Search the Community

Most Light Source Suppliers and Manufacturers won't show you examples let alone "numbers" of light readings on Sign Cabinet or Sign Projects from light source components they push like these I'm posting here, but....This is The Sign Syndicate! "Seeing is believing" as they say. So, one of the components I've been big on because of feedback and demand is a strong enough LED module that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, isn't proprietary where you need to buy their special clips, brackets, etc, and actually put out enough light without exaggerated "Usable Light" under too far spread spacing that's supposed to save you money that won't compete with other existing signs in the area of your project. Biggest complaint from sign shops about cabinet LEDs....."I don't want to use a whole bunch of power supplies!" You want your clients sign to stand out, NOT be lost or drown out by other neighboring signs also competing for attention and visibility. Most importantly, the BrightON Sunfire LED keeps it simple by allowing custom sign shops not having to pay enormous amounts of money. I've discussed our upcoming new High-End Sign Syndicate BrightON Sunfire LED for Cabinets, Slim Cabinets, and Large Channel Letters before. But I've never had an opportunity to back it up with facts by illustration until now. Let's start with our long time industry standard light source components first. HO Fluorescent Lamps That is good ol HO T12 Fluorescent Lamps. Unlike our industry suppliers and manufacturers I'm not going to bash the use of HO Lamps, they work good, and they do last a long time despite their marketing claims of failure just to sell another light source. There are some very well High-End made HO Lamps for our industry. Back to the project. Here we have your typical 4' x 4' x 12" double sided cabinet that we would either see on a pole or mounted on the ground. 3/16" 7328 Plexiglas MC acrylic face. Using industry standard spacing of lamps at 12" spacing. HO Lamps 6" in from the sides and 12" from lamp to lamp powered by a energy efficient electronic ballast pulling about 126 Watts With four HO 4' lamps with 12" spacing, using a Light Meter to measure the sign face surface light we have a Foot Candle average of 211 FC (FC High 213, FC Low 209) This is, and has been our industry average for sign surface lighting for DECADES. Here is our High-End Sign Syndicate BrightON Sunfire (pronounced just like the city) A 3 watt LED module with a 170˙ High Uniformity Optics with over 420 lm Most importantly it's 24V system, and Constant Current.... NOT Constant Voltage. This system has reduced amperage, heat, and resistance running across it compared to a 12V and it has more voltage head room for long runs. This calculates to longer life. On a 24V system this means loading more modules on a 96W power supply than a limited 60w power supply of a 12V system. Less moving parts on a project the better. Below and as illustrated we spaced our modules the same as HO Fluorescent Lamps. 6" in, 12" from row to row and one Sunfire Module per foot, spaced 12" apart from one another One thing I wanted on our Sunfire modules were longer wires between each module. You have enough wire (15") to jump from row to row without having to splice...less labor involved and it gives you more room to do what other tasks you may need to do with longer wiring. Using modules like our BrightON Sunfire makes your projects at so much of a lesser cost. Instead of buying special proprietary clips, tracks and mounting brackets just purchase inexpensive alum 1/16" or 1/8" angles and channel for mounting. These typically can be bought in 8', 16', and 24' lengths. The results.....Same Light Meter, measuring the same surface area on the sign face we get a 255.5 Foot Candle average (FC High 262, FC Low 249) That's a 17% brighter sign face!!! What makes the BrightON Sunfire even better? Adding a True Power France Lighting Solution 24V LED Power Supply. True Power means having the ability to load 100% of a load on a power supply. As you know most power supplies are asked to load to 80%-85%. Not so with France, 100% if need be. Most competing cabinet 12V/24V LED modules will run you anywhere from $7.00 to $15.00 per module. The BrightON Sunfire will only run you $3.50 per module, giving you NOT "Usable Light" but "Real Competitive Light" as illustrated here.....17% brighter, over above our industry standard lighting of T12 HO Fluorescent Lamps and 40% lower power consumption, or Cost of Operation!! Product Information Video

Some project pics of our High Performance, High Brightness, Constant Current 24v 175˙Optics BrightON II LEDs powered by France Lighting Solutions True Power LED Power Supplies. Our 24V BrightON LEDs have half the current running across the PCB Boards which means HALF the heat and resistance of a 12V system, this equals out to a already long life Constant Current System to thrive even longer! BrightON LEDs are Constant Current NOT Constant Voltage like Principal LEDs and Sloan Value Line LEDs for shorter life The Project Results....Even, Bright Competitive Lighting for the sign in a shopping center that will last the ages! Pictures Courtesy of West Coast Sign Company More Information on BrightON II LEDS The BrightON LEDs can be purchased from our online store HERE, or you can order over the phone (858) 880-1400 | orders@thesignsyndicate.com

