Erik Sine

Oh Boy, now Principal LED is trying to compete with the outrageous marketing claim of 10 years with all of their products. What...now Labor costs in that 10 years??? Where's the confidence??? Is there confidence or only a marketing ploy? So how is this all going to match up 9 years later? Am I reading this right? if less than 15% of the diodes in a letter or cabinet fail or dim , it's not covered? Do their power supplies also cover a warranty for 10 years? If not, why not? Why not wrap this into one coverage? What about Lumen maintenance? If the Light Output dims above 15% of the original light output in under 10 years will it be covered? If so, their in trouble! I doubt they'll warranty that. 😂

Not moving out of San Diego, just a couple of miles

Won't get to me unless they export me from this world. Until then I'll just keep pulling the arrows out and sticking myself with a hot poker, lol

My Apologies everyone, the site was down for a few days as we were repairing both a data base error and crashed tables. In the next few days some functions will be down as we start the slow process of upgrading each feature. Please reply here to this topic if you see anything non-functional Thanks

CALL 858-880-1400 or email orders@thesignsyndicate.com To Place Orders Well, it's one of those times where the lease ends and it's time to move to another location. So from now until the end of January on top of our Christmas Sale we're also having a Moving Sale, the least amount of items I need to move, the better on my back! Our Christmas Sale Advertisement Below, we have more to add NC LED SPECIAL PRICED ITEM NC Reckless-3 6500K IP68 .72w modules Constant Current 2 Mods/Foot 50 Module Tray $45.00 Each (20 in Stock) Buy 10 or more for Free Shipping NC Reckless-3 Blue IP68 .72w modules Constant Current 2 Mods/Foot 50 Module Tray $45.00 Each (16 in Stock) Buy 10 or more for Free Shipping All items below are priced based on in stock only. After these are gone, our regular pricing stands. PLASCO TRIM CAP 3/4" x 165' Rolls - $40.00 Each Green - 4 rolls Dark Blue - 5 Rolls Blue - 10 Rolls Bronze - 2 Rolls Yellow - 5 Rolls Duranotic Bronze - 8 Rolls Red - 7 Rolls 1" x 165' Rolls Black - 5 Rolls $50.00 Each White - 2 Rolls $50.00 Each Red - 3 Rolls $48.00 Each Blue - 5 Rolls $48.00 Each Gold - 5 Rolls $48.00 Each Bronze - 2 Rolls $48.00 Each TRANSCO 48' HO FLUORESCENT BALLASTS TRA 26 1048EP Up to six 8' Lamps 24 In Stock $50.00 Each TRANSCO PBG & PT TRANSFORMERS Transco T 612PT $65.00 Each (12 in stock) Transco T 512PT $55.00 Each (8 in stock) Transco T 312PT $55.00 Each (10 in stock) Transco 7512 PBG $65.00 Each (12 in stock) Transco 612 PBG $65.00 Each (8 in stock) Transco 512 PBG $55.00 Each (12 in stock) Transco 312 PBG $55.00 Each (8 in stock) Transco S 7512 PBG $65.00 Each (8 in stock) Transco S 512 PBG $55.00 Each (8 in stock) Transco S 312 PBG $55.00 Each (8 in stock) TRANSCO SILICONE BOOTS AND CAPS FOR GTO 7 SERIES (18AWG GTO) 15MM ECS 7-15 Black Boots (200 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 15MM ECDB 7-15 White Caps(200 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 13MM ECS 7-13 White Boots (500 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 8 SERIES (14 & 18 AWG) 15MM ECS 8-15 Black Boots (600 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 15MM ECS 8-15 White Boots (400 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 13MM ECDB 8-13 Black Caps (200 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 13MM ECS 8-13 Black Boots (1500 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 13MM ECDB 8-13 White Caps (100 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 13MM ECS 8-13 White Boots (400 in Stock) $45.00 Bag of 100 NOVAGLO LEAD-FREE ELECTRODES 13MM RATING 25-50MA LENGTH 65MM 13mm Tubeulated 1360 Electrodes $42.00 per Box of 100 13mm Non-Tubeulated 1360 Electrodes $42.00 per Box of 100 12mm RATING :25-50MA LENGTH 65MM 12mm Tubeulated 1260 Electrodes $42.00 per Box of 100 12mm Tubeulated 1260 Electrodes $42.00 per Box of 100 FLUORESCENT HO LAMP SOCKETS Tombstone Spring $1.25 Each (50+ Free Shipping) Tombstone Stationary $1.17 Each (50+ Free Shipping) Snap-In Socket Spring $1.09 Each (50+ Free Shipping) Snap-In Socket Stationary $1.03 Each (50+ Free Shipping)

