My hospital customer wants 12"tall satin aluminum letters with a "back glow" of hidden LED lights so they get the light washing out around the letters at night. Is there an LED that works outdoors, 6 stories up in high wind/rain/bird environment? Their architect specked the LED because of its long lifeability and lack of maintenence needs (like changing bulbs). What are my options?
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
LED's themselves are weatherproof, it's the connections between them that you have to make sure are sealed up.
They are outdoor durable, you should contact Sloan or Permalight for specs, I just hope the architect didn't spec white, it is way more expensive than red, green or blue, it illuminates unevenly(varies in shades of white), and not as bright, the lettrs can be thinner than normal halo illumination, but still should be thick enough to not have hot spots. By the way 12" letters seem a little small for a 6 story buiding......
[ December 29, 2003, 06:02 PM: Message edited by: Rick Chavez ]
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Do you have to be a licensed electrician to work with LED's? I'm curious as I have soem things I have wanted to make and market but didn't know if I could do it legally. I tried searching the web but didn't come up with much.
I seem to recall someone mentioining UL Certification for LED's but I could find anything on their site either!
Thanks.
Posted by Jim Bagaas (Member # 3808) on :
I agree thats a wee bit small for that height.. customers always right though...... Are your electic stuff inside or in a channel? Also you can get the lamps with different light spreads ( 8 or 12 degrees) the degrees will show different on a halo set-up. Your letters are small but you should try to cover the lamps and such a bit with 1/16" lexan to keep things clean and dry,birds also...
Posted by Mike Duncan (Member # 316) on :
If you make the backs clear polycarbonate the light should spill out OK I would think, and the components would be protected inside the letter. 12" letters should be readable at 500'-600', but would appear really small I would think-I know what you are saying about the customer always being right. I think if you use 12 volt leds, you may not have to worry about UL, but don't quote me. Have fun with this job! Mike Duncan (from the Left Coast)
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
Since when is a customer right when you all agree that 12" is too small-Customers are idiots---- especially architects hehehe
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
If I remember right, they are low voltage which means no UL, if they needed to be UL, the stroke have to be pretty wide (If I remember right 2" from the lamp to edge of the letter-in this case 4 1/2"-4 3/4" strokes), kinda hard with small letters. I recently designed letter with white halo, and it looked bad-we put diffusion vinyl and tried other things-the color still looked uneven-though Phillip never mentioned color....
Posted by TransLab (Member # 470) on :
Look into GELcore lighting
3.5 v -doesn't require license to install 200000 hrs life
They have a selection of indoor/outdoor power supplies
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Gemini makes an awesome channel letter case, and Gerber now offers led lights to install inside the sealed unit....a great idea! Gerber calls it Northstar Lighting Systems, (I think). I saw it at a trade show in September @ Advantage Sign Supply.
I still think I would hire a licensed person to install. That way, my reputation stays in tact, even tho the profit is slightly smaller.
Posted by Philip Steffen (Member # 2235) on :
more information regarding my project- the halo color is white. 12" letters is still the basis for the quote but I got some letter visibility stats from Gemini and USSC that I'll feed to the architect & see if he responds to reason. Is neon the wrong way to go Here? (ie: Is LED better?) Thanks to all for their $0.02 already. Phil.
Posted by Jim Bagaas (Member # 3808) on :
If they will go bigger,neon will give you a much better look. Of course there will be more work and extra stuff to worry about.lots of electic things to protect from the weather ( high voltage )
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
I don't reccomend white halo, (unless you are stuck with a small letterstroke) and I think if the LED salesman was honest, they would probably tell you the same. Neon will illuminate it better-I would have a different opinion if it were red, green or yellow....
![[Dunno]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
I think if you use 12 volt leds, you may not have to worry about UL, but don't quote me. Have fun with this job!![[Wink]](wink.gif)
hehehe