The Ultimate Guide To Film Installation
Window film is a self-adhesive material that may be applied to new or existing glazing to solve a range of problems. Solar control, privacy, decorative and anti shatter films have been around for a long time, specialist films for example anti graffiti and anti fog films are also being largely used in today's' market.
In its simplest form window film is a thin sheet of polyester, adhesive and after that a thin polyester backing liner. Additional sheets of polyester may be found on many films, two sheets of polyester is called two-ply, some security and safety films are usually accessible in three ply. A metalized or dyed layer can sometimes be added between these sheets of polyester to add colour or tint and also a scratch resistant coating can be found on the majority of films to protect from daily wear and tear.
Window film may be fitted to most sort of glazing, they can all be fitted to flat glass but some films also can be fitted to raised or patterned glass depending on the flexibility of the film as well as the sort of pattern, should the pattern is too raised the film may not be successfully installed, however there is often a flat side to all patterned glass. Another problem sort of glazing may be compound curves found on the windscreens of cars. This is only because the glass is curved in two directions, the film can be easily applied to glass curved in one direction but if it's really a compound curve you will probably need to heat shrink the movie, specialist car window tints are readily available for this, these are often a thinner material and are specially made to be heat shrinkable more so than a standard window film.
You'll find three technologies which provide different performance characteristics, they are; dyed, deposited and sputtered.
Dyed films tend to be on the cheaper end of the market but these films shouldn't be disregarded, as there are actually some great dyed films on the market. The bottom end of the marketplace is glue tinted, glue tinted films have the dye mixed with the adhesive (scratch resistant coating (not absolutely present), polyester sheet(s), adhesive mixed with dye, backing liner). They are usually sold on the Asian and South American market but continue to be sold in Europe. These films are not usually particularly colour stable, as there's very little protection for the dye, as such they may fade quickly. Because the dye is mixed with the adhesive the colour isn't always uniform as well as the colour can be moved during installation.
A more suitable type of dyed film is just one which has the dye sandwiched inside two sheets of polyester, this film will be much more colour stable because it is protected click through the next internet site the polyester sheets, this actually also provides no problems when installing as the adhesive is clear and there can be no colour shift. These films can very often be supplied with around 10 years warranty.
Among the common misconceptions with dyed film is that it can disperse heat into the property. As dyed films can absorb heat and it is fitted inside it's easy to see why people think this. However most of the heat is held within the glass and since the wind speed outside is so much greater than inside (wind speed averages over 15mph outdoors but only ˝ mph indoors) the external air draws the heat outside. Some heat is leaked into the property but most heat is dissipated outdoors.
As double glazed units allow no air movement in between the glass, interior dyed films are not always well suited for this type of glazing and you should make certain that you check on it's suitability before installing as installation on the wrong type of glazing can cause thermal cracking.
Deposited window film is created by drawing film through a tank of metal ingots (usually aluminum or nickel chrome, but sometimes copper). Pressure is then reduced within the tank creating a vacuum as well as the tank is filled with argon gas. When the tank is filled with gas the metal ingots are the heated, the heat causes the metal to give up particles, which in turn migrate to the films surface in an even layer. The density of the metal deposits may be controlled easily by altering the speed of the movie throughout the chamber.
Sputtering is the most complicated procedure for creating window film. This process is also accomplished in a vacuum although the metallization within this process is achieved at atomic level. Electromagnetic fields direct streams of ions from a chemically inert gas (usually Argon) towards the metal. This ion bombardment (often generally known as "atomic billiards") causes groups of atoms to dislodge in small bursts and scatter uniformly throughout the film.
The advantages of sputtering are that around 30 different types of metals can be used; various metals can be chosen to subtract specific radiation from the solar spectrum. The metalized coating is much lighter; a sputtered metal may be created in a layer one-hundredth of the thickness of a human hair.
The result of sputtering is a highly reflective layer which has very little mirrored effect, heat absorption or colour shift therefore warranties are often a decade to lifetime. Sputtering will be the most costly process to achieve and therefore sputtered window film will be at the higher end of price range
