Neon repair is relative to the complexity of the tube and the color. Red or neon tubes can likely be spliced and repaired. Mercury tubes or white, blue, green, yellow, and purple tubes will need to be re-bent and can become costly and depends on the length and size and complexity. If your sign is out it may be a broken tube or a transformer. We would likely need to see the sign in person to diagnose the issue and give you a cost. For many beer signs it is better to look for the part that rather replace the tube.

Interested in having a custom neon sign made? Great! Here are some things that are really helpful for us so that we can give you a good estimate and a sign that works for you:

• It is preferable to know the dimensions of the sign, window dimensions or wall (the size of the window or wall)
• If you have a logo to follow or design or font it is very helpful if you can provide these elements
• The location of your physical business (are you local, would the sign need to be crated and shipped, etc.)
• Do you want the sign installed or will call?
• What colors do you want?
• To work up a size of lettering it is helpful to know how far away do you want it to be visible. For example if your target audience is a road 200 feet from your site location 4” letters will not be visible at that distance.

Neon signs are composed of gas in a glass tube under vacuum and powered by a transformer. Neon is not the same as Flex LED. Neon tubing comes in many colors and we primarily use neon gas and argon gas in the tubes. Neon tubing will last a long time, some tubes are working 60 years after manufacture. The transformer which powers the sign can last up to 15 years, most today are solid state electronic units. Conventional coil transformers have been known to last over 30 years, but not always applicable for all situations.

Neon art and signs can be shipped but it can be difficult and costly. It requires special design specifications to make shipping safer. We don’t recommend shipping neon signs in most instances. Shipping requires safe packing and handling to prevent damage.

Smaller is not necessarily less money. It requires the same amount of bending time as larger units and, in most instances, is more difficult to bend the glass. Lettering smaller than 3” is rather difficult. Many substandard signs are from Chinese-made tiny 6 mm glass and cannot be repaired in the US market. The smallest glass tubing available here today is 10 mm and some colors 8 mm and 9 mm is available (but very limited). Please contact us to determine what we can do for you.

The adage “you get what you pay for” is appropriate here. Many signs being sold online thru eBay and other portals that seem reasonably priced are not made in the US and are most likely knock off beer or other logo brand signs. Most are made with small substandard glass, underpowered  transformers, and on light weight  thin metal frames. Most often, they are not repairable if damaged. It is advisable to do some research before your purchase of these signs. We see many that come damaged from shipping. Many sculptural units were sold at stores over the past 20 years. These were mounted  on a plastic base and have fixed molded housings over the electrodes, these are also not repairable.