We have always been proud supporters of our Electric Sign Trade and have always been proactive in doing what it takes to help preserve our Trade and it's most valued tradition....that being Neon. Despite the misinformation that has been put out about Neon for decades now, Neon is very much a light/energy efficient light source and the most durable light source we have in our trade over time and we have plenty of case history to support this. WATCH OUT As most of you may or may not know, there has been a huge shortage of the availability of Glass Neon Housings for Neon....and what has been available has been a lot of Chinese Fake UL Marked (Embossed on the glass) Neon Housings in the market for some time. They Claim a UL mark, BUT...they aren't a U.L. Recongnized accessory or sign component .i.e. SSI / "Neo" Glass Housings have no valid listing with fake embossed UL Emblem The biggest complaint for some time has been the threads are terrible and it made tightening at times near to impossible. The other bad aspect was that the glass walls were too thin, and with just a little bit of heat they were cracking or a incidental drop bump might cause them to crack and break prematurely, some simply cracked on tightening mechanically to a sign body . Also, it's bad news if you're a Wholesale Shop or Custom Sign Shop integrating these knock-offs into your signs. It's passing along a fake listed product and should something happen like a "fire" I can't imagine Insurance Companies will be too happy about the use of a "knock-off" I've done my best in the past to look for and supply vintage housings that were listed for the Neon Arts and help with keeping that art going with Porcelain or older glass housings which we still do have plenty of (#100's & #300's). But now we have those hard to get components to keep those awesome Neon Open Faced Channel Letters and Wall Signs going without running into shortages of components or options. NOW IN STOCK - Westrim U.L. Recognized Sign Accessories #100, #200, #200P, #300 Neon Glass Housings You can Purchase these from our store or contact us to place an order or inquiry (858) 880-1400 | orders@thesignsyndicate.com NOW IN STOCK - Westrim U.L. Listed #100, #200, #200P, #300 Neon Glass Housings You can Purchase these from our store or contact us to place an order or inquiry (858) 880-1400 | orders@thesignsyndicate.com

Well the ship has landed. To compliment our High-End BrightON LED Module Line we brought in nothing but the best when it comes to LED Power Supplies, hence France Lighting Solutions. For those that don't know, the France LED power supplies are True Power, which means they are 100% Loadable. No more loading a LED power supply to 80% or 85% to be on the safe side....well...I take that back you had to underload for the PS to survive. These....France PS's are 100% Loadable! We've been stocking the 24V for some time for our 24V BrightON, but since we also have 12V BrightON LED modules we brought in 12V versions as well. We also have the new France Atlas 12V 120W (Dual 60W Channel) units, which are IP68, Wet Location (no need for a PS box) and have onboard LED Lamps for displaying trouble shooting, normal/overload use. France has always been know for their High Performance Neon Transformer Products, the France Lighting Solutions Eco & Atlas LED Power Supplies are no different. We carry the Complete France Lighting Solutions TruPower LED Power Supply Line 24V France Eco 24V 60W - TruPower DRV-2460-E (24V/60W) France Eco 24V 96W - TruPower DRV-24100-E (24V/96W) France Atlas 24V 60W - TruPower DRV-2460-A (24V/60W) 12V France Eco 12V 60W - TruPower DRV-1260-E (12V/60W) France Atlas 12V 60W - TruPower DRV-1260-A (12V/60W) France Atlas 12V 120W - TruPower DRV-12120-A (12V/120W) Dual 60W Channel The France Lighting Solutions LED Power Supplies can be purchased from our Store or feel free to call your order in (858) 880-1400 | orders@thesignsyndicate.com

The BrightON-II LED .vs The Principal Qwik Mod 2 LED So....we've been getting lot's questions on how our New High-End BrightON II LED compares to The "New" High Efficient Principal Qwik Mod 2 LED Well, we did a quick "side by side" benchmark comparison to find out. They have some basic similarities. • .8 watt modules • Both 170˙/175+ Optics • Both have Aluminum PCB We compared both LED modules and placed them in 24" x 4.5" x 5" channels using a standard Plexiglas MC white #7328 white acrylic face to simulate a wide channel letter stroke . Modules spaced 6" OC from one another and 3" from the channel walls. Now to find out what the differences are... Once we lit the channel compartments one big difference was the white appearance of each light source. The Principal Qwik Mod produces more of a yellow white illumination on the sign face, whereas the BrightON II is more of a True White. The pictures here may not do justice as it's hard to capture Real Time and Real Life along with how your display may be calibrated. Both BrightON II & Principals's Qwik Mod are .8w modules....The BrightON II is 24V LED module, the Qwik Mod is 12V LED module. 