CHRISTMAS YEAR END SALE From now until the end of the year we're having our Lowest Priced Sale EVER on all of our LED modules & Power Supplies. If you have never tried our NC Reckless LED Module Line, this is the perfect time....Not to mention our Wet Location LED Power Supplies as well. Unlike most of what you'll see o the market, our LEDs and Power Supplies are ALL IP68 NOT IP67, IP65 BUT IP68. Once you give us a chance and try our NC Reckless LED Line or Union Power Supplies, you won't go back to using the Chinese or Taiwan Products Most Importantly, about our NC and Union Electric Sign Products.......NOT made in CHINA!!! Buy 10 Trays of LEDs or more and it's FREE SHIPPING Buy 12 LED Power Supplies or more and it's FREE SHIPPING For inquiries, to place orders, you can call or email us at orders@thesignsyndicate.com | (858) 880 - 1400

Just to give an update. These rolls are now 151 feet in length. We now have an Orange, Dark Blue, and Duranotic Bronze, all intended to match vendor channel letter coils. Also, not the Vinyl Vendor color match numbers above in case you need to match to vinyl faces I edited the spec info in the original post above, but still need to update all the banners and ads

Uh, Tinaers, isn't this your company?

Thought I'd pop this out early before we start doing our own Sign Syndicate LED Light Spacing Study that we will be posting here on the SS, which will probably start early next year and before the ISA Expo. Before we do so, thought I would ask how many may have been duped by a Manufacturer or Distr Rep that said you could light up a sign with amazing spacing well beyond anything you have ever used, all to find out once you did the spacing they specified and sold you on, you had to end up reconfiguring the sign and double to tripling what you originally used? So far in the last year or two I've heard the similar story from the project planners more than a few times. For example, a 1.2 watt 3-diode LED module 1.5 modules per foot that you can use a single row to light up 24" of can or channel at 8"+ Deep, or rows 18" apart for multiple rows. When it comes to 5" depth one row for a 16" can or cabinet or 8" spacing between multiple rows.? There seems to be this word being coined around by MFG or DIST reps, even Sign Specifier Consultants who claim to be independent and are supposed to be experts, but actually behind the scenes work for certain LED manufacturers...these are the secret reps who just work as consultants but do nothing more than market certain companies and collect a check, their NOT really consultants more than they are salesmen. The coined word is "usable light". What is usable light? When it comes to Sign component sales it means selling a product at max margin for minimum results. The minimum results means a configuring a sign face light to the stressed point of even light before you start to see the light source before spacing is too far apart to create hot spotting or shadows of inefficient light. Sign that are illuminated with usable light CANNOT compete in shopping centers where they compete with other signs for attention. But these usable light signs look awesome in a dark warehouse or Sign Convention floor. The other problem with usable is, after a couple thousand hours of operation and lumen maintenance takes place the original illumination is now lower, so now the LEDs stand out thru the face because of the shadowing or light loss between LED modules or rows. Now, that usable light has expired. Anyhow a hew illustrations below of pics posted in a MFGs webpage that do not display how their LEDs are marketed SIGN CABINET ACCORDING TO MAX SPEC I just simply put this cabinet to scale using the 2" Led Modules. The 9" Spacing in the middle shows you what any shop would use for spacing for a 12" deep cabinet. To the left I eliminated a row to show you what 18" on center between rows is, and where they claim it should be. 18" is typical for HO Fluorescent lamps which light output is well beyond LED modules, is 360˙ and will use the walls of the sign and face to bounce light all around for VERY even lighting. Just imagine to yourself visually eliminating all those rows using the second pic and think of the light there would be for that sign face. Is that how you would light the face for your customer? Where would that light be in say 2 years, 5 years? CHANNEL LETTERS Same question here. 4 Diode 1.8w LED Module same as above. MFG claims one row should light up 24", as you can tell they used multiple rows, as you should to light up an approx 16" Channel. Again, if you're going to claim amazing spacing, why not show it, why show near conventional spacing as illustrated above? Which all leads to my next question. When you're told you can get a bag of 50 modules for 32' of lighting for $$$$, or 100 modules that light up 64' are you actually get what your paying for? Or are you having to tighten the spacing? Most spacing numbers with all these new fancy cute LED "prism" Lenses that claim to be 170˙ or 180˙ which come with a cool chart and graph that most will scratch their head to but it does look scientific, don't seem to be adding up. Don't get me wrong the spacing can work with this "usable light" theory, but how many of us configure and build signs for "usable light". In most cases we build to compete, and of course last. I've been hearing too many stories of consumer complaints and shops having to go back out and redo the signs adding more LEDs. The MFG & DISTR model is gearing up to tell you can you can save money by buying their product because you get sooooo much more footage out of it. The problem lays in the fact that if you put them side by side with a near product that does their spacing differently ( much tighter) you'll see the tighter product is much brighter (duh) and of course over time, it won't hot spot and shaodw as fast because the spacing is MUCH tighter and it won't display as it would for further spaced products Knowing the light output of LEDs, that is now how I would specify or configure LED spacing of modules or rows of modules, they need to be MUCH tighter and smaller. That's just me, and my opinion based on most applications in our industry, and I do know not every signs needs to be blinding light, but consumers want visibility in most cases, where subtle takes a back seat....in most cases Anyhow, just my 2¢

