Mildew/grime inside lit channel letters

[Texas_Signmaker]

I agree with Jburton.. I know what that sign says and the ones from that company I've come across in my area are translucent vinyl. From Google streets view it's between 7-10 years old so it shouldn't crumble when you open it. This is probably a simple task. Take the letters off, bring them back to shop, clean the rust and go back and put them up. The fasteners they used to put the trimcap on the returns are probably turning rusty and leaking behind the letters

 

[gnubler]

The call I got from corporate was from Texas, so you know what I'm dealing with.

 

[Gino]

I'm stepping out on a limb here, but where does this rust come from ??

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I'm stepping out on a limb here, but where does this rust come from ??

The aluminum housing..... duh?!

 

[Boudica]

Does aluminum rust in Florida?

 

[Gino]

Ohhhhh........ no one mentioned it was aluminum rust. That's a different story. That filth is usually the color of bug poop, huh ??

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Does aluminum rust in Florida?

Yes, everything is fucked up in Florida. Technically, it oxidizes, especially oceanside

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Ohhhhh........ no one mentioned it was aluminum rust. That's a different story. That filth is usually the color of bug poop, huh ??

Its white and crusty, like your behind.

 

[netsol]

I obviously don't know what the regulations are up there.....but you may want to find out.

In Texas, if you're not a licensed sign electrician, you're not even supposed to do something as simple as removing the faces if it exposes the electrical. It doesn't matter if you touch the electrical or not. Doing so here in Texas could result in some pretty steep fines.

Food for thought.

One of the towns around us has a regulation saying a business needs a licensed electrician to service a smoke detector. This includes changing the 9v battery. There are LOTS of places to get yourself into trouble on an illuminated sign, though

 

[netsol]

Agreed. Don't know what I would do without the feedback & tips I get from the forum.

Ran out there again over the weekend with my installer, first thing he said was "What if we break something?" Got a closer look and the letter faces look like yellow acrylic pieces enclosed in a housing (trimcap, as mentioned above?) fastened around with screws. Easy enough to remove, but then onto the cleaning part. How would you go about cleaning them up? There's no water source at the site, and it's the dead of winter. My installer said this is a job to revisit in April, or just replace the faces with new ones. I think at that point the customer needs to contact the original sign company that made them, yes?

Take them down, line them up & bring in one of those mobile truck wash companies with a good pressure washer?

 

[Notarealsignguy]

The best is listening to the electricians whine that the plumber can hook up a hot water heater but the electrician is not allowed to plumb one in. I always thought many of these codes were dumb, until I came on here.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Around here, you're not allowed to connect signs unless licensed. But according to regulations, you can plug in a outlet and it's perfectly legal. Guess the guys that made this cabinet found a way around that rule...

 

[Gino]

But it has a GFI on it, right ??

 

[Johnny Best]

This is the Fire Marshal Gino uses in Reading to check his electric, his name is Bill

 

[Gino]

Close, but no, his name is Brian and I just called him about 15 minutes ago on another infraction. Waiting to hear back from him. Hope he does it soon, cause I hafta leave in a few minutes.

 

[Johnny Best]

Brian, sweet, maybe you guys can go dutch for lunch.

 

[Ray Miller]

That's good because this is Dutch country up here. Hey Gino, are you a Dutchie ??

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

 

[gnubler]

Update: The customer offered to supply new faces with trimcap from their supplier, so I did a happy dance and bid an install-only estimate. It came back with a request for me to go get tracings of the letters because they don't know the original supplier and don't have artwork. Someone here mentioned looking for an E number on the sign to find out the original manufacturer. Is it worth going up there to check on that, or should I just pass?

 

[Moze]

Even if you can track down the original manufacturer, personally, I'd at least still get a rubbing to send in. That way there are no errors in manufacturing. Grab a roll of paper wider than the tallest letter, tape it tightly across the faces and get a rubbing with a construction crayon.