24V means half the current flowing through the system of a 12V system, which translates to lesser heat, lesser resistance than a 12V system. A 24V system is more reliable and a longer life system over time for the very reasons I stated. A 24V system allows you to use a larger single watt channel PSU (96w). The BrightON LED system uses the France Lighting Solutions "True Power" LED Drivers to complete the system, "True Power" means users are able to load the PSU to 100%, where as other LED PSU's are recommended not to go beyond 85% of the rating. A full load 96W France PSU can load 120 BrightON II LED modules. France Lighting Solutions LED Drivers are the only Drivers to date that are 100% loadable. With a 12V system a single channel 60W LED PSU is typically loaded at 85% or 51W of a 60W unit, or 63 Qwik Mods. You can load more modules on a single unit but you would have to be looking at using a 120W PSU that is a dual 60W channel unit. Luminance Right away the biggest take away from this LED comparison in the image below is the Sign Face Surface light output results in Foot Candles using a ExTech Light Meter measuring the High's and Low's in the 7" x 4" rectangle area of the acrylic face. The BrightON II has a Foot Candle Average of 209 versus Principal's Qwik Mod coming in lower at 171 Foot Candles. Constant Current A HUGE difference which will play big in lighting and in life is how the current is driving across each module. The BrightON II is of course Constant Current, NOT Constant Voltage. The Qwik Mod is Constant Voltage. The quickest, simplest explanation and differences is this. On a Constant Current system, each module has a current regulator chip which means each module is current regulated, and protected not to overdrive and create more heat and run hotter. The first module on a Constant Current string is equally as bright as the last module on a string....the result is consistent lighting. If you've ever paid attention to the light testing we have been doing on The Sign Syndicate since 2009', you would know that the best and lowest light degradation or Lumen Maintenance results always came from CC LED systems, Constant Voltage or "Eco" Modules not so much. In a CV System you better hope your LED PSU is not driving above the intended voltage of 12 volts. A slight increase in a fraction of a volt... say...12.2V can kill a LED system fast depending on the makeup of the Modules. When we did our Light Testing "The Great White Hope" we had a incident where a LED PSU operating at 12.25 was used on a Permlight "El Plato Module which was CV and in under 30 days the original output dropped 30%. We had to kick out the PSU and start over with another string of EL Plato's using a manual adjustable LED PSU to assure not to go above 12V. On a typical CV System on long runs the first module will be brighter than the last module on the same string, inconsistent lighting, with a not well regulated LED PSU CV LED will tend to run hotter and brighter in some areas causing a shorter life. The system is solely dependent on the module resistors for protection. In Short.... Constant Voltage = Lesser LED life over time Constant Current = Longer LED life over time Lighting Angles Below.....you can take what you want from this part... We used equal underexposed shots from both LED light sources from a Canon SLR Camera instead of Real Time to show our audience where the optics is transferring light We used a lighting angle chart that we created, made up of 1" grids just to help in displaying where the optics and throwing light. Both Module have wide angle optics, I would just say that the Brighton II throws more light towards the edge of the chart and a little higher up the middle. What It All Means In closing, the biggest differences that can be taken away from this benchmark comparison and what separates the BrightON II are a couple of big factors. • The BrightON 24 volt system which has half the amperage, heat, & resistance than the 12 volt Principal Qwik Mod LED system. You're also able to load more LED modules on a 24V system than a 12 volt system • If you're looking for a more "Purer" white light source, better bin, then the BrightON LED Module family is for you. • More light for less power on the sign surface....better chip efficiency... that was just displayed and shown in Foot Candles....BrightON II 209 FC over Principal Qwik Mod 2 171 FC • Probably the single most important factor? The BrightON LED Family is Constant Current rather than a lower costing system that uses unregulated current in Constant Voltage. What that means for user is....Longer Consistent Life Over Time The New BrightON LED The previous High-End BrightON LED version has had a lot of success since the launch. What is new? Only some miner changes were made to make a already superior LED module even better. Same high efficient chip, improved 6500 Kelvin, different optics. Not that we needed it but, the BrightON is, and has always been underdriven but....we changed from a Fiberglas PCB Board to Aluminum. Aluminum provides better thermal cooling, but again, it wasn't needed....it's just nice to brag about it and say we have Aluminum. The New BrightON LED Family will in stock by early May 2021. **UPDATE** The BrightON LEDs can now be purchased from our our online store HERE, or you can order over the phone (858) 880-1400 | orders@thesignsyndicate.com

