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#1604 Sun Mar 20 2005 03:25 PM
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Hey guys....bought a neon sign recently at auction. It has been re-tubed with a new can.Re-wired for 120.... Works great, is real pretty, but MAN is it bright!!

Question: Can you wire a rheostat into the circuit to tone it down or would that mess up the transformer?? I have called and e-mailed our local neon sign shop, and the owner keeps blowing me off. Anybody out there have any experience with this?? Thanks ahead of time......

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#1605 Sun Mar 20 2005 04:29 PM
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I dont think there is much you can do about it short of throwing a sheet over it!!

If that is the case that may be why the neon guy is blowing you off.

When I had (sniff snif) my neon clock in the recroom I just left it on all the time sorta as a nightlight.

#1606 Sun Mar 20 2005 05:30 PM
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actually they do make dimmers for neon. Consult a neon shop for specifics..if that neon guy is not calling you back..call another because they do make dimmers for them..all depends on what kind of transformer you have on which one you need. Good Luck...let us know how it went.

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#1607 Sun Mar 20 2005 07:29 PM
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Yes there are dimmers for neons,if you know someone that owns a bar they can hook you up with them,some of the beer neons have a dimmer that plugs into the end of a cord.

#1608 Sun Mar 20 2005 11:42 PM
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Midway,
It could be over powered. Try www.franceformer.com and check out the "tube footage chart" to see what size transformer they recommend. Yours may be over powered, making it brighter. Are you sure they put the correct size tube on it. I had one sign shop want to put the wrong size on my Shell sign. Not sure what type your sign is, but when my wife commented to some friends about how bright it was they reminded her that it was designed to be seen a mile down the highway.
Ed

#1609 Sun Apr 17 2005 04:36 PM
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Found out a couple things on the neon sign.....Rust Collector is right about the neon chart. My transformer is a new mfg. Transco brand. I e-mailed the company with all of the info off of the transformer, and they sent a response back right away.

My neon sign was originally two-sided, and it seems as though someone just replaced the transformer with one that was close to the original. The sign is now only lit up on one side, so the secondary voltage is about double what I really need. This determines how many feet of tubing you can light up.

The folks at Transco were real nice. They said basically 'yes, you probably have more transformer than you need' but they recommended buying a dimmer that would tone down the brightness of the sign. They didn't have them so referred me to another web site www.rocoxinc.com and said to ask for a model D-20 dimmer. It just plugs into the wall outlet, and then you simply plug your sign into this. There is a dimmer knob on the side of the dimmer. They also said DO NOT try to use a common hardware store type dimmer it will mess up your sign!!!

Just thought I'd pass on a little info in case someone else had a neon sign that was pretty bright!! The folks at Transco were real helpful, I highly recommend them....


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