Marquee Lighting

[DannyH]

I have been looking around and wondering what to use for the backlight of my Marquee, I want to do it as cheap as possible and have founda fluro light for $10 that I could use that would need a few minor adjustments.

I was wondering though whether I should go for fluro or go for an incandescant bulb instead,

What do you guys think looks better, is cheaper, and easies?

[Q*Bert_OP]

FLOURESCENT BULB!

Incandesant bulbs like the ones in some Dynamo and Pac man cabs get really hot really fast

[DannyH]

cool, the cheapest I can find is a hand held or Hooked one used in garages etc. So I will need to make a few minor mods and a little stand for it.

I just dont know how to wire one up myself

[versapak]

Just hit walmart, and get one of those 18" fluorescent lights for mounting under cabinets for $6-7.

Being that it is designed to mount to a cabinet anyway, it is perfect for the job.

[DannyH]

sadly I am in Australia.

Might have to make a trip to the equivelant stores here and try and find one

[versapak]

sadly I am in Australia.

Might have to make a trip to the equivelant stores here and try and find one

Ahhhhhh

Yeah, it is a fairly common item. I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to find in most general department stores.





I can't remember exactly how much mine was, but it was under $10 (US) for sure.

[DannyH]

I took a trip to "Grown men disneyland" (a massive massive hardware store its awesome called Bunnings) and they had a few but they were all in teh $40AUD range. I will have to make a trip to k-mart and a few other stores on the weekend, but am going to struggle what with soccer and the AFL!

cheers for the advice

[RandyT]

Just another quick note:

Some of these units may require one to hold down the switch for a few seconds before turning on (they are rare nowadays, but they may still be lurking out there).

Make sure the one you pick up has a regular slider or rocker style switch so that the light will come on automatically when you turn on your power strip.

RandyT

[DannyH]

good point!

I rigged up an extension lead with an on/off switch last night and will be mounting that to the back of the cab. Essentially just split the live wire and fed it through the switch and your done

[stevodevo]

aahh - bunnings! haha the memories... all i have to say is 'go eagles'!

[DannyH]

eagles, dont tell me your a manly supporter too......

[DaveSilky]

I can't believe nobody else has recommended the easiest solution of all:  cold cathode lights...

http://www.xoxide.com/dual-white-cold-cathode-kit.html

I bought two of these kits for a total of 4 cathode lights for $16 plus shipping.  These only require 12V to function and come with adapters that plug directly into one of the power supply molex connectors right inside your computer case.  Turning on your computer then automatically turns on the lights.

Mounting them couldn't be easier either.  They come with a couple little pieces of velcro you attach to the ends of the lights and then just velcro them right onto the mounting board behind your marquee.

The specific site I linked above is currently out of stock, but just do a google for "cold cathode" and you'll come up with plenty of hits.

[versapak]

I can't believe nobody else has recommended the easiest solution of all: cold cathode lights...

http://www.xoxide.com/dual-white-cold-cathode-kit.html

I bought two of these kits for a total of 4 cathode lights for $16 plus shipping. These only require 12V to function and come with adapters that plug directly into one of the power supply molex connectors right inside your computer case. Turning on your computer then automatically turns on the lights.

Mounting them couldn't be easier either. They come with a couple little pieces of velcro you attach to the ends of the lights and then just velcro them right onto the mounting board behind your marquee.

The specific site I linked above is currently out of stock, but just do a google for "cold cathode" and you'll come up with plenty of hits.

How in the world is that easier than simply placing an under-counter flourescent light in?


Mounting my under $10 light took only about 10 seconds longer than it took to screw in 2 screws, and could have easily been done with velcro as well.


Cold cathode is certainly the "it" thing in the build-your-own/mod community today, but it certainly isn't any easier than just sticking a fluorescent light in.

Not to say it wouldn't work just fine, and there are many instances where it would certainly be the better choice, such as in the many small area applications it is most commonly used, but for marquee lighting... It just seems like it would actually be extra work to me, when you could just plug in one long fluorescent.

[Greaper]

Look in the Yellow Pages for Electrical Wholesalers in your area, there are a few different ones,  these guys sell to the public nice & cheap, I bought a 24" Fluro (30mm gap each end so lights up the Marquee very nicely) for $20.00 with a lead and everything ready for connection.  I think it was around $20.00 AUD at  Lawrence & Hanson.

[DannyH]

I think fluro is the go.


Hmmm didnt think wholesalers sold direct to the public. Will give them a try... was that a typo in the price for Lawrence & Hanson

[ginno]

Hey DannyH,

I bought my fluro light from bunnings for 40 bucks, it had 2 globes in it and i thought if its too bright i can just remove 1 to stop fading effects on the marquee.

Got my marquee from mamemarquees just the other day and the light was too bright, so i went to remove 1 of the globes and of course both of them turn off.

So i am the first of 600 mamemarquee customers to require 2 copies of my marquee to hopefully stop the fading effects.

So i spent $40 and still got a cheap light.

I envy all the american builders that can pick up cans of paint and lights for 10 bucks a pop!

Good luck getting a chaeper one!

Cheers.

[conseit68]

screw it...i am going with candles