It's been some time since we've stocked Toggle Switches so....we're now stocking Toggle Switches. We just brought in a bunch of switches after numerous requests and thought we would also throw a special together for this very announcement. Box of 25 France Lighting Solutions Toggle Switches for $103.75 or $4.15 each and FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the Continental U.S. Call in or Email for special Flat Rate for Hawaii & Alaska FRANCE LIGHTING SOLUTIONS UL879 Recognized Component Wet, Damp, & Dry Location 20 Amp - 120-277 VAC - 2HP 12" Lead Wires Silicone Boot On-Off Faceplate 1/2" Panel Opening Per UL48 - 20 Amp VAC Rated Switches are Limited to a Total Transformer Load of 10 Amps Members can take advantage of this special and purchase using our Online Shopping Cart, or you're more than welcome to email us at orders@thesignsyndicate.com or phone in at (858) 880-1400

Like everywhere else if you're very fortunate to be busy during this shut down, some business's are still willing to upgrade their branding in these slow depressing times We removed some outdated retail signage and upgraded them to their current look. I know, this is normally just an average channel letter sign....*Yawn*......but what's unique is the lighting system that powers it at night. The Illumination? BrightON II 24v constant current NOT constant voltage ....LEDs instead of the industry typical 12v LEDs for half the amperage across the wire and components which translates to less heat, resistance, and in return a MUCH better system for dependability. Not even to mention just how much light for very little power you get from the super high efficient BrightON II Chips with the added 175˙ high efficiency optics. Another advantage of 24V is the typical single channel power supplies are 96W, which means you can et LOTS of LED modules on a single power supply (less parts, less problems) which leads me to the next part... The system doesn't stop at the LEDs, it continues with France Lighting Solutions "True Power" LED Power Supplies. The Electric Sign industries unique and sole 100% load Power Supplies, no not 85%, not 80%.....100%. 5 year Labor / 5 Year Parts. If you've been in this industry long enough I don't even need to mention what "France" products mean....it mean Longevity & Dependability...just the BrightON II LEDs Front and Rear illuminated channel letters. France Westrim Pattern Paper 15" thick Tilt-Up Wall with plenty of rebar, WOOOHOOO!! France Lighting Solutions Power Supplies of course. The Atlas series with diagnostic LED lamp The Finished Day Look The Night Finished Look. For typical 5" deep return channel letters with front illumination light output measured right on the face for decent or as most LED MFG's like to say..."usable light"... if you have a light meter on hand ....."usable light" is right around 150 - 165 Foot Candles....that's just your typical even lighting number. The BrightON II at full stretch already exceeds that and with fewer modules compared to competitors using higher powered LED modules. This set right here gave us an average of 213 Foot Candles right on the face despite the light loss coming out of the rear. Brighton LEDs are "Competitive Light"...NOT "Usable Light" In the end? The client letting me know that they are VERY happy and that the sign looks AWESOME. These are the types of signs you flash to potential clients....Bright, Dependable, & Happy Reviews by Happy Customers. If this sign was in a shopping center the light output alone would stand out, and far above other competing signs. The Recipe: Autohaus Plexiglas MG 3M Translucent Films BrightON II 24v LEDs France Lighting Solutions LED Power Supplies Westrim Burroughs Pattern Paper Plasco Trim Cap Paige Wall Busters 3/16" Polycarbonate Plaskolite

Our 24V France "True Power" Lighting Solution products that will power our Sign Syndicate Brighton LEDs have finally arrived and are now listed up in our Online Shopping Cart. France Lighting Solutions True Power LED Power Supplies are the Electric Industries ONLY Power Supply you can load to 100%....not 85%...not 80% like most....BUT 100%. That means more LED Modules per Power Supply and of course a higher rated Power Supply You'll be able to power up 120 .8watt BrightON II LED Modules on a single 96W France LED Power Supply for all your channel letter and sign cabinet projects!!! That means cost savings in using less LED Power Supplies in using a 24V system over a 12V system. A 24V System halves the Amperage reducing the Heat, & Resistance running across your LED Modules over a 12V system which improves liability to your system Two HUGE pluses for your projects, High-End, High Efficiency Constant Current 24V BrightON LEDs powered by True Power France Lighting Solutions Engines.

