What's new
By:
Car Wash Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

retrofit road sign with LED's

M

Mel(NC)

Member
I have a very large 3' x 15' double sided sign at my car wash. It is currently set up with (8) 36, (4) 42 and (4) 72 inch T12HO fluorescent tubes. About half of the bulbs are out so I wanted to take the opportunity to convert it to LED's. However, looking around the internet, the best price I can come up with for LED tubes is about $800. I see a lot of sites selling 4' and 8' but not the sizes I need. Rope lighting looks like it would be easy to install but I don't think they would be bright enough.

Any suggestions?
 
Evidently, your bulbs are going the 15' length.
Could you retrofit with LED bulbs going the 3' direction?
A bulb every 12", you would need 15 bulbs @ $10 to $12 apiece.
David
 
Mel, I did the LED rope light retrofit in a 4' x 4' double sided fixture about 8 years ago. But used the warm white bulbs that I was never really happy with. So this past fall I took out the rope lights and installed (4) 2' tube light fixtures as shown in the pics...While it works great and really like the new Daylight tubes, its not perfect. You can see some very light shadows inside the sign if you look hard enough. I can see them, but I doubt anyone else can! To fix it, I was able to find 3' Daylight LED bulbs that I am going to install this spring.

What I would do if I were you, is put (4) 8' tube single bulb fixtures inside the sign. 2 top and 2 bottom and let them over lap in the middle. Or you might be able to put (2) 6' in the top and (2) 6' in the bottom. I think you'll be surprised at how well it lights up.

The pics below of my sign with (4) 2' bulbs is only 32w total! 8w each bulb...I think putting 3' bulbs in will be the ticket. Total will be 48w....My new approach will do away with the fixtures and will use c-clips to hold the bulbs. Then just use wire connectors to wire up the pins. Already tested, works great.

You could get creative with different lengths to make up the 15'. Spaces between the bulbs won't hurt a thing as you can see with what I came up with 1st try. You won't have $100 in the whole retrofit. You can get 4' LED tubes for about $5-6 apiece.

sign_1.jpg


sign_2.jpg


sign_3.jpg
 
You could check with this guy:

Daniel Olson
Sr. Sales Professional
Interlectric Corp.
800-722-2184 x144
daniel.olson@interlectric.com
We Create Light
Please remember to buy USA Made when possible.
Any quotation included in this email transmission is non-binding and provided solely for informational purposes. It shall not be construed as an offer to sell and it is not eligible for acceptance by the recipient of the quotation.

They manufacture LED systems to your specifications. I purchased a retrofit system about three years ago and have been really satisfied.
 
They make 4 & 8 foot led tubes now that are ballast bypass. You run 120vac right into the existing ho fluorescent ends. I have been converting all my bay lighting and sign lighting. A normal 8 foot ho florescent tube uses 110 watts; the led is 43 watts with comparable lumen output. Better yet, no dimming out when cold or flickering when warming up and a 50,000 hour life.
 
I did rope light just like 2biz. It has worked better than anything else I've used. I was nervous at first but very happy with the results.
 
Mel(NC) said:
2biz, I like your concept. How will the C clips work? I am having a hard time visualizing that.
Click to expand...

Here's a few pics to clarify. The C-Clips I found are Spring Stainless Steel. Just bolt or screw them to the frame of the sign to hold the tubes. I'm not going to use the normal rotating tombstones like in a standard tube light fixture. I'll be using female terminals pushed onto the pins. They hold really tight. For obvious reasons, you'll want to put a terminal on each of the 2 pins on each end even though you may not need to wire each pin. But if you daisy chain the wiring, you'll be using each pin to connect lamp to lamp. Keep in mind some of the tube lights are wired different internally. I've seen some where the 2 pins on one end are 120v and neutral. The other end 2 pins are shunted. Nothing goes to them. Most popular wiring are one end of the tube, both pins are 120v, and the other end of the tube both pins are neutral. You'll want to verify which you have by looking at the wiring diagram on the tubes.

c_clip_1.jpg


c_clip_2.jpg
 
What I was going to use are just insulated 1/4" female spade connectors. They fit the pins perfectly, but what you found will work great too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Etowah
Back
Top