L E D RECOMMENDATIONS

[Sign Lady]

Good morning guys!

I have a neon sign I need to convert to LED that has VERY intricate designs on it (i.e. dog face, tail, etc.) What kind of LED product do you guys use to replace neon that would not be too bulky to make those intricate curves?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[imanut]

Why are you converting it? Hopefully NOT because of that wonderful energy savings or the 100k lifetime? What is stroke of letter? How deep? What color plex, vinyl, digital graphics? What color neon is currently being used?

[geraldi]

US LED tadpoles.

[Sign Lady]

Why are you converting it? Hopefully NOT because of that wonderful energy savings or the 100k lifetime? What is stroke of letter? How deep? What color plex, vinyl, digital graphics? What color neon is currently being used?

Customer wants LED. We have kept him at bay for YEARS ...... Haha ...... but some of his buddies have convinced him, and we haven't been able to convince him other wise, that LED will save him TONS in electricity and service calls. It is a sign that is so old, the lettering on it is hand painted!! The letter strokes are about 12" or even less in some spots. And the dog is about 18" tall - possibly 24" ........ currently there is red, white and blue neon being used. The word restaurant at the bottom is likely even 8" tall

[imanut]

hand painted, old, and detailed. in my mind I am seeing an exposed neon job? If so, good luck. There are some products by Sloan and others - but they will never be even close.

You have a picture that you can share?

[eng0270]

Why are you converting it? Hopefully NOT because of that wonderful energy savings or the 100k lifetime? What is stroke of letter? How deep? What color plex, vinyl, digital graphics? What color neon is currently being used?

Customer wants LED. We have kept him at bay for YEARS ...... Haha ...... but some of his buddies have convinced him, and we haven't been able to convince him other wise, that LED will save him TONS in electricity and service calls. It is a sign that is so old, the lettering on it is hand painted!! The letter strokes are about 12" or even less in some spots. And the dog is about 18" tall - possibly 24" ........ currently there is red, white and blue neon being used. The word restaurant at the bottom is likely even 8" tall

Angie ... With the various colors it sounds like you will need ... Take a look at Sloan's V-Series modules ....

http://www.sloanled.com/channel-letter-lighting.html

Kevin

[Sign Lady]

hand painted, old, and detailed. in my mind I am seeing an exposed neon job? If so, good luck. There are some products by Sloan and others - but they will never be even close.

You have a picture that you can share?

Yeah, it is all exposed neon ..... no, I don't have a photo. I am going back over there this morning and take some - I will be able to post some after that. This sign is REALLY old. We have tried to talk him into letting us build him a new sign with internal LED, but he won't give up the ghost of this sign. Apparently he is REALLY attached. We have to take the sign down to re-paint it and fix some spots that have rusted through. I think that's really the only reason he is wanting work done to it now, because a lot of the neon isn't working because it is taking on rain water in the rotted spots. We took it down about 15 years ago and did the paint/patch of what had rotted through at that time - We have tried to explain that he is spending way more money than he would on a new sign - You just can't convince some folks I guess.

[alltex]

Angie, not trying to open a can of worms but... You really need to research the LED's your going to use. If this sign has any intricate bends (you can only do with neon). This sign has a 100% chance of looking like crap. The LED flex in my opinion works OK for border, or possibly real large letters. I've worked with the Sloan before. You're not going to be able to do small letters, or intricate work, and pull it off. This is not due to your abilities. It's the limits of the product. I'd get your supply house's rep involved.

I would love to see some pics of the sign. Maybe it will work..

[Sign Lady]

Why are you converting it? Hopefully NOT because of that wonderful energy savings or the 100k lifetime? What is stroke of letter? How deep? What color plex, vinyl, digital graphics? What color neon is currently being used?