Maybe I should have titled it "That BrightON Halo Illumination" Thought I would share a project where our new High-End 24 volt, .8watt BrightON II LED Modules were used. As I've discussed before in the past. There is a difference and a gap between "Usable Light" and "Competitive Light". The BrightON II is the most efficient (Light per power) LED Module in it's class, and it is the definition of Competitive Light. As explained here and suggested for spacing, it was chosen to use the 3" module spacer, and obviously you'll see as you scroll down the spacing could have even been much farther apart. Using the 3" spacers or 5" on center module to module spacing of the .8 watt will give you that extra punch for Halo and Day / Night faces, and you're looking at only $2 a foot buying a single bag of modules. Important note is what you're getting for that $2 a foot. Very easily module to module spacing could have been 7" OC, and a $1.45 a foot. The Grand Result? No over exposure here to make the lighting more extreme than "IRL"...in real life. because I have another picture to share here of a neighboring sign that is made up of your standard front illuminated channel letters. This is the very visual explanation of "Competitive Light". The BrightON II Modules will give sign shops more versatility with their lighting projects, eliminating a 3 diode module & eliminating stocking more various modules with just simple spacing making the BrightON II a more universal product in your shop. The reason? Because the BrightON II meets or exceeds the Performance of most 3 diode LED Modules on the market on Maximum Efficiency of 24V. Also, the long module to module wire leads. Could you just imagine for a second the BrightON II LED modules in the neighboring Coffee Sign at the maximum stretched module to module spacing of 7.625" or 1.57 ($1.33 a foot) modules per foot? I can! Something is being left out here and I have to discuss what completes this High-End system? That would be adding a France Lighting Solution LED Power supply of course In this case the 24V France Atlas with built in LED indicator light for proper function, bringing more Quality & Dependability to the project. The most important aspect of this job was the feedback from the client. They were VERY impressed with their sign when they drove by at night to see what their identity looked like. Their face will be your face. These are the types of results you will get with the BrightON II LED Modules. Finished jobs will sell themselves. Happy, impressed clients will sell, and market for you...provided you not only sold them a good product but good service as well. Come night, the mere visual can attract potential customers and a resume address can assure and close sales prospects, end results will be referral makers! FRANCE LED POWER SUPPLIES http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/store/category/22-led-power-supplies/

Introducing our new Sign Syndicate BrightON II LED module. It's the newest all around LED Module for your Channel Letter, Sign Cabinet, and Linear Lighting needs. BrightON, pronounced like the city Just like our BrightON Sunfire LED Module, the II is just as unique. The BrightON II rids the need for shops having to stock a 2 and 3 Diode Module for different size lettering. The BrightON II meets or exceeds the performance of most 3 Diode LED Modules on the market with our Maximum performance efficiency at 24V The BrightON II LEDs are under driven for Improved Thermal Performance Through all the various testing we have done here on the Sign Syndicate when it came to Neon or LED illuminated channel letter testing as well as feedback from customers who purchase our NC Reckless LED Line. When it comes to illuminating signs, there is a divide between, Very Bright / Competitive Lighting / Usable Light. Competitive Light begins around the 170+ Foot Candles on a sign face surface, Brighter Light 190 FC+ and above. Anything under 150 Foot candles is just Usable, or Acceptable light. To date, our BrightON II is the most efficient LED module in it's class in light output per power given. Below are some our biggest competitors that we all see from cover to cover advertised in monthly paid brochure trade magazines. For our own purposes we've limited it to two, because.....they have been the most marketed and we can't help but turn a corner in this industry and there they are, an ad to tell us how great they are. Also listed, we have our NC Reckless LED Line. The test channel are 4" x 2'. Same as our Great White Hope II Test. 4" tall because our industry standard has usually been, anything (stroke) beyond 4" will require another stroke of Neon, or LED Row. The Hanley PE-4 is a 4 diode module with 3 mods, & the Hanley PE-2 is a 2 diode module with 4 mods in the channel Principal Heavy Weight is 3 diodes per module, and 4 modules in the channel NC Reckless-2 is a 2 diode module with 6 mods, and Reckless-3 is a 3 diode module with 4 mods in the channel BrightON II is the same spacing and module count as the Hanley PE-2, or 2 diode mod, 4 mods in the channel From the sign surface light output measured in Foot Candles, combined with the Foot Candles per watt, the BrightON II has exceeded our competition with like modules in it's class. Even some modules with higher output rating (1.32w, .92w) module and a higher mod count in the same measured channel. In other words with the BrighON II, you're getting more light with less modules, more light at a lower project cost, and more light at a lower cost of operation. That's efficiency in a lot more ways than one!!! A single bag of BrightON II LED modules is composed of 80 modules. Fully stretched Module to Module on a string gives you 7.625" on center, 5.5" of wire between module, that's 50.83 Linear feet of light, or 1.57 modules per foot. We purposely gave the BrightON II just like the SunFire an extra wire length. The extra wire length was configured to give extra space for not only for changing your lighting needs, but also to save labor on single stroke LED layouts for going in and back out of letter layout for "Bars, Extensions, & Serifs" such as E's and F's among others without having to make a splice. The extra wire length will also allow you enough wire to jump and make a 5" row to row. One of the bigger feedback's we received was a lack of wire space. With our High Efficiency diodes combined with 175˙ Optics, our