Plastic or Aluminum for outdoors?

[Patrick Cooley]

Hi all,
I have a job where they want 200 tags 5" x 3" that will be put on outdoor electrical cabinets.
I've presented both Anodized Aluminum as one option, and Rowmark Lasermax or MetalGraph Plus.
I would be using my laser to mark them.

Any opinions on which would hold up longer?

Thanks for the help
Pat.

[Frank Defert]

Patrick,

I've done alot of plastic signage used on aviation specific equipment that works only outside with great results. The weather hasn't hurt any of the signage after 3 years of service. I wll say they do get dirty but clean up well with mild detergent and a wipe or soft scrub. I can not say anything either way about the aluminum tags.

Frank

[Ross Moshinsky]

Aluminum will hold up longer but anodizing does not hold up well to wear and tear. It scratches easily. Plastic is more durable but also will only last so long before it starts to look bad. How long depends on the conditions of exposure.

In the end, either works fine. I think aluminum sublimation would probably hold up the best to be perfectly honest but either of your choices will work.

[Rodne Gold]

I would do these in acrylic and paint fill , that will withstand many years of abuse , a little more work and you will struggle to get acrylic thinner than 1/8" , if thats acceptable,.

[Mike Null]

Pat

Long time no see.

After using anodized for outdoor projects for years I have switched to plastic Rowmark type material. One of my former customers, Missouri Botanical Gardens, told me about the success they have had with Rowmark as an outdoor material versus anodized and that was the reason I switched. They have thousands of outdoor plant identification signs. (Drat--they bought their own machine)

Besides the durability, the contrast is significantly better.

[Patrick Cooley]

Thanks all. I've been using Lasermax for my electrical legend plates for years and your all right they have held up well. I just don't have any experience with anodized outdoors. Thanks for all your input.
Pat.

[Mark Ross]

Aluminum and salt water don't play nice together so if it will be near the ocean, I would strongly recommended plastic.

[Patrick Cooley]

These are for electrical panels at campsites in Oklahoma and Texas. Your right, that could be an issue in Texas.
Thanks for the insight.
Pat.

[Patrick Cooley]

I would do these in acrylic and paint fill , that will withstand many years of abuse , a little more work and you will struggle to get acrylic thinner than 1/8" , if thats acceptable,.

Rodney, do you feel that's a better solution then LaserMax? Seem's like a lot more work and most of the Acrylic I've worked with, seems to get pretty brittle with age and cold weather. Thanks for your input.

[Rodne Gold]

The plastics with thin caps , no matter which , do tend to degrade quite a lot under UV or harsh conditions ,its worse if they have any ABS in the base material , they will harden and crack relatively quickly. This may or may not be a problem. We did tons of labels for a nuke power reactor and they rejected just about all plastics except acrylic for all labels
They did some serious tests , lasermax wasn't put forward as one of these materials , so I dunno if it was any different.
I have never seen acrylic get brittle with age , we have many acrylic signs/items we made out there that are in excess of 15 yrs old and they still look good. It is also cheaper for material , but will require more power or substantially longer engraving times to get a deep engraving enough to take a messy and time consuming fill.. LOT's more work so if you can get away with easier stuff, I would definately go for it.
Some anodised stuff in my engine bays of various hipo cars I owned looked great 5 years or more on in an engine bay *very harsh environment* , some corroded in that time period or faded , but that , imo , was due to poor anodising , dyeing or sealing or having the anodised layer being mechanically damaged. The laser actually doesnt mess up the anodising if used correctly , it merely leaches the colour out of the dyes used on the anodised ally

[Larry Bratton]

Rowmark Metalgraph Plus works great. It is designed for outdoor use and engraves nicely.

[Martin Boekers]

Roos, dye sublimation? I don't believe sublimated product could stand the UV for long. Maybe if you couted them
they might last longer. Am I wrong on this?

[John Noell]

We have Metalgraph+ signs that have been in the tropical sun and close to the ocean for years and stil look new. HOWEVER, we also have put some up where they were vigorously cleaned and it is quite clear that both abrasive cleaners and alcohol will ruin Metalgraph+ completely.