Thanks for uploading this video. It helped me make a broken electrode wire from my Löwenbräu neon sign, it works again. Nice to see your passion for the old big neon signs. I like to watch all your videos and I also collect neon lights myself but need more space right now :)
Thanks for the video. what materials are used for the electrodes, are they brass and ceramics ? I see you used copper for the wire repair. Also, what was that black silicone substance called you used with heat shrink..it looked like glue or some paste?
there are different styles of electrodes and have been many variations over the past century. i believe modern electrodes are an alloy... but they definitely a high iron content, because electrodes on outdoor signs with broken tubes will rust. the electrodes have a special getter coating on them that gets activated above a certain temperature, which is why during processing the metal must be heated to a bright, glowing orange. some styles of electrodes have ceramic rings on the tips to prevent side-firing, some have mica spacers to keep the electrodes aligned, etc. the black substance i used was just a tube of RTV i had lying around. id imagine any type of silicone would work, although i have been informed that some types of RTV are acidic and can corrode metal. i haven't verified that personally, but it seems like something that could be plausible and is worth investigating.
Hi, Is it possible to extend the HT neon wires that connect to the electrodes on a neon sign please? I have a neon light but the 2 wires are not long enough, what do I do to make them longer please? Thanks
@@robertthomason8905 splicing high-voltage wiring is not recommended because it compromises the integrity of the insulation. also, certain transformer designs limit the maximum allowable length of the secondary leads, and splicing could cause fault problems or other load-balancing issues. there are neon industry specific, code-compliant splices for high-voltage wiring available, but they are intended for use in large commercial installations. if you have a transformer that has had its secondary leads cut too short, the safest thing to do would be to replace the transformer.
Neon repair mechanic you are. What about scoring the glass with a diamond and wrapping below the score line with tape? I think the grinding could be done with a diamond abrasive pad wet sanding. I used them for granite repair. Probably a skill that needs to be practiced with old scrap pieces. Kudos to you my friend
the method i show here is by no means the only way to do it; any technique or tool that can carefully remove glass without compromising the tube can be attempted. feel free to share here in the comments if you find more successful techniques!
I think you could also try making an electric arc near the broken electrode.The glass would melt in a few seconds and if you touch the glowing end of the neon sign wire to the also red hot glowing electrode,they will probably weld together.
i like your lateral-thinking! however, heating the electrode pinch seal will usually cause it to crack. i have cracked one and ruined a tube using an electrical arc for just a few seconds.
Thanks for the info. I thought i should be able to do something like this to repair my clock. But, was afraid to try. I was able to use dremel diamond tip bit to grind away glass.
hey, thanks for your interest! sorry i haven't posted anything new in a while. i got COVID right before the holidays, and they just changed my schedule at work so i've been working 8 of the past 9 days. hasn't left me much time for making videos! don't worry though, i have plenty of things to film, i just need to get a chance to shoot & edit the video. stay tuned! :)
I replaced a beer sign transformer and broke a glass section when l connected wire. I knew better but it happens. I should have cut wires as close as could to the broken transformer which would have given me plenty to connect to away from the glass tube. Those darn black boots don't always come off easy and now only a small section l broke doesn't light.
ah, sorry to hear that. if it was a clear (i.e. neon-filled) tube, any neon shop can repair it for you. if was an Argon/Mercury tube you might be hard-pressed to find someone who would repair it. so, you can have them make a new one, or try your luck to see if you can find the part on ebay or on one of the neon beer sign/repair groups on FB.
i'd say 30g or smaller should work; you'll want small strands so you can bundle a few together and have them wick up the solder to make a solid joint. the strands i used in this video were 38g. they were from a scrap piece of copper wire (extension cord, i believe) that i had leftover from a project.
there are two wires on each electrode merely for redundancy; if just one breaks off you can still use the other, no problem. in the past, some electrodes were manufactured with only one wire, but that design has fallen out of favor... likely due to the benefits of having two!
normal electrode wires are about 1½ inches long, if your wire is broken off shorter than that an extension might be helpful. however, any longer than that wouldn't serve much purpose and would probably add strain to the wire, making it more likely to break later.
well, yes... if you have the processing equipment. this video was made for people who don't have access to processing equipment and want to try this as a last-ditch effort before taking the tube to a neon shop.
ouch! yeah you gotta be careful with those. if im really curious if my manifold is still under vacuum i test it on the bit of tubulation glass left from my last tip off, that way im not actually using the spark coil directly on the manifold.
When i saw this mentioned in books as a way to repair corroded leads I thought it wasn’t actually possible, seeing it done is really cool!
it's a risky endeavor, but worth it if you can rescue an otherwise useless tube!
Thanks for uploading this video. It helped me make a broken electrode wire from my Löwenbräu neon sign, it works again. Nice to see your passion for the old big neon signs. I like to watch all your videos and I also collect neon lights myself but need more space right now :)
excellent, good job fixing your neon sign!
thanks for watching. those big signs really do take up a lot of space!
Thanks for the video. what materials are used for the electrodes, are they brass and ceramics ? I see you used copper for the wire repair. Also, what was that black silicone substance called you used with heat shrink..it looked like glue or some paste?
there are different styles of electrodes and have been many variations over the past century. i believe modern electrodes are an alloy... but they definitely a high iron content, because electrodes on outdoor signs with broken tubes will rust. the electrodes have a special getter coating on them that gets activated above a certain temperature, which is why during processing the metal must be heated to a bright, glowing orange.
some styles of electrodes have ceramic rings on the tips to prevent side-firing, some have mica spacers to keep the electrodes aligned, etc.
the black substance i used was just a tube of RTV i had lying around. id imagine any type of silicone would work, although i have been informed that some types of RTV are acidic and can corrode metal. i haven't verified that personally, but it seems like something that could be plausible and is worth investigating.
