Відео

there are different styles of electrodes and have been many variations over the past century. i believe modern electrodes are an alloy... but they definitely a high iron content, because electrodes on outdoor signs with broken tubes will rust. the electrodes have a special getter coating on them that gets activated above a certain temperature, which is why during processing the metal must be heated to a bright, glowing orange. some styles of electrodes have ceramic rings on the tips to prevent side-firing, some have mica spacers to keep the electrodes aligned, etc. the black substance i used was just a tube of RTV i had lying around. id imagine any type of silicone would work, although i have been informed that some types of RTV are acidic and can corrode metal. i haven't verified that personally, but it seems like something that could be plausible and is worth investigating.

neon benders are highly trained artisans; they are so skilled they make it look easy! trying to learn neon bending by yourself is frustrating, expensive, and time-consuming... if i were actually looking to make a living in the craft i would most definitely find a mentor.

maybe im misunderstanding, but that pretty much describes any neon tube...? are you asking where to buy neon tubes? all neon is made by hand, most of it is custom designed for specific signs. you could talk to any neon bender or sign shop that makes neon, and they can throw together anything you want: tube diameter, length, design, etc. in the neon industry one-off type orders are quite common.

it depends on the type of flasher. the flashers shown in this video are designed to be installed with the rotating disk in a vertical position.

i can see your point, and my statement could perhaps be construed as a bit cliché; however, just because something works doesn't mean it's made well. the purpose of the statement in the video is to communicate the lack of quality to the audience so they are aware before they rush out to purchase the item thinking i'm recommending something good. China is absolutely capable of high-quality, precision manufacturing, but most companies opt to have them manufacture for quantity, not quality. perhaps we all, as consumers, should hold companies to higher standards by voting with our wallets.

im still looking for a suitable shop space where i can get my equipment set up, so i can't say for sure. hopefully sooner rather than later!

thank you, im glad you enjoyed it!

the method i show here is by no means the only way to do it; any technique or tool that can carefully remove glass without compromising the tube can be attempted. feel free to share here in the comments if you find more successful techniques!

glad the videos are interesting enough for a re-watch! :) unfortunately, i haven't found a place with a shop yet, so the signs are currently "preserved" in a storage unit. hopefully i will be able to find something eventually, i am eager to get them out!

@@NeonPreservation Rewatching them aswell. Hoefully you can get back to it soon :)

thanks for the tip!

nice score! could be worth a decent amount to the right person depending on the type/condition of the equipment & glass. price and value can be dependent on finding the right buyer (its some pretty niche stuff) and on the part of the country/world youre in. feel free to ask me questions if you want more info about something or help identifying stuff; im not a professional but i know a decent amount about the equipment... and if i dont know i could send you in the direction of people who might: NeonPreservation (at) gmail (dot) com

yes, there were several over the past 100 years or so that neon has been around. Reco, Sangamo, Time-O-Matic, A.B. McMahon, FMS... i have seen a mechanical flasher manufactured by a company called Telex-Aemco; not sure if they were marketed for the sign industry or for some other application, like traffic lights. i feel like there are a couple more companies that i can't remember at the moment as well. that said, it's pretty uncommon to see anything except newer (<40 years old or so) flashers from Signatrol/FMS/Great Lakes Sign Products on ebay.

true, electronic transformers are silent; however, their high-frequency electronic circuitry is not designed to be confined in a metal box or metal enclosure. the capacitance coupling will cause internal corrosion over time, which is bad news for something like a clock mechanism with lots of intricate brass gears. also, i enjoy the slight hum of magnetic transfomers, so i will keep it original. cheers! :)

totally, super simple but really neat!

i did not add any mercury; if i had added it, the tube would glow bright blue!

you're right! the speed lever rotates the position of the coil.

