Best way to "dim" a marquee?

DP Louie

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What's the best way to tone down marquee lights? My gameroom is pretty small, so with all the games on the light from the marquees pretty much kill the two 4 foot black lights I have. I've considered replacing the flourecent tubes with their equivalent black light tubes, but I really want the marquees to retain their original color and not have a purple glow to them...
 
Light coating of black spray paint on the fluorescent tubes. Reversible by replacing the tube. You could also try automotive limo tint on the tube.
 
Paper on the inside of the marquee. Find some larger paper and cut to fit.
 
I used 20% static cling window tint cut to the marquee size on some of my brighter ones. You can get it at Wal*Mart.

DogP
 
+1 for the white blacklight tubes. They looks sharp and still give a great glow. I added a pic from my arcade to show the difference. The Space Invaders on the right has a white black light in it and the Polaris on the left is a standard flourescent tube. I plan on changing my Polaris over soon.
 

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Don't put a black light white tube in a position where you can directly view it. The wave lengths of light they emit are not suitable for direct viewing of the naked bulb. (As I understand it)
 
Simple and cost effective...

I will put a strip of black electrical tape on the front side of the bulb - that faces the marquee - down the length of the bulb. If that's not enough I'll put another strip along the top of the bulb. That is usually enough. Never had an issue and I check them occasionally.

Dims them down nice and is fast and easy to do.

Tom
 
Simple and cost effective...

I will put a strip of black electrical tape on the front side of the bulb - that faces the marquee - down the length of the bulb. If that's not enough I'll put another strip along the top of the bulb. That is usually enough. Never had an issue and I check them occasionally.

Dims them down nice and is fast and easy to do.

Tom

I did Tom's plan and it worked great.
 
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