Opportunity: To design a monument sign with unique lighting effects that won't become a fabricator or service tech's nightmare.

Challenge: Since you are not an electrician and you are not a fabricator, how can you be sure your design provides adequate room for wiring and accessibility for service in the field?

 

Before we begin, you should have a working knowledge of the following:

    * Basics of fabrication methods and the components of a cabinet sign

    * The application differences between a ballast, a transformer and a power supply

 

WHAT TYPE OF LIGHTING EFFECTS?

The design, layout and planning for lighting starts at the beginning of the design process.

We are fortunate that technology has provided us a plethora of illumination opportunities that go beyond the traditional. These new high-tech lighting methods require that we (designers) understand the characteristics, restrictions and proper application of the lighting we specify in our monument designs. Manufactures typically provide detailed schematics and specs on their products to help you in your application of their products. Most designers are not electricians and must leave the wiring harness placement and electrical load calculations to those fabricating the sign (or the engineer, if required). Our job is to make sure the design has enough "wrench room" to install the lights, run wires and hide all the guts where they can be accessed and won't get wet.

 

DON’T DESIGN MONUMENTS LIKE CARS

Thirty years ago I was faced with the task of replacing the heater/air conditioning blower motor in my 1975 Volvo wagon. I was told by Volvo that they "built the car around the blower motor," so it literally required the complete removal of the dashboard and console in order to service the fan. The job required the repairman to lie on his back under the dashboard and squeeze his hands into tiny spaces where tools were never intended to go.

 

When this happens with a monument sign it can be a mechanical and financial disaster. One technique I use to determine serviceability of a sign is to mentally place myself at the scene of the first service call, with the service tech at my side. In my mind's eye I picture the steps the service tech would need to go through to diagnose and repair the sign. I have been on the receiving end of frustrated service techs who can't reach connections or there's no "wrench room" to loosen or tighten fasteners. By mentally walking through the steps of servicing the sign, I can reliably design the sign for logical placement of electrical components for ease of serviceability (see photos). Notice in these examples there are plenty of access panels to allow service techs to reach the sign. More importantly, there is plenty of space inside the sign for placing wiring harnesses and housings. You haven't lived until you've been chewed a new one by a frustrated service tech who spent three hours doing a 30-minute power supply swap out.

 

WHAT IS "WRENCH ROOM"?

The next time you shake hands with your fabricator or installer, notice what years of harsh conditions has done to his hands. These are the same hands that must reach way back into the sign and replace the tiny mounting screw or nut that holds the power supply in place.

 

I call it Wrench Room; adequate space to perform a service-related task without the need to remove or disassemble anything more than just the access panels. To illustrate this concept, clench your hand into a fist and measure from your wrist to the tip of your knuckles, side to side and top to bottom. This is the absolute smallest space your hand can occupy, not including your forearm. You can't do much service work with a clenched fist so now you must plan for finger movement. Bring all your finger tips together to the tip of your thumb. Your hand now illustrates the very smallest amount of space required if you were servicing the sign. However, you won't be servicing the sign, someone else will be. And that person probably has much bigger hands than you do (a good assumption to take when designing signs).

 

I plan for an area no smaller than 6" x 6" x 6" from the top of the component to the surrounding frame or wall of the sign. Unfortunately this is not always possible due to wire way housings, bolt heads and sharp aluminum edges blocking the way. A second access panel is sometimes necessary to allow the other hand in to assist with the task. Access panels are the least expensive feature to add to a sign that will return the greatest labor savings in the field.

 

CABINET DEPTH VS. WIDTH

When designing large monuments, consider the cabinet depth and pay close attention to width-to-depth ratio of the primary cabinet. If your sign face is wider than 8'-0", you will need an access panel on both sides and perhaps the top or bottom. Unless your service techs have 5' long arms they will have difficulties reaching the middle of an 8' wide cabinet. Have you ever seen a pair of legs hanging out of a large monument sign? Hopefully not often, but when the sign is too narrow to get a pair of shoulders inside, the reach can be time consuming and unsafe. Considering the space taken by wiring, housings, fasteners and lamps, I try to keep double-face monument cabinets no narrower than 24", although 30" is better and 36" gives the service tech enough room to invite friends and throw a party. Even though it may take an additional row of lamps to design a larger cabinet, the extra space inside the sign will make servicing easier and safer for the service tech, which saves time and money in the long run.

 

In conclusion, failure of the signs ballasts, power supplies, transformers and lights are the most common reason for a service call. Design your monument with plenty of room to install and service the electrical components in the field and be you'll be viewed as a "Design Hero" and not a zero.