Interpret the undated Metalphoto chart by test category, plate variant, method limits, historical specification references, and current validation requirements. This resource is for manufacturers evaluating custom nameplates, labels, overlays, or related identification components. Use it to prepare your project questions, then talk with our team about the requirements that apply to your part.
The Metalphoto performance chart archived with this resource is an undated, one-page promotional comparison. It summarizes environmental tests across several finished-plate variants using a red-circle key for “excellent,” “acceptable,” and “not recommended.” The chart can help readers identify test categories, but it is not a current specification, raw test report, certificate, warranty, or automatic qualification for a finished U.S. Nameplate part.
Any project considering Metalphoto processing should start from its own drawing and service profile. Obtain current material literature and the underlying test method or qualification document required by the customer. The chart itself tells users to test Metalphoto products in the anticipated environment and states that performance is not warranted for every environment.
The page compares black-and-aluminum and black-on-gold variants, with image-intensified and non-intensified rows, plus a row for additional background or selective colors. Its columns cover abrasion, solvent or fuel exposure, temperature, ultraviolet light, salt spray or immersion, and resistance to acids and bases. The finished construction therefore matters; results cannot be assigned to the word “Metalphoto” alone.
No publication date or revision is visible. The chart does not provide specimen count, acceptance thresholds, detailed preparation, production lot, complete test reports, or uncertainty. Preserve those gaps when using it as a research lead.
Filled, partially filled, and open red circles represent the chart’s three qualitative ratings. A symbol is not a numerical design limit. “Excellent” does not mean unaffected under every application, and “not recommended” should not be hidden by a broad durability statement. Different rows receive different symbols under the same condition, especially for salt exposure, higher-temperature intervals, ultraviolet exposure, and strong bases.
If a customer depends on one column, request the underlying report or a current controlled summary. Record the exact plate variant, image treatment, background, test, duration, and acceptance requirement. Do not average the icons into one overall grade.
The abrasion column names a Taber Abraser with a CS17 wheel, a 1,000-gram load, and 7,000 cycles. Those details are useful because they define one laboratory procedure. They do not reproduce every field wear mechanism such as sand, wire brushing, sliding parts, cleaning pads, repeated gloves, or impact.
Translate actual wear into a representative test. Specify the contacting material, load, motion, cycle count, debris, and the attribute that must remain acceptable. For a rating plate, legibility may matter more than cosmetic gloss. For a control identifier, contrast and symbol recognition may set different limits.
The chart references extended room-temperature immersion in alcohol, kerosene, JP-4 jet fuel, hydraulic fluid, methyl ethyl ketone, and other organic solvents. It does not disclose all durations or criteria in the visible cell. The rating varies by finished plate characteristics, and the page cannot establish resistance to every formulation or exposure pattern.
List the actual fluid, concentration when known, temperature, contact time, frequency, and whether contact is wipe, splash, vapor, or immersion. Include cleaners used during maintenance. Evaluate edges, holes, adhesives, fasteners, printed colors, and protective layers because the weakest interface may not be the photosensitive image.
The temperature section describes one-hour oven testing and divides results into bands above 400 through 750 degrees Fahrenheit and above 750 through 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Several variants receive different ratings in the higher band, and the additional-color row is shown as not recommended. These are historical chart observations, not continuous-service temperatures or a permission to expose an installed plate to those conditions.
A project profile should separate peak from sustained temperature, number of cycles, heating rate, atmosphere, mechanical load, attachment limits, and allowable appearance change. Current evidence should address the exact construction. Adhesives, inks, coatings, nearby equipment, and the mounting substrate can have lower limits than the aluminum image layer.
The chart describes a 400-hour weatherometer test as a recognized equivalent of 20 years of outdoor exposure. That old equivalence should not be repeated as a guaranteed service life. Accelerated weathering depends on apparatus, cycle, irradiance, moisture, specimen, and correlation to a particular field environment.
If outdoor life matters, define geography, orientation, sunlight, moisture, pollutants, temperature cycling, color, and acceptable change. Ask for the current weathering method and report. A result for black and aluminum cannot automatically qualify added background or selective colors.
The source lists a 5 percent sodium-chloride salt-spray test at 90 degrees Fahrenheit for 700 hours and a separate extended seawater-immersion condition intended to avoid galvanic coupling. The two exposures are not interchangeable. Installed assemblies can also introduce dissimilar metals, cut edges, fasteners, crevices, and electrical contact absent from a test coupon.
The chemical columns reference 24-hour room-temperature immersion in 3 percent solutions of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, ferric chloride, Clorox, sodium hydroxide, or ammonium hydroxide. The visible ratings show stronger limitations for bases than for the listed acid condition, and some rows are marked only acceptable.
These named solutions do not represent all acids, oxidizers, cleaners, or bases. Do not use the chart to claim universal chemical resistance. Confirm present test evidence for the actual chemical and finished part, including any color, coating, adhesive, or exposed edge.
The bottom panel names Underwriters Laboratories file MH17767, Canadian Standards Association files 11133-1 and 7921, Federal Specification GGP-455b, and several military specifications. Their appearance on an undated chart is not proof of current listing, qualification, scope, or applicability to a customer program.
When a standard is contractually required, verify the current revision, exact product scope, file status, authorized marking, test evidence, and supplier documentation. The ANSI/UL 969 certification page offers context for label-system evidence, but a historical file reference must be checked directly for the intended construction.
The approved package should name material, thickness, finish, image treatment, colors, artwork revision, variable-data rules, finished geometry, attachment, applicable specification, current evidence, packaging, and inspection method. The quality standards page explains why requirements and verification records should remain linked.
Avoid copying the promotional headline or qualitative icons into a purchase guarantee. Cite the specific current report or test that supports each project requirement.
Provide the drawing, quantities, intended Metalphoto variant, colors, exposure conditions, required standards, acceptance criteria, attachment surface, and documentation needs. Identify which chart categories led to the inquiry and which current evidence the customer requires.
Submit the package through request consultation. U.S. Nameplate can discuss manufacturing options for the defined part. Performance approval remains dependent on current source documentation, representative testing, and the customer’s released requirements.
Send our team the drawing, artwork, specifications, quantities, application details, and timing requirements available today. We will review what you provide, identify open questions, and outline the next information needed for a useful quote. Request a Quote.
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