Hi, Is it possible to extend the HT neon wires that connect to the electrodes on a neon sign please? I have a neon light but the 2 wires are not long enough, what do I do to make them longer please? Thanks
hello Darren, i have sent a detailed reply to your email inbox. let me know if you have further questions!
I'm just guessing. Center of wire splice? Scary to disconnect at a delicate spot@@NeonPreservation
@@robertthomason8905 splicing high-voltage wiring is not recommended because it compromises the integrity of the insulation. also, certain transformer designs limit the maximum allowable length of the secondary leads, and splicing could cause fault problems or other load-balancing issues.
there are neon industry specific, code-compliant splices for high-voltage wiring available, but they are intended for use in large commercial installations. if you have a transformer that has had its secondary leads cut too short, the safest thing to do would be to replace the transformer.
Bird person, is one electrode a positive and the other a negative ground wire?
negative. neon tubes are wired in series, and the two wires are merely for redundancy. some older electrodes only have one wire.
Neon repair mechanic you are. What about scoring the glass with a diamond and wrapping below the score line with tape? I think the grinding could be done with a diamond abrasive pad wet sanding. I used them for granite repair. Probably a skill that needs to be practiced with old scrap pieces. Kudos to you my friend
the method i show here is by no means the only way to do it; any technique or tool that can carefully remove glass without compromising the tube can be attempted. feel free to share here in the comments if you find more successful techniques!
I think you could also try making an electric arc near the broken electrode.The glass would melt in a few seconds and if you touch the glowing end of the neon sign wire to the also red hot glowing electrode,they will probably weld together.
i like your lateral-thinking! however, heating the electrode pinch seal will usually cause it to crack. i have cracked one and ruined a tube using an electrical arc for just a few seconds.
Thanks for the info. I thought i should be able to do something like this to repair my clock. But, was afraid to try. I was able to use dremel diamond tip bit to grind away glass.
you're welcome! yeah... it's pretty risky, but if it works it's worth it. good job!
Where have you been man?! Looking forward to new content!
hey, thanks for your interest! sorry i haven't posted anything new in a while. i got COVID right before the holidays, and they just changed my schedule at work so i've been working 8 of the past 9 days. hasn't left me much time for making videos! don't worry though, i have plenty of things to film, i just need to get a chance to shoot & edit the video. stay tuned! :)
@@NeonPreservation good to hear! Stoked to see what's next!
If you dont want to risk breaking the glass,you could also dissolve the end of the tube in hydrofluoric acid or molten sodium hydroxide.
interesting idea! sound time-consuming and dangerous though. also id be concerned about the heat from the molten NaOH cracking the pinch seal.
@@NeonPreservation Hot NaOH solution could also work but would be slow.
I replaced a beer sign transformer and broke a glass section when l connected wire. I knew better but it happens. I should have cut wires as close as could to the broken transformer which would have given me plenty to connect to away from the glass tube. Those darn black boots don't always come off easy and now only a small section l broke doesn't light.
ah, sorry to hear that. if it was a clear (i.e. neon-filled) tube, any neon shop can repair it for you. if was an Argon/Mercury tube you might be hard-pressed to find someone who would repair it. so, you can have them make a new one, or try your luck to see if you can find the part on ebay or on one of the neon beer sign/repair groups on FB.
What gauge wire do you recommend.
i'd say 30g or smaller should work; you'll want small strands so you can bundle a few together and have them wick up the solder to make a solid joint.
the strands i used in this video were 38g. they were from a scrap piece of copper wire (extension cord, i believe) that i had leftover from a project.
Why are there two leads coming out of the end of the tube? I have one broken wire and one good wire. Can't I just attach to the one good wire?
there are two wires on each electrode merely for redundancy; if just one breaks off you can still use the other, no problem.
in the past, some electrodes were manufactured with only one wire, but that design has fallen out of favor... likely due to the benefits of having two!
@@NeonPreservation Thank you! Is soldering on a longer wire a good way to make a connection to this one remaining lead?
normal electrode wires are about 1½ inches long, if your wire is broken off shorter than that an extension might be helpful.
however, any longer than that wouldn't serve much purpose and would probably add strain to the wire, making it more likely to break later.
@@NeonPreservation Thank you!
Cut the Electrode off and put a new one on and repump it?
well, yes... if you have the processing equipment. this video was made for people who don't have access to processing equipment and want to try this as a last-ditch effort before taking the tube to a neon shop.
Are you part of the Neon Lighting Professionals group on Facebook? It's a pretty nifty place
yes, i am! but since i am merely an amateur, i'm there more as a "fly on the wall" to learn as much as i can.
@@NeonPreservation likewise and ditto! I just posted about a hole I made in my manifold system with a Tesla coil. Oops too much power
ouch! yeah you gotta be careful with those. if im really curious if my manifold is still under vacuum i test it on the bit of tubulation glass left from my last tip off, that way im not actually using the spark coil directly on the manifold.
I prefer to score the electrode with a file first .
nice tip, thanks for sharing!