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Neon |
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Channel letters are
illuminated with neon. Neon is a hand-made "light bulb", and all
neon is not created equal! Unlike most sign
companies, the BACH Group also manufactures neon (and Cold-Cathode lamps.) This
gives us advantages in manufacturing well-illuminated and safe letters. Our artisans
individually manufacture the neon for each letter after the letter base is
manufactured to insure a proper fit which will evenly and brilliantly illuminate
the entire face of the letter without "shorting" against the metal.
Sign companies which do not manufacture their own neon cannot do this. Multiple neon
strokes are added as required to insure even illumination. We use the highest
quality glass and nickel-flex electrodes with Dumet alloy inner leads, heavy-gauge
solid-nickel corrosion-proof 7-strand exterior leads and ceramic collars, the
best we can buy, because except for heat-cracking, most neon failures are
electrode failures. Our artisans
carefully charge each neon tube for optimum brilliance using the most
sophisticated neon pumping system in Texas because the third most frequent cause
of neon failure is improper pumping. Even though all
neon dims in cold weather, neon manufactured by Signs Manufacturing will dim
less because we use gases specially formulated for cold weather, which are
unaffected by hot weather. The most common
cause of neon failure is heat-cracking. This is caused by improper installation
(too much or too little neon footage for the size [secondary voltage]
transformer used), or by the effects of high voltage on the shorter neon pieces. It
is critically important to the long-life of both the neon and the power
transformers that each transformer has the proper resistance in neon (loading)
for its secondary voltage. The
BACH Group "burns in" each neon tube for twenty-four hours to
stabilize the neon, then meters the neon to be connected to each transformer
to insure a proper load, because even identical neon letters will have
different resistance. Most
competitors neither meter nor "burn in" their neon. There
is a way, particularly with small letters 24" and under, or exposed neon
installed outside, to reduce the future service a sign will require. Due
to the effects of high voltage on short neon pieces (it gets them very hot and
they crack over time because of the heat-cool cycle) or on neon exposed to the
weather (rain or snow causes hot glass to crack), it is possible to reduce
future service calls dramatically by originally installing a sign with lower
secondary-voltage transformers. This
reduces the heat generated, which even helps the wiring last longer. However,
less neon footage can be installed on each lower secondary-voltage transformer,
requiring the use of more transformers, raising the initial cost of the sign
slightly. Lower
secondary-voltage transformers do NOT reduce the brilliance of the sign. If
it will make a difference for you, we are quoting your signage with the larger
(15000 volt) and all smaller (12000 volt maximum) transformers. Because
of the way we make and install neon, and the plastic face materials we use,
your sign should be the brightest in the neighborhood no matter which
transformer you select. Well-made
and properly installed neon should average a twenty-year lifetime (40,000 hours
of use). |
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