Subscriber Comments for
Ah Neon

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COMMENT 232361P	2011-11-13 01:32 AM
Thanks for the great post. How do they get the different colors, like the Corona sign?
AQUAHOLIC	2011-11-13 07:40 AM
Thanks David for the neon facts and history lesson. I live near one of our local neon treasures, the Blue Skies mobile home park sign. Before Caltrans erected the giant sound wall along Calle Real, you could see many a photographer stopped alongside the 101 taking photos.
FLICKA	2011-11-13 08:16 AM
I guess I need to get out more at night! Tonight I'll take a tour of our hometown to look for the signs you posted. I love neon, thanks.
IHEARTSB	2011-11-13 12:25 PM
Thanks David! Do you, or does anyone on here, know where to take a neon sign to be fixed? I have a wonderful neon clock that recently stopped working (clock actually works, the neon won't light up). Any suggestions?
POWDRELL	2011-11-13 02:15 PM
Comment 232361P: Buzzle.com has a good explanation on how to get different colors from a neon sign. Lengthy, but it covers the question best, I think: In normal circumstances, the photons produced by neon atoms are red in color, while the photons produced by argon are blue in color. However, it is possible to change the red glow of neon lights to a different color by resorting to different methods. One of the most widely used method for this is to add mercury to the glass tube. Adding varying amount of mercury to the glass tube can help in producing a variety of colors. Yet another, but a bit expensive, method is to produce the neon gas at a specific atomic orbital so as to make sure that the gas in itself produces the desired colored glow instead of the traditional red glow. A mixture of two noble gases can also help in producing a distinct glow, and the use of neon and argon in the glass tube to produce a green glow of light is the best example of this. With that we covered a significant bit of information on how neon lights work and how they get their color. There does exist yet another method which is a lot cheaper than the aforementioned methods though. In this method, the glass tube in itself is painted with a shade of the color that you want the neon light to be, which in turn makes sure that the neon light sign illuminates in that particular color, even if the photons within are producing a different color. However, these neon lights do not produce a bright glow as other neon lights do - and this inefficiency can be attributed to the shade of paint which coats the glass tube. IHEARTSB, Sorry I don't have recommendations on where to get a neon sign fixed.
SPARKEY	2011-11-13 07:51 PM
I worked for a sign shop in Coeur d'Alene after school and was often run out to the neon sign maker to pick stuff up. Neat stuff watching him heat and blow glass.
COMMENT 232621	2011-11-13 08:49 PM
Very impressive. I love neon. I think the Paradise Cafe sign in downtown SB is my favorite. Thanks for all the great info and photos.
COMMENT 249567	2012-01-18 07:29 AM
Neon signs were banned for the longest in SB because city council [of old] thought it would make the town look like a big city & cheapen our attraction. Wha Happen?

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