modules don't need to be spaced so close together for light uniformity. All of our orders will be sent with three convenient module spacers for laying out your modules faster rather than by naked eye, or tape measuring out if you need. SPACERS The three spacers serve a purpose. The 175˙ Deg Optics gives you a unique ability to spread the High-End Super Efficient Light of the BrightON II LED Module. Fully stretched you already have above competitive light as listed above in a 5" channel. - Fully Stretched is 7.625" Module to Module OC, giving you slightly lower lighting levels than listed down below. This is for your typical everyday channel letters you can economize and still have above competitive light. (50.83 Liner feet of light, $1.33 a foot) - The first spacer is 5" long for a 7" Module to Module OC, giving you 192 FC on a 5" deep sign face surface, this is for your typical everyday channel letters. (46.66 Linear feet of light, $1.45 a foot) - The second spacer is 4" long for a 6" Module to Module OC, giving you 200 FC on a 5" deep sign face surface, this is for your competitive build channel letters that might require more light (Freeway Visible) and for Halo Lighting (40 Liner feet of light, $1.70 a foot) - The third spacer is 3" long for a 5"Module to Module OC, giving you 235 FC on a 5" deep sign face surface, this is for your specialty channel letters that may have Day/Night faces that you want to look White White at Night, and NOT a murky dirty Gray, or again for Halo Lettering that need that PUNCH! (33.33 Linear feet of light, $2.04 a foot) CHANNEL COMPARISON (Our Old High End vs Our New High End) Our Highly Light Efficient .8w BrightON II LED Module (175 Deg) vs NC's .9w LED(140 Deg) HLC LED Module Series with Samsung chips. You see these Module casings used by many GOQ, to just about any Korean or Chinese Based Module. There are a couple of factors that can make a LED module Light Efficient, optics and of course the chip. Our BrightON series has both, bigger part rests on the chip. I know this because early on development I tried to integrate the Samsung chip to our module casings, and well...with the amount of light we got from power driven....it got it's ass kicked by the one we chose. You can't just throw in any or some decent chip in a cool looking module with cool optics and expect it to go perform well.....that's like throwing in a Yugo motor in a Ferrari body and having great expectations Here is a what's in a 4" x 2' Channel with standard 5" depth NC has 6 LED modules. 6 x .9w = 5.52 watts and achieving 203 Foot candles of light on a #7328 sign surface, and doing it at 35 Foot candles per watt Our High-End BrightON II has only 4 modules. 4 x .8w = 3.36 watts and achieving 214 Foot candles of light on a #7328 sign surface, and doing it at 63.09 Foot candles per watt. We always hear marketing words of "Energy Efficient". What is Energy Efficient? It's comparing two equal sources and when one is doing it for equal or greater with a lesser cost of operation...that is "efficient" We're comparing one compartment with six .9w modules against another with only 4 modules that are only .8w each. You would think the bigger wattage LED should win right? Well....... Don't get me wrong about NC. In the LED Module world, NC LED Kicks the crap out of a lot LED Manufacturers, ALOT. I've shown and illustrated that many times here on the Sign Syndicate. But....Every Dog has his day... Wait, let me walk some of this back. Not all NC LED modules are the same as I've explained in the past, only our special configured Reckless was the one that really kicked ass. LIGHT SPLASH RADIANCE Both Modules are 3" from the wall surface. Check out that angle and splash radiance of both. You can't even identify the horizontal measuring tape with the high powered NC LED Module, look at the small light output range radiating from the NC LED Now the BrightON II...... That's SICK!!! Look at how much light is splashed on the surface each one of the modules is mounted to! In the end,....More light with lesser modules. Efficient Light, Efficient Cost, and it's doing it at a much lesser cost of operation. CONSTANT CURRENT Beside the important aspect that the BrightON II LEDs are 24 volt modules, most importantly they are Constant Current....NOT Constant Voltage. What is that? Constant Current Systems mean, every LED module is integrated with a Current Driver (Not just resistors) for protection keeping the current the same one each module from the first to the last module on a string. What does this do? In short, Constant Voltage LED Systems have no regulation, only resistors for protection. On a Constant Current System the brightness of the first LED on a long string is just as bright as the last LED on the same string, unlike CV where the first LED will be brighter than the last. The first LED on a CV system is taking a bigger hit from the power supply than the last. Protection from LED Power Supplies. Each LED PS has a different DC Output, it can range from 12v to 12.25v. Each additional traction of a volt can kill a CV LED system because it's NOT regulated and it's taking a bigger hit. As mentioned on the Sign Syndicate before in the past, while installing a set of CV Permlight LEDs for our Neon & LED Bench Mark Test (The Great White Hope) where all strings were set on a dedicated PS, it wasn't noticed that a manually adjustable LED Power Supply was previously set for 12.20 volts not 12.0 volts from previous benchmark testing, and within 30 days the LED string had degraded 30%. This is what a fraction of a volt can do to various LED product lines based on how they are developed With CC LEDs, the output of the PS is regulated across the LED modules, more power won't hurt it. When you hear such words affiliated to LED product lines such as "Eco, or value line" it means Constant Voltage Constant Current LEDs have longer life spans because they are protected. We've always been very big here on the Sign Syndicate about Constant Current systems 24 VOLT SYSTEM The Complete BrightON Line is 24v, NOT 12v, there is a clear advantage for this. First and most importantly, this 24v system operation halves the amperage running through the Wiring and Modules reducing the heat, resistance, & improving reliability You'll also have more voltage headroom for longer runs. With a 24v system you can load more on a power supply. With a 12v system you are limited to a 60W power supply channel with U.L. regulations, with a 24v you are forded 96W. That's a lot more modules per channel! Less cost, less labor, less moving parts so to speak. 