What is Vivex Material?
What is Vivex Material?
Vivex is a material that is superior to the polyurethane resin material typically used in outdoor lighting. Vivex is not a resin material. It is a unique synthetic composition containing ground marble powder for strength and a latex composite for durability that are bonded together with ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) adhesive, which is used primarily in outdoor applications. ATP is an adhesive that has been tested for large temperature swings between temperatures that exceed 130°F and go low as -20°F. It is expected that this material can withstand even greater temperatures. Vivex material is both biodegradable and fire retardant.
Vivex, unlike resin cast into inexpensive plaster molds, is pressure injected into expensive steel molds. This produces a very hard and dense product. Injection molding gives better quality to the details of the parts. Parts come out of the molds with crisp lines and intricate detail not obtainable in resin casting. The research, development and tooling costs, in excess of $2,000,000 were part of a major investment by Maxim Lighting. In order to maintain the overall integrity of Vivex, Maxim Lighting oversees the production process from start to finish at the factory where Vivex is manufactured. Maxim has its own employees monitoring each step to ensure the product meets strict production standards for Vivex.
Strength is another quality of Vivex. Vivex is over twice as strong as typical resin. This means there is less damage in shipping and potential mishandling during installation by homeowners or electrician from chips. Vivex can be used throughout the lighting design, including the backplate, which can warp if made of resin.
Polyurethane resin tends to have a very low PH in its hardened form. The acidic nature polyurethane resin must be addressed or paint will not adhere to it. These resin parts go through a neutralizing process to stabilize the PH to avoid chemical reactions between the part and the paint. A long cure time exceeding several months may also be required.
On the other hand, Vivex has neutral PH of 6.5 so it requires no neutralizing process prior to finishing. A special finishing paint process was developed exclusively for Vivex. This process is a joint effort between Maxim Lighting, the material manufacturer, and the paint manufacturer. The result is superior paint adhesion. The paint finish was thoroughly tested by SGS laboratories for 300 hours of exposure, which is the equivalent of over 3 year’s worth of exposure. The paint received the highest grades for both UV deterioration and surface hardness: 5 out of 5, a first for both tests.
Due to the test results, Maxim is confident enough in the Vivex material to offer customers a 3 year warranty on Vivex products.
In celebration of their new material Maxim Lighting proudly introduces nine new design families manufactured with Vivex. The new design families are strong on style and detail while offering four new finishes never used in outdoor lighting before. In addition to the nine new design groups Maxim will be re-introducing eleven of its most popular Trisyn collections produced in Vivex for a total of twenty new lighting design families in all. Images 1 | 2 | 3
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