Neon signs are great for attracting attention in crowded areas, but they also come with their own share of problems. You have to worry about where you keep them or what will happen to them when the power goes out. But this is not an issue anymore thanks to LED neon signs.
LED is a more difficult process than neon and requires more skill and experience on the part of the installer to create something truly special.
Steps to Making Neon Led Signs
Choose you’re design. Find your cutter and template. I find it easy just to draw out the shapes on parchment paper but if you want things neat than go ahead! Here are the step-by-step instructions to make your own neon led signs. These are:
Step 1: Identify the Correct Neon Lights
The neon light consists of a sealed glass tube containing electrodes and a noble gas. Identified the neon headlight tube is made of a vacuum sealed glass bulb filled with an inert gas. Neon direct lights allow for a bluish or greenish glow that is difficult to reproduce with ordinary lighting. The purpose of the inert gases in this construction is to prevent electrical contact between the electrodes that cause it to arc across the tube when the electrode is energized by electrical modulation.
Step 2: Preparation of the Glass Tubes
Glass is a fragile material. Glass tubes used for neon signs are made by heating a mixture of silica and sodium hydroxide in a kiln until the glass hardens. It is then cut using a diamond blade to form lengths, which are rolled into circles and flattened on both ends so they can be inserted into a hole, and heated again to expand them into hollow tubes.
Step 3: Putting the Electrode In
When you are making a neon sign, the electrode is what sticks into the electrical power source. It has a wire gauge gauge that can be stripped off for easy insertion. Depending on your project, you may need to use different gauges of wire depending on how much voltage or current your power source will deliver. The wire gauge is usually color coded to say which kind you need for your plan.
Step 4: Bombard the Glass Tubes
The neon sign industry creates and manufactures neon signs by using a glass tube to generate the light. The glass tube is surrounded with inert gas that does not react chemically with the neon. Neon has an atomic structure that gives off bright light when excited, while the inert gas around it prevents the reaction. If the glass tube and neon is placed into a closed system, like in a sealed case, then contaminants that leak into the glass envelope will cause light to disappear.
Conclusion
You can make neon led signs by using the Arduino board and some resistors, but it is very time consuming. Neon signs are all the rage these days, and it’s easy to see why. The color combination of blue and yellow looks so good together that it’s hard not to get swept up in the frenzy.