24 VOLT POWER SUPPLIES We recommend using our choice LED Power Supply for our system, and that is non other than France Lighting Solutions. France isn't just some brand we so happen to stock. We went out of our way and asked them (truth be told....I got on my hands and knees and begged) if we could compliment our High-End BrightON Line with their High-End LED Power Supplies. Here is the reason why for my pride swallowing experience. With your typical LED Power Supply (Insert name here), you'll be loading (depending on brand) it to 80%-85% of your full 96W channel, or 77 watts to 81 watts of LEDs, leaving room for voltage loss etc to keep from stressing your power supply. With our Brighton II LEDs, that's 96 to 101 LED Modules. We want to offer nothing but the best. With France Lighting Solutions...and if you've been in this electric sign industry long enough to know when it comes to their Neon or LED Power Supplies, you're getting not only quality, but longevity, & dependability. With the France Atlas & Eco Series that we stock to compliment our system, you are getting the only, ONLY "True Power" LED Power Supply in the industry True Power means that you have the ability to load their power supplies to Full Load. YES...Full Load That's the way they were engineered, that's the way they are made, and that is what you're getting alongside our LEDs to give you a complete High-End System for all your Sign & Lighting Projects The Atlas series even has a LED indicator light to tell if you're loading too many LEDs on the power supply. With a France "True Power" LED Power Supply you can load 120 BrightON II LED modules, that's almost a 24 module difference over using another brand LED power supply. That 24 more additional modules can make the difference in NOT having to add another or multiple LED power supplies for a single sign or project. You will be saving cost and labor from having to add another or multiple LED power supplies for a Sign or Cabinet. We will be stocking 24V France 96W, 60W, and 30W LED Power Supplies http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/store/category/22-led-power-supplies/ SPECIFICATIONS - High-End 24V LED Module System - .8 watts per module - 155 lum/W Efficiency - 175 Degree High Efficiency Uniformity Optics - Constant Current, NOT Constant Voltage - IP67 - 5 Year, 50,000 Hour Warranty - 6500K Temperature Light - U.L. File E520387 - 80 Modules Per Bag (Fully Stretched 50.83', 1.57 Mods/Ft) - Load 120 Modules on a single France 96W LED PS For Place Orders by phone, by email, or for inquires we can be contacted at (858) 880-1400 - orders@thesignsyndicate.com or use our online shopping cart.

We always strive on information here on The Sign Syndicate. Everything from National Sign & Subcontractor Reviews on "payments & relationships" to "How To"...better ways to build sign systems and projects based on longevity & reliability . So, we're very, VERY excited (I want to say "Super Excited" but it's so over used) to announce our whole new upcoming Sign Syndicate 24V BrightON (Pronounced like the city) LED system just got even better. Better because we will be complimenting our High Powered, High Efficient LED Module system with France Lighting Solutions 24V LED Drivers. I have talked about France products quite a bit here over the years, mainly when it comes to Neon. The quality, that high bar of standards, most importantly....the "Reliability". From Neon to LED Power Supplies, expect nothing different, nothing less from France Lighting Solutions. But, actually here is something different about their LED Drivers, something "Cool". The France LED Drivers are the ONLY drivers that are "True Power". What is "True Power"? In short......It means they are the ONLY LED driver in the electric sign industry that you can load to the MAX. Not the typical load to 80% - 85% leaving room for voltage loss, wiring etc. Load to MAX.....if you want. We are just a month away from releasing the Sign Industries most light/power efficient LED Module on the market that will definitely put it's mark on this industry. You'll be able to get the most light for very little cost of operation. Get more for less.....be on a 24V system which give sign shops the unique ability to load more modules on a single power supply. A 24V system is half the amperage and reduces the heat, resistance, that run across the wiring and modules compared to a 12V system, improving reliability of your LED Lighting System. With a 24V system you're not restricted to 60 Watts per channel, BUT 96 Watts.....that's almost double! Complimenting our new LED System with France's "True Power" LED Drivers and adding them to your electric sign projects you'll be able to load 120 .8w BrightON 2 LED modules. That's 76.25 Linear feet of high powered LED modules for anything from everyday channel letters to cabinet & perimeter lighting. For our High Powered Sign Cabinet Lighting module, BrightON SunFire (3w), that France "True Power" LED Driver will give you up to 32 Linear Feet for your Sign Cabinets France Lighting Solutions DRV24100E Dry & Damp Location France Lighting Solutions DRV24100A Dry, Damp & WET Location Those Sign Face Foot Candle numbers!!! Look at the "Foot Candles Per Watt" (Higher is better) Our complete High Powered High Efficient BrightON LED System with France Lighting Solutions, that's DOUBLE reliability!!! Now Available!!! France "True Power" 24V LED Power Supplies http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/store/category/22-led-power-supplies/

Let's suppose you just signed a huge contract with your client work over 250k of exposed and halo lighting composed of pylon signs, wall signs, & border tubing. The application only makes for the use of outdoor transformers. Your client also demands a 5 year worry free electrical warranty which also includes the labor of any component change out that you chose for their project. As a seasoned sign shop and a professional who has years of case history to look back, and having the proper background on how to install, & load.....Which Transformer would you specify into your project if all were made available to you? Which GTO manufacturer would you use, again with every option available to you from your local supplier.

