street sign illumination

[washman9]

we have a standard street sign / marquee that uses traditional ballast with 8 ft. HO flouro bulbs. have been in business 10 years and every year we have to pay for tech to come out and change ballast and bulbs. this has mostly been due to ballast failure and not bulb. over the past year i left the sign on 24 hours a day hoping to avoid ballast failure due to off/on cycles. it proved to be no better as i am now facing same problem. our sign is 15 feet high and very close to elec lines, so doing work myself is not really an option. sign company charges 300-400 dollars for this repair. is there any thing i can do convert this sign over to more reliable and cheaper lighting solution, particular something that does not rely upon ballast start up. no trying to re invent the wheel, just squeeze pennies with this economy. thanks

 

[smokun]

Bright Idea

I suggest looking into LED lighting. Upfront costs are higher but after that, you enjoy the lowest cost... and the brightest lighting and most vivid colors. Not all sign companies are in a position to supply it, but it's well worth the search.

-Steve

 

[washman9]

do you know if there is a company making 8 foot tubular LED bulbs that could be retrofit into my sign and do they require a ballast?

 

[Randy]

I think you might have another problem. Is the sign company using the correct ballast? The ballast should last a lot longer than a year. I have the same type sign and I haven’t touched the ballasts or re-lamped the sign in 8 years and it still works. You might would to look for another sign company to re-lamp your sign.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I think something is wrong with the sign co. I get 7-8 yrs w/probably about the same setup. The ballast is maybe getting wet, or low voltage. Either that or find a handyman guy to dig into it, I did that and he punched holes in bottum of sign to drain water. The sign guys are not always on your side.

 

[Waxman]

Punching holes to drain out water and prolong the life of the electronics? That's pure brilliance!

 

[MEP001]

I do that with the in-bay bill acceptors - after I saw the boards were getting wet I drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom. It's impossible to spray enough water into it now to get the board wet.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If the sign is totally sealed perhaps there is also an issue with excessive heat buildup. Some ventilation holes that will not allow water infitration or even a small fan for circulation might help.

 

[pitzerwm]

Most of those signs need a fan or a couple of fans. Actually, heat kills/shortens the life of electronics, so I usually add cooling to my stuff. You can also get some liquid plastic to spray on the boards, to help seal them, not a bad idea, cheap insurance.

 

[washman9]

appreciate all the suggestions. if it ever quits raining here we will look into these.