Caring For Your Banner Stand - Tips To Keep Your Banner Stand Looking Like New

Banner stands are used all around us in everyday environments like shopping centres, retail outlets, offices and public places to promote a companies goods or services. Essentially, a roller banner stand consists of a base mechanism that contains a spring tensioned spindle that in-turn is linked to a printed graphic.

The principle of operation of a banner stand is very simple, the print is pulled upwards from the base mechanism that is positioned on the floor. When fully extended, a typical banner stand would have an assembled height of approximately 2 Metres and will therefore have significant visual impact.

In recent years, the affordability of banner stands have improved thanks to cheaper imported systems becoming available from the Far East but with the introduction of such affordable systems it is unfortunately the case that the stands themselves have become lighter-weight and so more prone to physical damage.

Every year, thousands of banner stands are literally dumped because they become damaged and subsequent repairs are deemed un-economical. It is a situation that in many cases could be avoided by taking some simple measures which will ensure problem-free operation and transportation of the stand.

The most common form of damage to a banner stand occurs when the internal mechanism fails and thus the print itself will no longer retract inside of the housing. As the spindle on a roller banner is the sole 'moving part', it stands to reason that this element of the stand would be the most vulnerable to break-down. If we were to open up the casing of a typical banner stand and reveal the spindle within, we would see a cylindrical tube with a pivot-point on each end. One pivot point is a round axle which protrudes from the casing and the opposing pivot point is in fact fixed and resembles a flat-head screwdriver bit.

The principle of operation for the retractable mechanism involves the flat head end of the spindle remaining stationary while the round axle at the opposing end can rotate. Damage to this spindle is caused simply by knocking or bashing either end of the exposed pivot points which in-turn compresses them into the casing of the stand, therefore breaking the mechanism.

Damage as outlined above would normally occur whilst the stand was in-transit and so when packing your display, it is worth cushioning each end of the unit so as to provide adequate protection against possible impact. Under no circumstances should you rely on the relatively thin carry bag supplied with most stands if using a courier to transport the display. Instead, pack the stand into an oversize cardboard box with padding at each end.

Assembly damage is also quite common with roller banners and the main cause for the damage is that the print is dropped rather than slowly rolled into the base. A hole or puncture in the skin of the printed panel is symptomatic of such damage whereby the print flails through the air and tears on the upright support-pole. This damage can easily be prevented by tilting the stand backwards when assembling and dismantling so the person who is handling the banner stand does not have to stretch a great distance to hook/unhook the print from the upright support pole.

Finally, when storing your banner stands you should ensure that the environment is dry and room temperature. The printed graphic on a roller banner stand can suffer from thermal shock which causes edge curling and this will detract from the overall look of the display. Furthermore, moisture in the air could cause aqueous ink to run on unlaminated printed graphic panels which would ruin the print entirely.

Given correct handling and storage there is no reason why even a cheap, lightweight banner stand cannot provide years of reliable use providing the above basic rules are followed.