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I always love to share some of the projects that I get the opportunity to do once in a while when I do get one. I think these days I take on certain jobs just so I can share here on the Sign Syndicate the applicable use of some of the components that we stock and sell here through this site. Chances are sometimes someone may see something for the first time and that can be helpful.

When I do these various jobs once in a great moon I like to show different vendors that I believe in.

This time it's all Voltarc mixed in with Masters Technologies wet location sleeving and two piece electrode caps powered by Trasnco's military grade all 100% copper balanced Neon Transformers.

So let's start from the beginning.

The old building that's getting renovated. This landmark Tennis Store has been around the neighborhood since the 60's and it's a very known location if you play tennis in San Diego.

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There are no more Electrobit grounding rings available so now I have to turn to Masters Technologies Grounding Plates to bond conduit to conduit and conduit that is attached to the polycarbonate rears and in turn bonding the letter pan

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Here's what I'm working with behind the wall where the sign is located, a block wall with18" of height/clearance from stud floor to roof of wall for electrical access behind the letters

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Ever go to the sign shows years ago and see a lighted neon lamp sitting at the bottom of a fish tank filled with water? Well, this is the stuff...Enter Master Technologies wet location two piece caps and sleeving.

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This is a little further after drilling all the holes and placing all the polycarbonate rears. Here we're using Transco's Silicone Easy Caps and their 14 AWG Silicone GTO. The Neon Lamps are Voltarcs 12mm Green, their sickly bright at night you just wait!

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The small overhang room did make this installation VERY easy! The round logo box we used Voltarc's 15mm (Tri-Lite Triphosphor)

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One of the cool added parts of this jobs is the Stainless Steel overhang face they added for the renovation. Love the look, and we had a part to play to make sure it would make the single stroke of Voltarc's NeoBlue (Purple) pumped red would be applicable for installation.

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Doing a single stroke Neon border in this case Purple can sometimes be a challenge when it comes to installation but I made sure that the 56 liner feet would not be an issue. I wanted everything balanced and what better choice than the use of Transco's balanced UNT Tank to be a part of this project. Transco's Tank is a TRUE balanced Neon Transformer when you Mid-Point Return this unit, most other Neon Transformers you would have to perform a Virtual Ground Installation, and that "Balance" was my plan from the beginning. By doing a Mid-Point Return I turned this 15kv tranny into two separate 7,500kv's. Most importantly, I didn't run 20' of GTO from Transformer Terminal to the outer most electrodes like you see in so many cases (Conventional Series Wiring) which result in numerous maintenance calls down the road. Doing a Mid-Point ground I started at the center of my Neon Load making my runs only 18" from the Transformer secondary Terminals to the first set of electrodes that will work their way out bringing the outermost lamps or connection back to the transformer. If you were to take a High Voltage Probe and measure at the Mid-Point ground terminal you would have about 0 volts. Doing the installation this way assures VERY long life with the secondary conductors as short as possible.

VIRTUAL RETURN WIRING

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CONVENTIONAL WIRING & MID-POINT RETURN WIRING

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Here in the Transco Transformer Box I have the two short secondary home runs splitting the 56' linear lamp foot load in half, with the return path coming from the outer most lamp connectors of the load. The Transco disconnect switch and double nutted ground with the panel ground at the bottom (structural) with the service ground which is the Transformer ground at the top. Before anyone asks, YES this is a shot before the Transformer box is sitting on top of treated studs!

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The Voltarc NeoBlue lamps which are pumped with Neon gas for the purple look with the two piece Masters Technologies wet location caps and sleeving which jackets over the Transco Silicone GTO.

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Finishing up and closing out this deal

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Finally, the night shots of this finished project

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All in all a fun job as usual and like any job with a few headaches along the way, if you have an upgraded membership as a member of "The Order" you can read about that. But nothing that didn't get remedied and most importantly the customer is VERY happy in the end.

Total package 784 watts, 8 hours per day @ 365 days a year roughly $.12kwh = $274.71 as an annual cost of operation for wall sign mixed in with some linear border tube lighting, NOT BAD!!

Special thanks to Joe Walsh of Voltarc for getting me what I needed to get this job completed!!

THE PROJECT RECIPE

Voltarc 12mm Green

Voltarc 15mm Tri-Lite

Voltarc 15mm NeoBlue (Pumped Red)

Transco UNT Tanks

Trasnco 14 AWG Silicone GTO

Trasnco Silicone Easy Caps & Boots

Transco Transformer Boxes

Trasnco Disconnect Switches

FMS Neon Tube Supports

Masters Technologies Wet Location Sleeving

Masters Technologies Wet Location Two Piece Caps

Masters Technologies Grounding Plates

Sheffield Polycarbonate

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You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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  • !llumenati

Comment from the peanut gallery. Going back to your neon guys. If you had the housing holes on your neon pattern, then they did NOT place the double backs in the best place to make your neon installation far easier.

What's the gap between the two middle neon tubes where the leads go?

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The pattern for the letters, logo or border? Oh and no little helpers this time

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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I didn't specifically create a pattern on this one for where the electrodes should be only where the the service holes should be as far as where they align to the wall since I only had a 18" clearance/window on the 6' wall for access behind it to run the electrical.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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Thanks everybody, I truly have fun working on these when the opportunity arises!

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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