Overly Hot Marquee Light Compartment == fire?

[bleemus]

So, I have a wide-body Nintendo cabinet that I am refurbishing (check it out at http://bleemus.spaces.msn.com).

I am using a 25" flourescent light on a 26.25" wide cabinet (exact light model is here) behind the marquee, and am noticing it getting quite warm to the touch when it has been on awhile.

Looking for some opinions on whether this is too large, and whether lamps like the the one from Happ would run cooler, just to give me piece of mind that I don't end up with a house on fire if I leave it on overnight or something.  And also, using backlit vinyl from Kinko's, whether a shorter light would give me as consistant of lighting across the art as the 25 incher does?

Any ideas?

[RayB]

Warm is warm.

HOT is HOT.

If the area is getting warm, that's no problem.
If it gets HOT, then you have a problem.

[arcadepcnut]

If it melts your marquee or your marquee gets washed out or your marquee gets all gooey....its too hot

If you can touch it with your hand and it is hot but doesnt burn you I wouldnt worry about it. Have you tried to unscrew a lightbulb thats on or just turned off? they all get about as warm as you are describing. Just test it after an hour and it most likely is as warm/hot as its going to get at that point it time.

[Kangum]

use a cold cathode instead. they are cheap, and give off almost no heat at all if your worried. People use them to light up the inside of thier pcs and stuff because they give off so little heat. The duel ones are perfect for marquee you can run one along the top and one along the bottom. they come with everything you need to hook up to pc power supply.

http://www.frozencpu.com/lit-24.html

is a white one for 8 bucks.

http://www.directron.com/clk12wt.html

is a duel one for 7 bucks

[Havok]

I second the cold cathode. If your marquee is getting that hot consistently, it's only a matter of time before the ink breaks down and your marquee isn't minty fresh anymore...

[Vigo]

If it's a flourescent light, it probably isn't getting too hot, but if you are worried about your marquee being harmed, you can probably back up your lighting another inch or so from your marquee as long as your cabinet permits it. It shouldn't have too much effect on how bright your marquee will shine.

[bleemus]

Looks like most of these are from case-mod places whose websites look somewhat shady... does anyone have a casemod place that they have used that they can recommend?

[NightGod]

www.newegg.com

You actually might have trouble finding white CCLs, though, most places make them in colors or UV for case mods.

[bleemus]

I'll try newegg, I built my last machine from there.

FYI, an infrared thermometer reads around 100F on the surface of the marquee (almost 110 on the wood that the light is hanging on from inside the cab) after a couple hours... this is without the back on, as well... I'm thinking that is pretty warm given how much more ventilation it has now compared to what it will have with everything closed in.

[fatfingers]

Has anyone ever tried using these to backlight their marquee?  They ought to be cool enough, but I'm wondering if they would distribute the light evenly or if the light would be blotchy???

Thanks!

[NightGod]

I'll try newegg, I built my last machine from there.

FYI, an infrared thermometer reads around 100F on the surface of the marquee (almost 110 on the wood that the light is hanging on from inside the cab) after a couple hours... this is without the back on, as well... I'm thinking that is pretty warm given how much more ventilation it has now compared to what it will have with everything closed in.

Fahrenheit 451-the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns.

I think you're pretty safe at 100 degrees. Make a vent hole over the top of the light mount on the wood if you're really concerned, but arcade machines have been using lighted marquees for decades and I can't think of a time I've ever heard of one catching on fire from the heat generated by the light.