Signage Tips: Don’t Wait ‘Til Spring, Do It Now!
Oct 14th 2009adminAdvertising & Business & Marketing & Signage
Like it or not, winter is on its way! Your sign will thank you for paying attention to it now, rather than waiting for problems to arise in a couple of months.
Jim Clarke, Customer & Technical Services Manager at EM Plastic & Electric Products Ltd., a major supplier of electrical components to the sign industry, offers the following suggestions to act on before the cold weather hits:
Failing lamps cause failing ballasts:
Starting the sign with burned out lamps is a sure way to early failure of the ballast (the most expensive part of the electrical system in a sign). A burned out or failing lamp puts extra strain on the ballast, which causes premature failure and the cold weather already puts a strain on the ballasts to start the lamps. Lamps are cheap – around $10-12.00 each. Ballasts run $150.00 and up and they take more time to replace. A technician’s time is very expensive so if you can avoid a visit, it’s money in your pocket.
If a ballast operates 4 lamps and two of those are failing, it makes sense to replace all four lamps now and pay $50.00 for lamps. You will have a good looking sign over the winter and avoid paying for a new ballast at $150.00 plus $50.00 for new lamps plus the technician’s time in a month or so when the whole thing goes pear-shaped. At $75.00-$90.00 an hour for the sign technician to be on site, doesn’t it make more sense to have him come in now and replace all the lamps? You don’t want him making a weekly call to your business to replace one or two lamps at a time. Think how bad your sign would look with a mix of dark and light areas.
Another thing to consider is that in winter, our days are shorter and nights are longer so our signs need to be illuminated for a longer period of time. That’s more work for the ballasts and the lamps. You need to take care of your sign to ensure it performs effectively. Ballasts should last five years, lamps 9,000 to 12,000 hours. If you aren’t getting this life out of your electrical components, perhaps you should look at your sign maintenance program.
At ICSigns, we recommend a site check at least twice a year to assess deterioration of the lamps and ballasts. If the lamps are starting to blacken at the ends, it’s a sign that they are old. It makes sense to make any repairs in the fall – before the harsh weather of winter arrives and to replace all of the lamps as part of your maintenance program. Your technician will thank you, your sign will stay brighter longer and your costs will be controlled.
Finally, it’s important to dispose of the lamps in an eco-friendly manner! Fluorescent lamps have mercury in them which is deemed a hazardous waste, so they cannot go into regular landfill. A call to your local municipality will tell you where to dispose of these items.
Happy Signing,
Drew.
