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Re: Mercury silence/whos hiring?
Posted By: bohemiantesla In Response To: Re: Mercury silence (John Anderson)
Date: Monday, 3 May 2010, at 8:36 p.m.
> Hg repairs are the biggest "fools
> gold" in our industry. First of all,
> the economics:> Every shop I've seen has a minimum unit
> price they are going to charge for a unit.
> So let's assume an Hg repair is something
> more complicated the bender or shop owner
> hopes to save money on. Rarely have I seen
> an Hg repair not stain badly later down the
> road. Add the cost of cleaning it out,
> disposing of the Hg, stains that won't go
> away, hunting leaks and unknown thermal
> stresses in someone else's glasswork, Hg
> contaminating your manifold... the list goes
> on and on.> But the biggest: charge your customer for
> the new unit!!!! Most end-users actually
> want a new fresh neon unit. Honestly, I'm
> not sure most clear-red repairs are worth
> the headache. As above, most end-users are
> happy to pay a normal price for a new unit.> I've worked in several shops the past 20
> years. I can honestly say I've NEVER seen Hg
> repairs as anything but a poor financial
> decision.> Of course there is the entire health
> question as well (which the original post
> was about). If you're heating up an old tube
> (to seal on electrodes, splice, etc.),
> you're vaporizing a lot of mercury right
> next to your face and/or sending it up your
> blowhose. Why on Earth would anyone want to
> do that?> My advice? Grab a new stick of glass, make a
> quick pattern and new unit. Then be done
> with it and move on to the next job. You'll
> make more money, and (probably) be
> healthier. Mercury use in neon isn't
> something that's going to suddenly poison
> you. It's more a question of minimizing your
> exposure as Hg accumulates in your body.
> Eventually, yes - you could accumulate
> enough to develop toxicity.
Hg repairs....well, unless you want to walk off the job and surrender the location you have just quit(i'm laid off thanks to bogus green and LED movement-and looking for a neon job!)keep your mouth shut, and, just try to remake the HG units on the downlow in between other units...I am laid off from the wests largest sign co...and even they asked me to perform Hg repairs...if I didnt do it...another employee did it when I was clocked out for the day. Take charge and just remake the unit, dont contaminate your pumping system...and try not to breathe in when fusing new electrodes onto a Hg lamp. I personally used a homemade balloon diaphrahm in-line with my blowhose with limited success when I performed Hg repair-long ago!.A few Hg repairs will not fry your brain, but will contaminate your manifold right away and you will know the difference when back-filling with any gas. Your vacuum pump oil accumulates the mercury vapor before it gets to you unless you have old pump oil and perform Hg repairs all the time.Do not call and report the employer(tried this already), someone with more skill and swagger will take the position over...try to get creative reasonings to re-make the unit. IF it IS a staple of that particular employer to re-pump Hg, route his vacuum port outside and use a sauna alot and research herbal flushes.
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