Lighted sign cabinet question

[Robert Boyd]

We are going to produce a lighted sign cabinet to replace an old unrepairable box.
It is single sided and will be installed on a mansard roof. We are not installing.
Is 7" deep enough with flouresent bulbs or are they too close to the face.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I think they are usually 8 or 9" deep so that the front of the lamps are ~6" back from the face. It might work if you space your lamps 10" instead of 12" though.

 

[Gino]

We usually use an 8.5" deep can, but once your lamps are 4" or more away, you won't have any 'hot spots'.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I think I once heard/read that lamps should be spaced twice as far apart from each other as they are from the face? Just asking for confirmation I suppose.

 

[Gino]

We've always kept the lamps about 9" or 10" apart. Never really heard of that 2 to 1 ratio.

That's something more or less I guess I was taught years ago and possibly forgot about the ratio part of it.

 

[Mosh]

Are you licensed to do electrical work? Is the cabinet UL listed? Just things to consider when being sued for a fire caused by the sign, your fault or not, these questions will be asked.

Single sided signs I go 8" deep, flou lamps 10" apart, doing LED lights now instead....

 

[Marlene]

you haven't built a cabinet before? how are you doing this? just asking as people usually who are UL know the answer to question you asked. if you didn't know it should be UL listed that's OK, as some people who haven't work with these don't know. 8 -9" for a flat face, 6" - 7" for a pan face.

 

[Robert Boyd]

We are not building the cabinet. Yes it is has a UL label. We are not installing,
it will be installed by a licensed electrician. I was just concerned about the depth.
Thanks for all of your replys and info

 

[petrosgraphics]

have built many s/f cabinets.. 9" is a good depth... lamps can be placed at 12" on center..

if you use snap-in tombstone fixtures make your trays 2" high, lamps will be aprox.

2.5" off the back of the cabinet... have built hundreds of these using this standard...

 

[Marlene]

We are not building the cabinet. Yes it is has a UL label. We are not installing,
it will be installed by a licensed electrician. I was just concerned about the depth.
Thanks for all of your replys and info

the company that is building the cabinet should know how deep to make it if you told them what kind of face you are using, pan or flat. do you have a doubt on the depth they said should work?

 

[Gino]

I'm not sure if any foul has been committed as of yet.

The OP said they were producing a sign, but were not installing it. That to me sounds like they are indeed building a cabinet and not installing it. However, maybe they are subbing it out and are going to decorate only the face and the wholesaler is telling them they can get away with a 7" deep can and they don't believe the wholesaler.

I see nothing wrong with a 7" single sided sign.

The part that gets me, though....... how would someone who knows nothing about building these things or installing them land a job like this by bidding it out and not knowing the basics of building one, let alone the costs ??

This kinda chit really gets in my craw and this happens so often around here... and to people who never know what they are doing. How on earth are people landing jobs they know absolutely nothing about ??

It's got to be about the bottom line.

Either someone is trying to sell them a 7" cabinet and they want deeper.... or they want to see if they can get away with a 7" cabinet since they quoted it too low and the wholesaler is trying to talk them out of it.

I say go for the 7" and if you or the your customer don't like it, replace it with a pan face.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Want to know how deep the cabinet should be ?
You can educate yourself and look at the many available cabinet extrusion profiles out there.
Here is one example http://www.signcomp.com/

 

[Marlene]

We are going to produce a lighted sign cabinet

We are not building the cabinet. Yes it is has a UL label.

some times it the OP doesn't provide info that helps us answer a question.

if they were building the cabinet, then asking how deep makes sense.

if they are having it built by a company that builds cabinets, why is the OP asking us? did they tell the company the type of face that wil be used? is it coming with a face? why doesn't the company making the cabinet know how deep to make this cabinet? does the OP think the company may not know how deep so the OP asked us. in the first thread, the OP said we are going to produce and then changed that to we are not building it. just a hint to anyone else, please list the facts as it does help us to help you and saves us having to act like a dentist and pull teeth to get the info

 

[Robert Boyd]

I have been in the sign business over thirty years. We don't do electrical work.
We were asked to replace a lighted sign box buy a customer. I only asked a simple
question about the depth of a single sided box. Just looking for a suggetion, so I don't
make a mistake and I am educated about the best depth.