might well involve using a very sharp blade vertically to sever the section of the decal to be removed from the remainder of the decal, but that’s another matter.

 

(It would be interesting to know where Robert got the scoring idea from...)

[weldted]

Rather than a hot air gun, if you a steam cleaner (not the industrial type but the domestic ones for cleaning the grease from cookers sterilising taps etc.

Or if you can get to it a boiling kettle. You then add steam and moisture which I have done successfully several times. Less risk of too much heat and wetting the area creates a break between the decal and what it is stuck too. A lot of patience is required.

[fesspark]

ref my partial removing of a decal, the main hab; door separates the 2 decals on this side of my ixeo The large one under and around the Fridge Freezer was badly damaged with runs from the air vents so I completely removed that but the one the other side of the door has a Bad mark that has been caused by water running from the rainwater cover over the top of the door.It is a strip about 3 to 4 inches wide and it spoils the lovely appearance of our m,home; I has run down about a foot so I thought if I score down the door frame and then mark it out the other side I could then peel it off and it would,nt look out of place with a white strip matching the other side of the hab; door. fesspark

 

[fesspark]

ref my explanation, why and how i want to take this strip of decal off my ixeo, motorhome, can anyone else add to the other comments on to this subject

fesspark

[Derek Uzzell]

Robert

 

I notice that, in November 2020, you asked about cleaning your motorhome’s stained decals.

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Decals-stained-and-will-not-clean-/56863/

 

I’ve attached below a photo of a Ixeo TL 680G that shows the vehicle’s right-hand side, but I’m unsure from your explanation above, or from the 2020 discussion, which of the decals (wholly or in part) you’ve already removed and which you’d now like to remove.

 

Plainly, if you remove some of the decoration on the motorhome’s right-hand side, there will be a mismatch with what’s on the other side (2nd image below) - but perhaps that won’t matter in the short term and the missing decals could always be replaced prior to selling the vehicle at some later stage.

 

(I think you may have meant to write “...and then MASK it out the other side...”

[fesspark]

Derek, on the photo of an ixeo you posted, on the left of the door, I have removed the whole of the Charcoal decal except the ixeo sign, and I want to remove a strip down the charcoal decal on the right of the door that is immediately under the weather strip over the door. I have to take off about 4" all the way down from the door frame, Robert.

[Brian Kirby]

Might it not be easier to remove the whole of the grey decal transfer where damaged, and replace with new?

 

But, your van is only three years old (2018 reg), and there should be some element of warranty still valid (i.e. water ingress, and I assume you have had the necessary annual checks etc.?).

 

Have you taken this damage up with the dealer who sold the van, to see if they would be willing to put in an "out of warranty" claim on your behalf to Burstner?

 

I'm not going to claim any expertise on the question of decal durability, but they should last far longer than three years before the sort of damage you are describing occurs - if ever. It is also interesting that only the grey is (apparently) damaged (merely by rainwater run-off), and that the corresponding decal on the other side of the van is (apparently) undamaged. This suggests (at least to me!) that the decals on the RH side of the van are defective. This damage may be to do with Holcombe being in a marine environment but even so it seems odd that only the decals on one side are undamaged.

 

Burstner have had a good reputation for their warranty responses, so if they would accept a claim for the decal, you could even find someone else gets the job of changing them! :-D Even if they wouldn't wear the claim they might supply the decal f.o.c. and the dealer should be prepared to meet you half way (or better) over the fixing cost. You never know!

[Derek Uzzell]

fesspark - 2021-08-02 4:29 PM

 

...I have to take off about 4" all the way down from the door frame, Robert.

I’ve arrowed in the attached image the area of decal that I believe you want to remove.

 

If I were doing this I’d begin by heavily masking the grey decal on the front-window side of the section of decal that’s to be removed and mark the 'cut-line' on the decal . I’d then play a heat gun on the area of decal to be removed, peel the decal back, shove a good thickness of silicone paper beneath the cut-line, push the decal down on to the silicone paper, make the cut and remove the 4” section of unwanted decal, remove the silicone paper and smooth the edge of the decal back down on to the motorhome’s bodywork. Then any adhesive remaining in the now-exposed strip of body would need to be removed.