Congratulations to David & Corky at SignTech, California Neon Products or CNP who does the Jack in The Box signs just bunked in with SignTech. Big things just got BIGGER. I hear Dave's Neon Museum located in their new building is getting even larger. I need to stop by and take a peek.

Right??? That's how old the Neon is too! At 50% but still lit! I'm going to assume the same thinking that makes the decision in their head to buy 50¢ modules to $ave! $ave money for them...NOT their customer, who was told their sign would last 100,000 Hours with their LED choice

So... I haven't posted any jobs lately and I need to play catch up. So I'll start with our latest projects and work myself backwards As we've discussed so many times on the Sign Syndicate. There is a time to retrofit, and a time not too. Neon and Fluorescent lamps/systems should not in most cases be retrofitted to LEDs unless accessibility calls for it. Otherwise, it doesn't make financial sense for the consumer to do so, or....just so a shop can make a project sale on BS energy efficiency numbers and mythical saving $$$$ So here are some retrofit jobs that make REAL sense. NEON RETROFIT Here's a chain of Studio's that I've been doing since the early 2000's. This particular sign is only partially mine, everything from the Logo and red letters. This was the first job I did for them leading up to fabricating all new signs for their locations. The white is from the previous location and Neon has been in it's original form since the late 90's, and it's 6500K Snow White. The logo is 15mm Tri-phosphor, Elite 65D I believe. The Logo and Red was done in 2008. It's very hard to tell because red and white is hard to capture and a cell phone cam does no justice but the White lettering is dimmer than illustrated and is about 50% of it's original light output. Not bad for 20+ plus year old lamps!! So the owner called up and wanted a revamp. Had I been the average shop you bet the immediate response would have been LED! SAVINGS!!!!! BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT! Well, no. We're logical over here in SoCal, a land where 50¢ modules would have replaced the Lamp Art. The logical choice, and more economical choice for the consumer? Going from a single halo phosphate 6500K Snow White Neon lamp to a Tri-Phosphor EGL Designer 7100 Series Lamps. When we moved and installed (2008) this sign we did so with Tecnolux Silicone GTO and Caps. All that was needed for this retrofit was new lamps, and leaving the awesome silicone GTO and transformers in place! Now, I owe you a night shot, the iphone pic I took was garbage, so I'll update that soon. But the Logo and White letters match up well, and even with the old faces, the sign illuminates like a new sign at night. Forgot to mention, the white faces are also from the 90's and they've held up quite well, the Trim Cap is Plasco, also held up quite well for 20+ years old. During the day, the ace look good, so no need to replace. LED RETROFIT So a new client... They called, they were moving and wanted to know if they needed a new sign or whether to fabricate a whole new on because the current was lit up like crap. Had hot spots, dim a places, and just crazy outages in sections of letters. It would have been better had I taken night pics, BUT...I didn't know I would be posting and writing about it here so Had this been some other shop, I'm sure the nightmare would have continued Yes, two different LED manufacturers in the same sign Woohoo, the electric sign industry in it's finest form right here! It made me SO proud! If you're familiar with Gaverieli Plastics, I need say no more, let alone Chinese JS LED's....well, their both China and their both crap. They don't last, they fail, they cause companies problems with having to go back and replace and most importantly...They cost the consumer, YOUR client. The second sign which they had, made at a different time and by another company was US LED, also garbage. Illumination was just as bad. Sorry, didn't get pics of that sign because again, it wasn't my plan to make a post here If this wonderful, thoughtful sign package doesn't make you cry, I don't know what will. The original plastic was green vinyl over white acrylic and in such a short time this sign was beat, and probably why they called a new contractor for the work for their sign move. Well, a new sign made no sense. They were just moving a few suites over and they weren't going to get a larger sign so the original would do. New faces with 3M Lime Green over White acrylic. The most important aspect of this Sign.... Yes! NC Reckless-3 LEDs. Top Tier Samsung Diodes running on a Constant Current system...NOT Constant Voltage. 1.2 watt modules. Most important detail about our NC Reckless LEDs? Their made in Korea NOT CHINA!!! Beautiful! Check out that crazy light meter reading! That's almost 300 surface Foot Candles, which is about the equivalent light output to a 13mm Tri-phosphor white Neon Lamp behind white acrylic. If that is not simply utterly gross and disgusting, and you're not just sickened by that number, you have no stomach These Reckless-3 LEDs will NOT be powered up by their low budget power supplies but rather our Union LED Power Supplies made in KOREA, not CHINA!!! It's usually best to retrofit out with what was already in a sign, and not change one light source to another. It's makes more financial sense in MOST cases, not all, but most.

