need a little help.
i got an early 90's vintage neon beer sign from an empty house that we recommended get torn down.
the neon tubes are in excellent condition, but when i plug it in nothing happens. it has a pull cord and i plan to pull the switch before digging deeper, but if the switch isn't bad it would be the transformer, correct? i'm going to go out to the garage now and test the switch and report back, with pictures.
Very, very interesting! I have never worked on a neon sign. I'll be curious to learn what you find out.
Good idea starting with the switch.
A quick Googles search turned up this site
Switch amd transformer most likely. Takes a lot of juice to light that gas.
so i took things apart. turns out the switch is part of the circuit board in the power supply assembly. it's obsolete so i found the contact info for the company and sent them an email with a picture of the old unit's spec sticker to see what the modern replacement is.
more tubes!
do not open. LOL
Is the board accessible or removable? If the switch is bad I bet you could solder a new one in.
Be careful opening it up. Neon sign transformers make some very high voltage, this isn't your average PC power supply.
the board is accessible but i'm not sure if the switch or something else is the problem. i am waiting to hear back from the company (sure it won't happen on a sunday) so i started cleaning the garage.
I've got a non circuit board... 9kv? maybe transformer sitting in my garage. It was going to be a jacobs ladder 10 years ago and never got that far, if it would help out at all with that sign, probably a long shot, it's yours for shipping.
For real, don't open that box. I ran a sign shop in the nineties and had a guy (not so bright, properly trained but...not so bright) who somehow lived after sending himself sliding forty feet across the concrete floor from berkeleying with one.
There are tools also to check the glass, if there is a crack visible or not the gas escapes and it won't light; it will still hum though.
there is no hum at all. i went over all the glass with a flashlight and my fingers and it all appears good
i did open the box but did not go near the transformer end. i probed the backside of the switch on the board to verify the switch is good.
No hum means the switch or transformer, the switch test ok so the transformer is suspect.
$58 shipped for the new transformer that the manufacturer recommended would probably work since they don't have a direct replacement for the 1211. it screwed right on, connected the wires and...
Victory!
patgizz wrote: $58 shipped for the new transformer that the manufacturer recommended would probably work since they don't have a direct replacement for the 1211. it screwed right on, connected the wires and...
A slam-dunk! Or maybe a slammed-drunk??? 
I don't think I've watched a Cavs game since World B. Free was playing for them, but the sign looks pretty cool.
T.J. wrote: I don't think I've watched a Cavs game since World B. Free was playing for them, but the sign looks pretty cool.
you win the internet for the day with a World B Free reference.
you're missing out, it's fun as hell right now. i know lots of the guys here are like "what is this sports you speak of?" or "basket-what?" or "too busy using my TV to play racing games" but watching LeBron with that "I'm on a G-D mission" look in his eyes is pretty incredible.
At least the power supply that it came with was made here in the States. It's hard to find a power supply these days that isn't made overseas.
92dxman wrote: At least the power supply that it came with was made here in the States. It's hard to find a power supply these days that isn't made overseas.
well, the sign is from 1992. i didn't check to see where the new one was made but it is the same brand.
today's job is clean the sign, as it came from a super nasty eviction house. assuming they left in a hurry as there were still clean clothes folded in the basement on a table by the washer/dryer. people broke in and took most of the good stuff, the owner told me take whatever is left that was good. i got some machinist tools, a nice pipe wrench, and the sign. i hear they're tearing the house down and either going to sell it as a buildable lot or build a nice little ranch on it, as the foundation is horrible. the house itself is bad enough that even if the foundation were not heaving and buckling that it might still not be worth fixing. mickey mouse and his crew did most of the work. sometimes buying houses sight unseen from online bank auction pictures bites you in the behind, this is one of those times for this guy.
BTW. NBA finals time. the light hanging shall happen tonight.
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