Customer wants LED. We have kept him at bay for YEARS ...... Haha ...... but some of his buddies have convinced him, and we haven't been able to convince him other wise, that LED will save him TONS in electricity and service calls. It is a sign that is so old, the lettering on it is hand painted!! The letter strokes are about 12" or even less in some spots. And the dog is about 18" tall - possibly 24" ........ currently there is red, white and blue neon being used. The word restaurant at the bottom is likely even 8" tall

Angie ... With the various colors it sounds like you will need ... Take a look at Sloan's V-Series modules ....

http://www.sloanled.com/channel-letter-lighting.html

Kevin

Kevin,

The link you put up doesn't work. Tells me the web address is unavailable ........ Is it on the Sloan website or a vendor's website? I so greatly appreciate all of your help.

[unrollit]

Maybe you like this metode - push through acrylic and backlit LED.

http://formovka.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-love-you-neon.html

[Sign Lady]

Angie, not trying to open a can of worms but... You really need to research the LED's your going to use. If this sign has any intricate bends (you can only do with neon). This sign has a 100% chance of looking like crap. The LED flex in my opinion works OK for border, or possibly real large letters. I've worked with the Sloan before. You're not going to be able to do small letters, or intricate work, and pull it off. This is not due to your abilities. It's the limits of the product. I'd get your supply house's rep involved.

I would love to see some pics of the sign. Maybe it will work..

I am of the same opinion, but thought maybe you guys knew of a product that I just wasn't aware of yet. Hahaha ..... I learn a lot from you guys every day. I personally think the rope stuff looks cheesy ...... and the other stuff is too thick, I think, to come close to the look this guy is wanting. And he is the type that even though I tell him it is going to look like crap ahead of time, he will look at me at the end and want to know why it looks like crap. Hahaha ........ I am on a kind of damned if I do and damned if I don't kind of cliff.

[Sign Lady]

Maybe you like this metode - push through acrylic and backlit LED.

http://formovka.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-love-you-neon.html

What size are those letters?

[unrollit]

Maybe you like this metode - push through acrylic and backlit LED.

http://formovka.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-love-you-neon.html

What size are those letters?

Around 10-12" and acrylic imitate 1/2" neon

[burkeenterprise]

Angie take it from an old guy.... (I've been there and done that. It is how I learned when to run away) Unless this client is one that you just can't do without... in other words he is feeding you every month with work. Let this job go. Your going to come out looking bad no matter what you do with it. The sign is BER (Beyond Economical Repair) You say your company repaired rust some years ago and now there is more places that have rusted through. Who do you think will catch the blame when it rusts to the point that it falls down? How will you feel if someone gets hurt? It will look like crap with the LED's and you will look good for saying that it will once some hack does the job. The client will end up going to you for the replacement.

[Erik Sine]

If you have to take it down to repair and revise in the shop then that might be a good time to re-engineer with Neon, and use Masters Technolgies wet location components, or porcelain housings with silicone caps, reposition the trannies in such a way that the runs are shorter and loaded right. After that, he shouldn't be calling you for another 15+ years. Much cheaper than going new!! But without pics that maybe easier to ay than do

I'm sure he's looking to restore his heritage, that's why he's so heart set on revamping his old

[imanut]

I agree with seeing the picture first, but totally agree with knowing when to walk away.

[eng0270]

Why are you converting it? Hopefully NOT because of that wonderful energy savings or the 100k lifetime? What is stroke of letter? How deep? What color plex, vinyl, digital graphics? What color neon is currently being used?

Customer wants LED. We have kept him at bay for YEARS ...... Haha ...... but some of his buddies have convinced him, and we haven't been able to convince him other wise, that LED will save him TONS in electricity and service calls. It is a sign that is so old, the lettering on it is hand painted!! The letter strokes are about 12" or even less in some spots. And the dog is about 18" tall - possibly 24" ........ currently there is red, white and blue neon being used. The word restaurant at the bottom is likely even 8" tall

Angie ... With the various colors it sounds like you will need ... Take a look at Sloan's V-Series modules ....

http://www.sloanled.com/channel-letter-lighting.html

Kevin

Kevin,

The link you put up doesn't work. Tells me the web address is unavailable ........ Is it on the Sloan website or a vendor's website? I so greatly appreciate all of your help.

Angie .... Its on Sloan's website .... But i did not pick up on the fact you were replacing exposed neon .... These LEDs will not work for that application.

Kevin

[Sign Lady]

Thanks a bunch guys!!