 

To be frank, given the the faff involved in removing the 4” strip, I don’t think the result would justify the effort and I certainly would not bother. As Brian has said, it might be worth you discussing the issue with the Burstner dealer, but your having removed a large area of stained decal to the left of the habitation door might not help with an under-warranty/goodwill claim.

[fesspark]

Derek ,thank you ,your photo pin points exactly the part I want to remove, and I am happy to take time over it and do a good job,I have noted your opinion of how I should go about the job and again thanks very much, Robert

[fesspark]

Derek, my decal removal is finished and I think it looks great compared with the stained mess it was in. I have taken a nice photo and I would like to put it on this thread ,Can you tell me how I download it into this forum, Thanks, Robert.

[Derek Uzzell]

How to attach a file to a posting is explained here

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Code-of-Conduct-and-User-Guidelines/Forum-User-Guide/Forums-FAQ/3930/

 

I’ve copied the relevant advice below, but it needs saying that the size of your photo-file will need to be reduced to allow it to comply with the forum’s 100KB size-limit.

 

......................................................................................................................................

 

Q: How do I attach a file to a forum posting?

 

A: The procedure for attaching a file to a forum posting is as follows:

 

1: Type the posting’s text into the Message box.

 

2: Tick the box titled "Attach a file after posting”.

 

3: Click the posting’s SUBMIT button.

 

An “Attach a file” box should now appear, When it does

 

4: Click on the “Choose File” button.

 

The response to clicking on the “Choose File” button will depend on the device you are using. But however your device (PC, Mac, tablet, phone) responds, you’ll need to identify and choose the file you want to attach. The file-name should now appear alongside the “Choose File” button. When it does

 

5: Click on the “Submit” button.

 

If the file you are trying to attach has a format that the forum’s software can handle, a message (in red) “Upload successful” should appear, plus information showing the name of the file and its size.

 

6: Now click on "Return to the thread” in the “Actions” box to complete the process. (If you want to attach several files, repeat actions 4 and 5 as necessary, and then click on "Return to the thread”.)

 

......................................................................................................................................

 

THE CRITICAL THING IS TO ENSURE THAT THE SIZE OF THE FILE BEING ATTACHED DOES NOT EXCEED 100KB

 

Attempting to attach a fairly large file with a size exceeding 100KB may prodce the following error message

 

Request object error 'ASP 0104 : 80004005'

 

Operation not Allowed

 

/forums/includes/include-upload.asp, line 51

 

However, if the file is really large, the attachment process may fail with no error message and with “no file selected” appearing alongside the “Choose File” button.

 

......................................................................................................................................

 

If a file has a .jpg extension (eg. photo.jpg) the attached file-image should be permanently visible on the posting.

 

If a file has a .jpeg extension (eg. photo.jpeg) just the name of the file will be shown at the foot of the posting. If a forum-member then clicks on the file-name, the member’s own device (PC, Mac, tablet, etc.) will attempt to handle it and the image will normally become visible.

 

It is possible to attach other file-types provided that the file-size is no larger than 100KB. However, there is no certainty how the forums’ software will react.

[StuartO]

Good to hear that Fesspark has achieved his objective but I think it might still be worth mentioning another option. A few years ago I got a local vinyl sign writing company (of which there are lots these days) to decorate a box van trailer to match my MH. They took a photo and then their computer created the necessary sweeping multicoloured design which they applied to the MH as self-adhesive vinyl material, a bit like applying wallpaper. It cost about £65 ten years ago, so very good value. I have no doubt they could replace or repair MH decals very easily. Much better than hoping a MH dealer would have the same in-house skills and colour stocks of vinyl.

[fesspark]

This is the photo of my completed decal removal,photo needs shrinking.sorry fesspark