Illuminated Address Signs

Commonly asked Questions

I would like to install the address sign in a location like the window of a shed. Will the sign work?

The sign will work. The sign is able to withstand wide temperature swings without damaging the sign, reducing its life span, or resulting in a malfunction of the sign. The only environmental concern with the sign is that it is not sealed so it should not be exposed to moisture.

I would like to hang the address sign as opposed to placing the sign on a surface. What would I need to do to install the sign?

The problem with hanging the sign is that the joints in the frame use the comressive force from the bottom to stay in place. If the sign is hung, it will change how the forces hold the frame together. There are 2 ways that you can hang the frame:

1)Use adhesive to hold the frame pieces onto the acrylic front panel. Good adhesives to use for this are Cyanoacylite adhesives commonly sold under the trade names of Crazy glue or super glue. You would need to add adhesive to the top and bottom frame piece. An easy place to add the adhesive where it would not be visible it to remove the end pieces and add the adhesive to the joint between the frame and the acrylic. Let the adhesive dry for 20 min and put the end pieces back on.

2)Use a hanging system that puts the force of hanging on the bottom frame piece. For example: if you were using some string to hold the frame up, if you tied the loop to support the frame around the entire frame then the bottom would be supported. Other options might be hooks that hook around the bottom of the frame.

The location I am placing the sign is lit by a street light. Will this cause the photo sensor to malfunction?

No, mercury vapour and flourescent lights emit the light at very specific frequencies in the spectrum. The photo sensor is not very sensitive to these frequencies. The photo sensor needs to be approx 4 feet from an 80W flourescent fixture to result in a malfunction or in a brightly lit room with mercury vapour lights.

The light the sensor is sensitive to is either sun light or incandescent/halogen lights.

If this is placed inside the window, won't the lights in the room cause the sensor to malfunction?

In order to prevent this, the frame of the address sign should be flush with the window. Once this is done, there is not sufficient light leakage from inside the room to turn off the sign.

I would like to attach the sign to something else. What kind of adhesives will work?

The frame is made of PVC with the front panel made of acrylic. Some adhesives that work well for these materials are Cyanoacrylite (crazy glue) and silicone sealant. Cyanoacrylite adhesives have the drawback that they can be brittle on parts that have some flexibility to them. Silicone sealant is slow to dry but much easier to handle.