good question! TL;DR-on this transformer it's probably just way easier just to replace the whole thing. but..... transformers that are "dead" or "bad" could possibly still be working, but something may have shorted internally. however, during manufacture, the internal components are potted in tar or epoxy, so troubleshooting anything inside the transformer case ranges from extremely difficult & time consuming to practically impossible. that said, i was wondering the same thing as you, so i opened mine up to see if i could replace just the switch. from what i could tell, the switch input goes to a circuit board that provides the ground fault protection as well as cycling the dim/off/bright/off. i guessed that something on the circuit board had died, so as an experiment i depotted the whole thing, removed the circuit board, and wired the switch directly to the primary coil. the transformer did work after that. i dont remember if i used a new switch or if i kept the original one. i put it back in the metal box without the potting tar and riveted the box closed. the sign now works with the original transformer, but it no longer has the dim feature or ground fault protection. was the circuit board really bad, or had internal arcing caused carbon traces through the tar that was shorting out the windings and removing the tar solved the problem? i dont know. would i ever do it again? debatable. it took HOURS, and it was a horrible, disgusting mess. also, one wrong move and a wire in the transformer windings gets broken and all the work up to that point is a waste. i was honestly amazed when the transformer actually buzzed to life after the whole ordeal. also, old transformers can contain PCBs, which are carcinogenic. i think this one was *probably* new enough to be PCB-free. if you want to see what is involved in just removing a transformer from the case, (not trying to rehab the old transformer), check out this video from NeonSignStuff: ua-cam.com/video/IrMra2uU4Yg/v-deo.html

@@NeonPreservation thanks for the reply! When I opened mine up the switch was easily accessible. It looks just like a ceiling fan pull switch with 3 wires. I tried swapping it out with one from Lowe’s and the light came on but it just had the faintest glow.

ah yes, i thought i remembered the switch having 3 wires... but its been over 2 years since i did that experiment and i couldn't remember for sure, so i just omitted that particular detail to avoid providing false information. also, i just found a picture in my photo library with notes confirming that i replaced the switch with a simpler 2-wire on/off pull chain switch. the original one was all gross and tarry anyway. i even load-tested the core-and-coil guts of the transformer and it was outputting the correct amount of current, so that worked just fine. since your new switch didnt fix the issue, id be willing to bet that circuit board is the culprit. i dont really know much about electronic circuitry & components, so i just got rid of it all together. someone more intelligent than i could probably have replaced whatever failed component on the (gross) circuit board, but eh, at least i got it working again.

i'm not sure if it answers your question, but the motor is a Telechron. the motor induction turns the rotor at 3600RPM, then gears inside the rotor reduce the output to 1RPM. the output shaft of the rotor then turns the gears in the clock that move the hands.

no, sorry... i do not have a schematic. i seem to recall opening it once to take a look inside, and as you can imagine it wasn't too terribly complicated. unfortunately i didnt take any pictures, and i donated the light to goodwill when i moved, so i can't do it again.

@NeonPreservation definitely looks pretty simple in there. And that's really funny, I just got mine at good will for 10 bucks

it really is, so much character! its a shame they dont make them like this anymore.

I own multiple vintage neon clocks, that clock is "High Dollar"

hey there! unfortunately, used neon equipment is pretty scarce. the only thing i can recommend is to be patient and keep an eye out on craigslist, ebay, FB marketplace. if you're impatient and want to spend more money than its worth, there is a 16" ribbon burner with an economizer of questionable quality for sale on ebay right now for $500: www.ebay.com/itm/186402616753 or if you're near the PNW you could try contacting the seller of this bunch of equipment on the chance the stuff is still for sale: www.ebay.com/itm/145684079183

@@NeonPreservation thanks 😊

ive gotten them from various sources: craigslist, FB marketplace, auction... this particular sign i got from an unsolicited message because the seller had heard i buy signs.

yes, that's the plan! :)

@@NeonPreservation when

i will probably make them slowly, one at a time, starting with the smallest and easiest first. that way i can save the larger, more complicated tubes for later as i try to improve my bending skills.

hi there! i had to temporarily put the neon signs and equipment in storage until i can find a suitable shop location again. still a work in progress thats currently on "pause" until i can get back to it!