I took on this job recently because I wanted to purposely show what and how you can use the electric sign components that we stock here on The Sign Syndicate http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/store/category/3-sign-supplies/ as well as a few other vendors that are Vendors/friends of the SS I got this job from an architect that has worked on similar projects that I have over the last few years. He likes my work and he passed my name to a client of his that needed some sign work done. As most of you know I don't really do signs any more, I'm not in the Yellow Pages, I don't advertise and I do select jobs from time to time but only for past clients or word of mouth where their mainly non-bid. Now I'm mainly a Distributor now but I do like to dip in from time to time as Electric Signs are my passion and I will always want to keep my self updated and informed about codes, new products etc. This is knowledge & information I can also pass onto my clients, theirs nothing worse than a rep who doesn't understand what it is YOU do, what they sell, or understand your need. So let's start from the beginning. Here's the old sign and the beginning of the renovations for the venture I usually use GE Lexan from my normal supplier for the reverse channel backs but now they stock some Polycarb from Shefield. I'm just routing all the backs and 1/2" acrylic push thru's on my 4'x8' ShopBot CNC Table using my favorite Belin Bits. Now usually I make all my PolyCarb rear tabs or brackets out of the aluminum scrap and simply brake them into angles. But I wanted to try out Transco To Go's Channel Bond since it's made for bonding PolyCarb to Poly Carb. I could have saves time and used a heat rod and made 90's with these but I like to try new things. So I started off making some polycarb angles with some cutouts done on the router table One light application from a #48 applicator and clamp for an hour, I imagine I could have left on for less time but I have a lot of clamps and not a whole lot of letters Light bond to the letter backs Now Channel Bond is amazing, this stuff is strong! Try and break it! You'll probably hurt yourself trying. Notice the one metal brackets, that's for letter pan bond and part of the bonding system that is grounded back at the tranny box or raceway. You have to have at least one of those. My 1/2" acrylic push thru's with 3M white trans film. More Channel Bond for bonding the 1/2" acrylic letters to my rear cab diffuser acrylic. I cut my lettering in the aluminum .03 larger than the acrylic letter, this provides a good snug fit with very little spacing between the letter and metal. Done, Channel Bond cures pretty fast. My color of halo lighting to be used for the letters is orange. So for that we used Voltarc's Lead free 12mm Green pumped red neon gas to give it that orange color. For the Cabinet illumination we used EGL's ol Faithful Designer 13mm CL65 Tri-Phosphor glass. We also used the Transco To Go's Novaglo Lead Free Electrodes. This install day sucked, it was 85F with 84% humidity and all I did was sweat with clothes sticking to me the whole day. Here's my dad who enjoys helping me from time to time pounding all the drill point prior to busting out the hammerdrill. This is my favorite pattern paper by Westrim it comes in a 48" roll and has a 1" grid throughout. The patterns had to go up very fast before they started to wrinkle, can you tell from the pic? Work in progress Working on the rear parapet wall raceway. This sign is powered by two new, older generation Transco Transformer which was not a lot of fun to find some old stock of, but it was possible with a few calls and two France transformers as well. I like to use the manly 12kV & 15kV transformers, not the guurly 9's and smaller. I have CL signs that have been up 16-18 years and have yet to get a service call, load em up right, install them right, and you won't have any problems. Simple as that! The GTO for the system is Transco To Go's 14AWG .375" silicone GTO-15 cable. This is the first time I've ever used a thick 14AWG GTO cable, it's STILL very flexible! The Transco To Go 20amp Disconnect Switch rated for outdoor. Of course the double nutted system ground (on the bottom), and service ground (top) or the transformers. Transco To Go's Silicone "Easy Caps" with the silicone GTO. Behind in the rear you'll see my bond that is attached to the metal bracket to also in the rear electrobit grounding ring that bonds the flex to the system ground on the raceway. Speaking of Electrobit grounding rings, good luck trying to find these anymore, I had to use a few grounding rings made by another company whom I don't even know the name of of their thinner and not so bulky or as wide. But i think I like electrobits ring screw better. Wish I would have taken a pic of the ring in question but I don;t think I have one to snap a shot of. Anyone know who makes these? I don't even know how I got mine. El Fin! I love Matthes (PPG) Paint finish, it looks so nice. I'll have to go by at a later date to take a night shot. The clients were very happy with their sign. Anyway, I thought taking this job would give me a great opportunity to post later and show you all how and what you can use on your electric sign jobs, bring about new ideas with what we stock here on The Sign Syndicate.com located here. http://www.thesignsy...-sign-supplies/