tdexxx

Hello All, I am considering taking on a sign job which would entail working from a hanging basket ten stories up the side of a hotel building. There is cell phone company emitter and receiver equipment on top of this building, and I believe that normal procedure for workers accessing the roof is to schedule a shut down of this equipment while work is ongoing. I haven't worked around this kind of equipment before and am unaware of the dangers of approaching it. Does anyone have any advice about this or know of a good source of pertinent information I can access? Thanks.

Hello All, I am considering taking on a sign job which would entail working from a hanging basket ten stories up the side of a hotel building. There is cell phone company emitter and receiver equipment on top of this building, and I believe that normal procedure for workers accessing the roof is to schedule a shut down of this equipment while work is ongoing. I haven't worked around this kind of equipment before and am unaware of the dangers of approaching it. Does anyone have any advice about this or know of a good source of pertinent information I can access? Thanks.

The nationals may begin asking subs for proof of health insurance and retirement plans in addition to GL and Workers Comp to comply with the new law. Well I guess the same arguments that empowered the government to penalize citizens for not carrying health insurance can also be used to penalize workers for failing to invest in a retirement plan, and possibly long term care insurance. Maybe the government is trying to make us save for our futures now to keep us off of the dole when we get old. It's a politically easier way to reduce Welfare State costs than directly cutting benefits would be. It's too rainy today for my exterior install, so I'm opining on the internet instead. There's some billing and paperwork waiting for me too, (one-man company), and I'll get to it real soon I promise.

Hello All, I read today that the federal labor board voted Thursday to redefine the employee-employer relationship granting new bargaining powers to workers caught up in an economy increasingly reliant on subcontractors, franchisees and temporary staffing agencies. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/27/labor-board-moves-to-make-businesses-accountable-for-their-subcontractors/?wpisrc=al_alert-economy As someone who does a significant amount of subcontracting for national sign companies, I'm wondering how this may affect me? Anyone have a notion about this? Tom

This could go downhill quickly.

Would you expect a sign to be noticeably brighter if its T12 HO lamps were retrofit with an equal quantity of T8s? Thanks. Tom

Chewie just doesn't seem to age...

This looks like just the stuff I need, thanks. Tom

Pictures, yes, got em. I'm not sure how to upload them, though.

I found a pair of birds, just feathers and bones, nestled in the corner a decrepit sign raceway once. Tom

Hello All, one of my sign service customers owns an older shopping center which was build with an approximately eight inch wide steel inset channel over the storefronts into which each store's channel letter sign raceway is installed. (I don't know what that open channel is called, but what a PITA servicing such a sign can be when an awning is installed right below the channel). Anyway, in this particular case the upper lip of the steel channel has pulled away from the wall's brickwork creating a long horizontal open slot through which rainwater running down the exterior wall sneaks into the interior of the building, drips down behind the interior walls and puddles on the floor inside the stores. I have been asked to try and fix this problem and I'm thinking that the best way will be to seal the open slot closed with some kind of caulk, but I'm wondering what would be the best sealer. The slot's "ceiling" is the brickwork and deteriorated mortar and the "floor" is the steel of the inset channel which in parts if flaking with rust. The slot is about 0.25", and an awning is installed below the channel making access from my bucket truck too difficult to consider cleaning all but the most accessible loose material out of the slot.. So what would be the best sealer to use? The seal will be visible. Tom

Peanuts, (ghost turds), are a PITA to get ridd of and I really appreciate the companies that ship using those made of cornstarch. Just squirt them with a hose and they dissolve.

Theoretically...theoretically I remind you, what would be the best course of action for the honest and humble sign repair artisan who, in the hypothetical instance, receives two purchase orders from two separate out-of-state service brokers to repair the very same device on the same day. The humble artisan won't want to discomfit either client by cutting one or the other out of the action, but to charge both for the same repair may give the appearance of taking advantage of a clerical oddity. What to do? What would YOU do? Fred

There was in interesting thread and I'd have to find it here involving two LED mfg's and the voltage drop by the foot and what it does to the power supply and the complete system. I think it involved using a 50' or 100' secondary run. Even when I used LEDs, I still them to be short as possible and depending on the type of module with as many branches as I can. This may make for a good second topic thread I can start. It would be nice to know the allowable secondary voltage drop for a given CV power supply. But, in ignorance, I'm guessing that a 25 foot run of stranded 12 awg wire would be ok for the total output of a 60 watt led supply. Does that sound about right to you? Tom

I agree with this, neon done right can outperform leds in terms of longevity and maintenance cost. Unfortunately for neon, though, too few sign people are willing and able to do it right, and too few customers are willing to pay the required premium for having it done right. Designing, installing, and fabricating good neon signs requires a higher level of training and experience than making the same signs with leds and so quality neon is the more expensive option. But is the premium that must be paid for well-done neon over leds a good investment from the standpoint of business owners? Only the market for signs can answer that question, and so far the answer seems to mostly be "no".

One nice thing about leds; because an led power supply's secondaries carry low voltage, there's no need for them to be short, and so no need to install the power supply units in the rotten, miserable places where neon transformers are often located. For example, at many Walgreens stores the led power supplies are mounted in the main circuit panel room. Inside that room there will be a large dedicated panel filled with power supplies, each labeled with the letters is powers. To change a power supply, (which is an led sign's most commonly called-for repair IME), one needs only to walk, (upright!), into the nicely lighted, air conditioned panel room with a step ladder and a few simple tools. Tom

I like neon, but the purpose of my business is not to make neon, the purpose of my business is to make money. You can run your business as you choose and I'll do the same.

When retrofitting a channel letter with leds, does the condition of the surface of the sides and back of the can matter much? An led's light goes pretty much where you point it, and so I would expect that the reflectivity of the insides of the can matter less, but is that really the case? Does having a clean, reflective surface inside the can make the letter appreciably brighter?

These letter faces are from a Kerr Drug, and are molded red, possibly vacuum formed. Does anyone happen to know who produced them, or what company might be able to reproduce them?

Mine is the Iphone 4S. I hadn't changed the default brightness, but I just now did and will see how it works outside, (thanks). As for hearing the ringer, which one works best for you? Tom

Iphone works for me, though it's really hard to make anything out on its screen in full daylight. I also wish the ringer could be set louder.

Thank you all for your replies. In reply to an inquiry I made of the power company about the procedure of working close to those particular wires I was told that, since only the top three wires present a shock hazard - (the lower wires being one neutral and two communications cables), the clearance was acceptable for the sign install because the vertical distance between the closest hot wire and the sign was good enough. She said the company no longer goes out into the field to shield wires with blankets like they used to. Tom

A bucket won't work because there's no good vehicle access. Without some kind of safeguard, I wouldn't want to work that close to high tension lines. I called the power company, and hopefully a representative will call back soon and let me know what the procedure for working near the wires will be.

Service or drop lines? I don't know how to tell, but here's a pic.

I have been asked to quote the installation of a simple set of raceway letters about twenty feet above grade. There is no truck access, so the signs would be hung using ladders or a scaffolding. It's pretty straightforward except that the electric company's power lines run parallel to the wall and are less than 10 feet away from the spot where the sign is to be hung. I can't imagine a way to hang those signs that wouldn't be dangerous, (and scary), as long as the lines are energized, and so I guess I'll have to see about having them shut off during the install. Have any of you had a job like this? I never have, and don't know what to expect from the power company when I contact them. Will they really turn off a part of their power grid so that I can hang a sign? I have all the licensed I need for regular sign installations, so that's no worry at least. Tom