@@NeonPreservation does it still work at this day? like i see a lot of signs destroyed and they usually get removed. glad u saved it

yes the existing neon tubes still work, i will eventually make the rest of the tubes as well

@@NeonPreservation nice work fixing though

youre welcome! unfortunately, i dont think anything is safe from the affects of inflation these days. good luck on the rebuild!

sounds awesome!

an interesting idea! unfortunately, there is no way to heat acrylic hot enough to burn off the impurities inside the tube without burning the acrylic itself.

thanks for sharing! i enjoy learning how neon equipment differs in other parts of the world :)

you're welcome!

it hung on Cuming St for a long time!

the previous owner didn't know anything about it, so your guess is as good as mine. i would love to find out some day!

thanks for the tip, i'll have to give that a try!

glad you like the videos, good luck and be safe!

well thats frustrating! hm, if the stems are wiggling around in the bonnet, it would lead me to think that maybe the o-ring on the stem is too small and is not sealing correctly. did they send you the correct soft goods kit for your model of valve?

if you're buying new equipment i'd guess upwards of $25k. for used equipment there are a lot of factors that influence the price of a neon plant; quantity/age/condition of the equipment, location, motivation of the seller, how much glass stock included, etc... the prices i see are usually somewhere between $3000-$5000 dollars, although i've seen sellers asking much more. if delivery is required, freight shipping can add considerable cost as well. all told, i was probably about $7k into it just to do the beginners stuff seen in this video. i expect to spend another couple thousand on glass for practice before i can make anything that i would consider to be acceptable.

clever idea, using a 3D printer to make your own cams. i might have to experiment with making my own cams some time too. enjoy your Time-O-Matic!

i lined a funnel with filter paper (i used a coffee filter), then held the glass manifold parts above the funnel while rinsing them with a wash bottle full of acetone.

looks like you've found my "Neon Bombarding Setup" videos... lots of info there. if you want to read more about it, "Neon Techniques" by Samuel Miller & Wayne Stratton is a good primer.

@@NeonPreservation I have found the videos how to make the bombardment system, extremely helpful and detailed. Thanks! Also is it possible to do the high voltage of eliminating contaminants without such beefy transformer, maybe a more modern smaller unit that might be able to do the same task?

short answer? no. a large bombarding transformer is necessary because more current is required to heat the tube and electrodes to an adequate temperature for processing. generally, electrodes should be processed at least 10 times the manufacturers mA rating to fully activate the getter on the electrodes (e.g., 300mA for an electrode rated for 30mA). the glass needs to reach a minimum temperature of 225-250°C and the electrodes need to be glowing bright orange (c. 1000°C). it takes a lot of current to do that. improperly processed (i.e., impure) tubes will take a long time to burn-in, run hot, sputter, and have a short life span. that said, bombarding is not the only way to process tubes. oven-pumping then heating the electrodes using magnetic induction is another way; however, it takes a more customized setup since the oven has to be large enough to fit the tubes.

@@NeonPreservation thanks for the reply. Would you happen to know the average required amperage needed to do the burn in like how you did in the video to get the whole tube red hot removing contaminates? I guess I might as well build a transformer. Transformer technology has immensely improved I think I might be able to make one that packs the same amount of current at a much smaller package. I have seen oven setups for Nixie tubes. It would be nice if you made some videos how to make them. Also plasma tubes with the erratic snaking effect are cool too I plan on making those.

at the end of the processing i was using over 500mA, and that was just a little tube. my bombarder goes up to about 600mA, but thats on the low end. neon bombarding transformers capable of processing cold-cathode tubing are rated for 1000mA. however, if youre planning on making plasma tubes, you might as well build an oven because it is not possible to process plasma tubes with a bombarder-there is too much glass to heat and the electrodes will get scorched. the plus side of oven processing is you can take your time and neon tubes can be processed in it as well. i'd even go so far as to say it's probably a superior way of processing neon tubes. an oven doesn't have to be a big crazy expense either; check out plasma artist Mundy Hepburn's setup: ua-cam.com/video/LvTFTQxjFU4/v-deo.html

that is a good question! i do not know why there is a difference in torch style preference between the US & Europe. one person who may know is Robert Haus; he is a neon historian and has collected many artifacts & documents from both the US and abroad from the inception of neon to the present day. you can read his bio and find his contact information on his website, Neon Archaeology: neonarchaeology.com/about/

sorry to hear that! you could try checking FB marketplace or Craigslist to see if anyone locally is parting out a similar sign, or try your luck on ebay (shipping neon is difficult to do properly). alternatively, you could contact your local sign shop/neon bender to get a quote from them. depending on the type of tube, it may be possible to repair the break; otherwise they would just make a replacement.