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can anyone help i cannot get access into light-box?
This light box was just delivered to me. I can’t make my own until I can be approved for the electric work so I had to have it made by another company.
The electrics are bolted to the bottom of the box and it looks a problem waiting to happen to me. I think the wireing etc should be up off the floor a bit. Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this properly? Also, the heads from the bolts for the ballast etc are sticking out the bottom and I will need to space the sign box up from the base it will sit on. I have some 3" squares of Sintra left over from another job. Would these make suitable washers to hold the thing up?
The pics of the screws are self explanatory. The 2 pics are of the same screw from different angles. The head is also cammed out…had to use vice grips to get it out. The rest of the screws were slightly better. Not sure how I’ll fix that yet.Adrian
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18 Replies
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Rats…looks like I can’t add the images to this post. Never mind.
Adrian
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The ballasts should be fixed to the back of the sign, never at the bottom as water will get in and you can imagine the problems involved with that. Are you sure the box is not upside down! (?)
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No, it’s right side up. The sign panels are hinged at the top for maintenance. It is a two sided sign but I would have thought the ballast could have gone at the top. I think I’ll make a bracket to get the ballast up off the floor. Some aluminum and a few rivits will fix it I guess.
Adrian
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I would shift the electrics onto the back panel as Mike has said, then drill out the pop rivets in the bottom of the box which will now become water drain holes then inside the box make up a flat plate to cover the holes, (normally there is a channel in the centre of the aluminum section) make the plate quite big, covering the holes by a good few inches either end, this will stop the light from bleeding out ( will take some experimenting) or you could just re rivet the holes and paint if needed??.. Hope that makes sense..
Simon
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Thanks for the helpful advice. Unfortunately there is no back panel per se as the sign sits on top of a post and is lettered and lit on both sides. It looks like the best I can do is get the ballast off the floor and hope for the best. The ballast will get dripped on but I suppost they are built to sustain a certain amount of that?
This is just a poorly engineered thing. I may have to get certified to make light boxes myself so I can do it right in future. I would run a shelf across the inside between the tubes for the ballast to sit on. I’m just worried that If anything ever went wrong I could get in trouble because of the certification thing.Adrian
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Are you sure you aren’t looking at it upside down? Projecting signs and the like are ususlally made with the electrics suspended under the top profile?
This is how I try and make most of my electrical signs- backing is OK- better than the bottom- but there isn’t as much strength in the thin backing panels and you can still get a fair bit of water running down the back of the box.
As a preference I do the suspended option
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This just keeps getting better and better. Now I have discovered that they built the sign with fixed sockets at each end of the tubes! I can’t get the tubes out to replace them when the time comes! Shame on me for not looking over this sign very carefully before I brought it home!!!
Adrian
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Fixed sockets? not heard of them before?
Sometimes they look solid but do have a spring type thing in them and can be pulled out slightly to remove the tube (normally one end only moves on this type).. Post some pic of the box, then we can see if its that bad, or standard constructionSimon
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could the sockets be the twist fit type ? ie turn the tube 90degrees and it will fall out, most new style fittings are like this.
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Your right Hugh, forgot about that type 😳 thats what there be..
Simon
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No guys…it has non moving, fixed sockets at both ends. They are not the twist and fall out type tubes. The idiot at the sign shop made the box too small so the only way the tubes would fit was to use the fixed socket at both ends. They admit to using fixed sockets at both ends. They told me this is standard construction!
I didn’t notice the socket problem but the electrician who hooked up the wires after I installed the sign did. Thank goodness he did. I would be having this nightmare sometime next year when the first tube burns out.
The customer won’t pay for the sign because it isn’t built right.(I don’t blame him a bit.) And now I can’t seem to get the salesman to return my calls…..what a supprise!
Adrian
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oh dear, hope it al sorts itself out soon for ya,
how on earth do they get the tubes in ? surely they dont fit the ends and then just slide them in, how are they fixed ?
re, the fall out type tubes,
i knocked the 6ft tube out in my workshop the other night, it bounced a couple of times before resting on the carpet, can you imagine how long it took me to get the thing back in it’s holders… in the dark !! didnt realise the fitting had the twist type so was there ages ! -
Hi ya, if the box is D/sided then you have no back to fit to. i would refit the geartray in the middle of the side that is being fitted to the wall. Then get some bell wire and extend the cables to reach the tubes. Good luck
Andy
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[quote= how on earth do they get the tubes in ? surely they dont fit the ends and then just slide them in, how are they fixed ? [/quote]
I was able to pry the bottom tube out by applying a huge amout of pressure to the sheet metal raceway the sockets are mounted on and shoving on the tube at the same time. I was scared the tube would shatter/explode and slice my hands up. I was only able to do this while standing on scaffolding. There is no way I could do it standing on a ladder. I didn’t try the other 2. I have no idea how the sign maker got the tubes in but I’d pay good money to see him do it at the top of a ladder this February.
I’m hoping that the sockets can be changed to the twist type. It’s that or I want a new box or a refund.
Adrian
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Dude,
Get the monkeys who made the box to start again and get you a new one. You shouldn’t have to muck about and whatever you do it aint going to be as good as a new box.
Making sign cases isn’t rocket science so get em to do it right!!
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quote andytez999:Hi ya, if the box is D/sided then you have no back to fit to. i would refit the geartray in the middle of the side that is being fitted to the wall. Then get some bell wire and extend the cables to reach the tubes. Good luck
Andy
Andy,
The sign sits on its base at the top of a pole.
The ballast etc. are of little concern now that I have discovered that the tubes can’t be changed.Adrian
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quote southernandy:Dude,
Get the monkeys who made the box to start again and get you a new one. You shouldn’t have to muck about and whatever you do it aint going to be as good as a new box.
Making sign cases isn’t rocket science so get em to do it right!!
I’m working on it. I did find the advice here helpful though. I have never seen the inside of lighted box sign before so I knew nothing of how it should have been done. I know a lot more about what to look out for now.
I did manage to get the salesman on the phone and he says he will get back to me after lunch. On the bright side, they haven’t billed the Visa card I gave them yet…..I’ll bet you can figure out the rest…..
Adrian
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If you have no luck you’ll have to Just break the tubes, get them out, then get some smaller ones, and some ends plugs (not sure what call them) what fit on the tube, and regig it to fit in..
Simon
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