Wow How do you know he got fired?

Current Install /Vendor Map. Pretty Impressed! California wins with 14 markers. Big gaps of Sign Installers in North & South Dakota, Utah, New Mexico. But clearly the Eastern side of our country is more Dominant with Sign installers Looking for someone here to do a Sign Installation or Maintenance? The installer map can be found here http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/membermap/

With the Economic War between the US and China rages on, we're starting to hear about manufacturers in China already sending out notices to American Sign Suppliers/MFGs that rises in product costs are here....and coming. For the longest time China has had the Monopoly in manufacturing because of unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, very low almost slave-like wages for their people where a lot of employee safety at times is called into question. There isn't exactly a OSHA or Labor Board in China, nor do their factories abide by the same the same environmental regulation & safety standards that American companies have had to abide, pay, and follow by on the world stage, China was always given a free pass and has always been viewed as a under developed country that should receive a handicap.....and we have to ask why? Yes Erik we know this......So what does this have to do with LEDs? If Chinese components weren't already unreliable, and low quality as it is, just think of how their going to be now as this trade war rages on. If China is already having to raise their prices, what do you think will happen to the quality compared to now if their going to have to cut cost just to keep up in sales? Most American sign component manufacturers who have exported their jobs to China have always had nightmare issues with these plants doing almost anything to save a penny. Remember all those failure batch issues in the past???? Now it will get even worse. China is losing the trade war. It's been entertaining to see all these US Sign LED manufacturers who's products are being produced in China, and some who buy just components and then claim the.... "Assembled in America" to offer 7....8..... and now 10 year warranties for their products. Forget what's to come tomorrow with costs that will be driving quality downward, could those warranties even be trusted from products being sold today? Seriously, we're no dummies, and neither are the consumers. If Nearly 85% of the companies who's products were in our Sign Syndicate Light Test Comparisons could barely make 15,000 hours of operation without a large portion degrading in light output, how can they make 7 years, or even 10? Any logical person knows it's always just been a marketing PR stunt.......and I suppose maybe some .33 watt constant current LEDs could make that, but who uses low wattage LEDs for electric advertising? You can use those but you'll need a crap load just to get near equal light of the high powered stuff but that's VERY un-cost effective. Some shops won't care, they'll just throw their arms in the air and say "that's the sign industry...the consumer will eat it". That's fine if you want to live for today, and die tomorrow with a list of angry customers and Yelp reviews. But....if you sell quality and stake your reputation on what you produce and put put, you should care, and you should be worried. It won't get any better anytime soon with Chinese products. The more the playing field gets leveled between the our Grand Country and China, Chinese products will not be able to stay as low as they have been, or.....at least not the types of products you would want them to be at or expect them to be at. Chinese manufacturers will shave what they can, when they can, and cut the quality at will just to make that extra penny, their known for that! You can be sure of something that won't change when it comes to LED components for the American Sign Industry, and that is when it comes to any components NOT made in China. The world still spins on that access and it's been unaffected on that front Why buy/support products from a Dictatorship that suppresses it's people, manipulates free trade, and interferes/obstructs with the US, in government affairs or by hacking? China is NOT our friend, and their not exactly our enemy. I know sometimes we have no choice, but when you don't have to...don't! That is why if you're going to buy overseas components, buy from our friends and allies first. Countries who have our backs, and we have theirs, and who's people we have fought side by side, and scarified with. Especially from countries who have the highest in quality control standards. This is just one of the reasons why we have been proud, and excited to work with, partner with NC LED from Korea. The quality has not changed, the products are getting better, they have high work ethic standards as well as high product standards and their quality control is equal to that of Japan. They are the complete opposite in every facet of CHINA. Our NC LED products do NOT change year after year like just about every LED manufacturer, going from version 2 to version 10. When something works we stick with it and we're BIG on that! With uncertainty from China in the air when it comes to LED Lighting products and Power Supplies Our prices for high quality products have always been VERY competitive, and lower compared to most lower quality products in a lot of cases. The goal post will not change, the high standards bar will never be lowered. Give us a try on your next job, you'll have consistency, dependability and you'll be much happier that you did!