Light box signs: cost effective lighting?

TheShanMan

Well-known member

Donor 2011, 2024
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
5,657
Reaction score
725
Location
Hillsboro, Oregon
I am having a light box sign made for outside of my game room building. This kind of lighting was suggested to me:

A_A.gif


Stripled.gif


But at over $4 per module and a 50 module minimum I'd be looking at well over $200 plus the power supplies are $40 or $50 on top of that! I'm ultimately planning on doing 3 signs (1 outside, 2 inside) which would put lighting alone at probably $125 per sign!

The second recommendation was LED light bulbs. However, they seem to be prohibitively expensive too. I'm not really sure how to shop for them though because there seems to be a million varieties so I'm not exactly sure what would be good for a light box.

One thought I had was 1 or 2 fluorescent tubes, although my concern there would be getting even lighting, particularly since my outside sign isn't a simple rectangular shape.

Another thought I had was to use LED rope lighting. Looks like I could buy 150' for about $0.50 per foot which sounds appealing. Excess could be used for Christmas lighting, above cabinet lighting, etc. The concern with this is whether I'll get sufficient lighting for a bright sign though. I figure I could just put as much rope lighting as needed to get the proper brightness, and possibly put chromed poster board at the back of the sign for reflection. However, I'm not sure if that is super practical in terms of looping the rope multiple times in a somewhat narrow space (I'm guessing roughly 1/2'). Instead of looping perhaps I could just do multiple strands. That would require more power connectors and/or splitters.

I suppose I could also try a hybrid approach like a fluorescent tube for the bulk of the lighting plus rope lighting going around the perimeter to even it out.

I guess I should also say that incandescent is out due to heat generated.

Am I overlooking a better approach? Anyone have a link to the perfect product to use? Any opinions on the ideas I've presented?

GALAXYGAMES-small.jpg
 
Have you considered EL wire?

ThatsCoolWire.com

Been meaning to order some for a project myself. Pretty cheap, doesn't put off much heat, and can even be sound reactive if you want it to be for some reason.
 
I have always used florescent tubes in all the light boxes I have done. They backlight pretty evenly. This will be outside, so you will have to make it water tight, but other than that, I would use flouros or rig up a small series of bulb sockets and use CFL's.

P8150649.jpg

P8150651.jpg

P7260562.jpg

SSL11765.jpg

SSL11776.jpg
 
When told that incandescent generates too much heat I was also told that "the new CFL's generate heat too". I guess it's implied that they generate too much heat, although that doesn't seem right to me. Again, I'm concerned about even lighting due to the odd shape of the sign. Particularly, I don't want the tip of the arrow to be noticeably dim compared to the rest.

As for EL, my impression is that it wouldn't generate enough light to come anywhere close to the level of brightness I'd need for a light box sign. Am I wrong?
 
Yeah, EL won't be very bright. It generally produces an ambient glow, and would probably not produce enough light behind a sign.
 
I am having a light box sign made for outside of my game room building. This kind of lighting was suggested to me:

A_A.gif


Stripled.gif


But at over $4 per module and a 50 module minimum I'd be looking at well over $200 plus the power supplies are $40 or $50 on top of that! I'm ultimately planning on doing 3 signs (1 outside, 2 inside) which would put lighting alone at probably $125 per sign!

The second recommendation was LED light bulbs. However, they seem to be prohibitively expensive too. I'm not really sure how to shop for them though because there seems to be a million varieties so I'm not exactly sure what would be good for a light box.

One thought I had was 1 or 2 fluorescent tubes, although my concern there would be getting even lighting, particularly since my outside sign isn't a simple rectangular shape.

Another thought I had was to use LED rope lighting. Looks like I could buy 150' for about $0.50 per foot which sounds appealing. Excess could be used for Christmas lighting, above cabinet lighting, etc. The concern with this is whether I'll get sufficient lighting for a bright sign though. I figure I could just put as much rope lighting as needed to get the proper brightness, and possibly put chromed poster board at the back of the sign for reflection. However, I'm not sure if that is super practical in terms of looping the rope multiple times in a somewhat narrow space (I'm guessing roughly 1/2'). Instead of looping perhaps I could just do multiple strands. That would require more power connectors and/or splitters.

I suppose I could also try a hybrid approach like a fluorescent tube for the bulk of the lighting plus rope lighting going around the perimeter to even it out.

I guess I should also say that incandescent is out due to heat generated.

Am I overlooking a better approach? Anyone have a link to the perfect product to use? Any opinions on the ideas I've presented?

GALAXYGAMES-small.jpg

I would stay away from the rope lighting for backlighting purposes. Most rope light has LED's going around in a 360 degree circle, not good for backlighting. LED flex circuit may work very well but could also could be expensive.

As per the even lighting, that has a lot more to do with the diffusion of the optic then the light source...
 
