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Re: LET'S ALL VENT A LITTLE

Posted By: SVP Neon Equipment
Date: Saturday, 23 January 2010, at 6:58 p.m.

In Response To: Re: LET'S ALL VENT A LITTLE (Chris S.)


Chris wrote:

> With some of the LED failures, we have been
> able to reconvert back to neon, but some mall
> landlords are locked into LED's, so the battle
> goes on.

This brings up something I recently heard about. A strip mall owner in South Texas required every tenant to have their channel letters either switched over to LED's if they had an existing sign, or made using LED's if it was a new sign. The whole idea was based on the supposed energy savings and the bogus "environmentally friendly" aspect of LED's. After 2 years some of the tenants had spent so much money on having their LED lit signs repaired on a regular basis that they told the landlord they were going to have their letters changed back to neon. The landlord told them that according to their contract they could not do that. Some of the tenants got together, had their signs changed back to neon and threatened the landlord with a class action law suit if he tried to enforce their contract requiring them to use the *inferior* LED's. There are more details to the situation than this, but it gets the point across. In some cases even the average person is starting to 'see the light'.

Mark

> The issue of cheap labor may be the undoing
> of LEDs just as it affected neon. It's one
> thing for the LED industry to give the lofty
> projections of lamp life from a controlled
> test in a laboratory with scientists and
> other people who understand the product and
> how it is used. It is another thing to have
> a $8/hr. unskilled laborer pull them out of
> the box and put them into a letter or sign
> cabinet.

> The same is true for the installation. The
> issues of water intrusion, fluctuating
> temperature and humidity conditions within
> the letter vary wildy from location to
> location. So if a sign shop is prepping
> multiple sets of letters the same way for
> installation in different locations, they
> may not all perform the same. The company
> usually relies on the skill of its
> installers to spot these potential hazards
> and compensate for them but it rarely
> happens.

> We have three servicemen in our shop who go
> out daily. Our calls for LED failures have
> risen proportionately with their use. And
> these have come from all the manufacturers'
> LEDs, not just Phillips. So I'm starting to
> see LEDs much like I see the neon lamps I
> make. I know my lamps are sound and
> processed as well as they could be. But when
> they are out of my hands and in those of
> someone unskilled and not as concerned about
> the long-term effects of a poor
> installation, then I'll probably see them
> again sometime as a service call. With some
> of the LED failures, we have been able to
> reconvert back to neon, but some mall
> landlords are locked into LED's, so the
> battle goes on.

> Just the same, I encourage all of you
> skilled benders to hang in there. Diversify
> if you must for now, but don't give up on
> the trade After all, we live for nostalgia
> in this country and neon is a big part of
> that. Just look at the lyrics of any rock or
> country song and tell me where someone has
> written about those "light emitting
> diode nights". It ain't happening.


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