Well it comes down to bang for the buck. I know that about rope lighting. It's certainly the downside. But I was thinking that could be mitigated by the chromed poster board and/or just using as much rope lighting as it takes.

I don't know what you mean by "diffusion of the optic". I have a game with a short fluorescent tube behind the marquee and only the center of the marquee is well lit - the sides are not. You can even see how much of a difference it is by the fading in the marquee - none on the sides, lots in the center. That's what I fear if I try to put a fluorescent tube in there.

I'll see what LED flex circuit is, but the point is to get good bang for the buck and it sounds like you're saying it won't be.

I'm guessing at this point that fluorescent tube(s) is a good starting point, with perhaps a rope light to assist with any dim areas like the tip of the arrow. But I'm also hoping that someone with more experience with this stuff will tell me the perfect solution. :)
 
if you have reflective surfaces or material inside the sign, you can get the light to spread around fairly evenly. painting the inside of the sign white goes a long way, or you can even line it w/ foil or paint it silver or gold (gold gives you a warmer light).

the longest fluorescent tube you can fit inside the sign is probably the way to go, and use a readily available size. you could also try mounting the tube(s) behind an opaque diffusion panel inside of the sign to spread the light. fluorescent fixtures are cheap enough you can play around w/ them and see how it looks.
 
I have always used florescent tubes in all the light boxes I have done.

P8150649.jpg

Phet, you actually made those? Very nice. I thought it was an actual atari
sign until I read your post. I had seen it in the past and liked it so much I
was planning on selling a metal sign version on my website. Here is an
unpainted pic. I was planning a red and white paint scheme.

I guess I'll have to scrap that design unless you dont mind?

Thanks,
Malice95
 

Attachments

  • photo.JPG
    photo.JPG
    67.8 KB · Views: 52
Phet, you actually made those? Very nice. I thought it was an actual atari
sign until I read your post. I had seen it in the past and liked it so much I
was planning on selling a metal sign version on my website. Here is an
unpainted pic. I was planning a red and white paint scheme.

I guess I'll have to scrap that design unless you dont mind?

Thanks,
Malice95

You go right ahead my man. It was a design I based on the Atari sign featured in Blade Runner. I love what you've done with it.
 
You go right ahead my man. It was a design I based on the Atari sign featured in Blade Runner. I love what you've done with it.

Cool.. Thanks. I'll have to watch Blade runner again. I dont recall any arcade
stuff in it but its been years since I watched it.

Malice95
 
When told that incandescent generates too much heat I was also told that "the new CFL's generate heat too". I guess it's implied that they generate too much heat, although that doesn't seem right to me. Again, I'm concerned about even lighting due to the odd shape of the sign. Particularly, I don't want the tip of the arrow to be noticeably dim compared to the rest.

As for EL, my impression is that it wouldn't generate enough light to come anywhere close to the level of brightness I'd need for a light box sign. Am I wrong?

CFLs generate much less heat than incandescents of equivalent light output. But they don't generate NO heat, so you still need to deal with it in some way (appropriate venting or heat sinking of the fixture). Someone's just reminding you that you can't simply ignore the heat as if it isn't there.

If the sign is large enough and the # of bulbs small enough, then heat buildup may not be a problem at all with CFLs. I don't know how you'd figure that out in advance, though.

Note that for the indoor signs you can just have vents top and bottom and let air flow through to cool them. It's only the outdoor sign where you have to be careful about water. And again, if it's big enough, then the sign itself may sink enough heat that it's not a problem.
 
Yes the LEDs are the way to go or neon. LEDs will out last just about any light out there.
Is that price just for the LEDs I can look into some form for you if you like...
 
I would love a bright enough and cheap enough LED solution. If I could light it up with LED's for under $50 including power supply, I'd be happy.

If you have some ideas on where to find a cheap LED solution, I'd be grateful for you posting some links. Thank you!
 
Phet, you actually made those? Very nice. I thought it was an actual atari
sign until I read your post. I had seen it in the past and liked it so much I
was planning on selling a metal sign version on my website. Here is an
unpainted pic. I was planning a red and white paint scheme.

I guess I'll have to scrap that design unless you dont mind?

Thanks,
Malice95

Thread resurrection time. Hey Malice, did you ever produce or sell any of the Atari Signs? I don't see them on your website?
 
You could also go with LED flex neon...I bought 50' of it for $115 shipped. Made this 2' x 4' FangTasia sign with it for a Halloween party. Looks just like neon!!

Difference between the LED neon rope and LED rope light
6197964397_26706f49f8.jpg



6298833727_53920655c5.jpg


6299392902_699c7179dd.jpg


6298864451_e1d36eeec2.jpg
 
Wow! I've never seen or heard of that before. I'm getting ready to order some led rope lights and saw this. Can you tell me where you found it, ebay?

Thx
Tom
 
Back
Top Bottom