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Miller Engineering Animated Signs

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  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,231 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 5, 2020 4:53 PM

RR_Mel
Does the sign still work after the paint?

It didn't work before the paint! Huh?

That's why I was willing to sacrifice it. Still, I see no reason why it wouldn't. There's no way for the finish to soak through the face of the sign. 

I should see if Miller would be willing to repair it. There's a capacitor on the board that gets hot when I power it up. However — This particular sign is probably fifteen years old and a new sign is $15 plus shipping.

Regards, Ed

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,024 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Saturday, December 5, 2020 5:02 PM

gmpullman
 
RR_Mel
Does the sign still work after the paint? 

It didn't work before the paint! Huh?

That's why I was willing to sacrifice it.  

LOL.

Well that answers that question. I was wondering why you would be so willing to sacrifice a perfectly good sign. Apparently, you wouldn't.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, December 5, 2020 5:09 PM

Ed

I’ll take a look at one of my Miller power supplies with a scope and see what the 90 volts looks like, maybe you could attempt to light up your sign.

 

Mel



 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,231 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 5, 2020 5:10 PM

rrinker
Animated signs modern?

Old neon signs are certainly nostalgic:

I don't recall seeing the puffing Camel sign when I was at Times Square but the Chock-Full-O-Nuts sign had a steaming coffee cup. Perfect for those white smoke units pulled out of Broadway locomotives.

When I was a kid I admired the animated sign at the Tip-Top bakery. It had a loaf of bread and a motorized "wheel" that slices of bread would flip out of the bag and on to a plate.

Also there was a huge, neon sign for Burdett Oxygen showing a welder with a cutting torch and the neon "sparks" would fly all over. A real, colorful gem on the east-side of Cleveland. I never found any photos of it Tongue Tied

Come to think of it, I DO have another working Miller sign I can shoot with DullCote. It's an I.C. Sparks Welding Supply sign I just remembered. I'll give it a try later.

Regards, Ed

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, December 5, 2020 5:54 PM

Surprising!  The little bugger is 90 volts at 50kh with a pretty good looking square wave for a cheapie device.

Two caps on board, the large one is 220μf at 16 VDC, the smaller one is 10μf at 25 VDC

It draws 82ma at 4.5 VDC.

The caps really stop any ripple on the 4.5 volt input, zip at the lowest my scope will go with 0 attenuation on the probe.

 

EDIT:
I’m rather proud of myself, I diddled around with that little power supply for about 20 minutes and didn’t get zapped.  Shaky Mel is doing better.


Mel



 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,231 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 5, 2020 8:32 PM

richhotrain
Apparently, you wouldn't.

But I did:

 Miller_Sparks_matte by Edmund, on Flickr

This one works just fine after two coats of DullCote.

I'm going to conclude that spraying the face of a Miller sign with matte finish does no harm.

My 2 Cents

Cheers, Ed

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, December 5, 2020 9:53 PM

RR_Mel
I’m rather proud of myself, I diddled around with that little power supply for about 20 minutes and didn’t get zapped.  Shaky Mel is doing better.

Happy to hear that you are doing better Mel!

And I am very glad that you did not get zapped.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,024 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, December 6, 2020 4:58 AM

SeeYou190
 
RR_Mel
I’m rather proud of myself, I diddled around with that little power supply for about 20 minutes and didn’t get zapped.  Shaky Mel is doing better. 

Happy to hear that you are doing better Mel!

And I am very glad that you did not get zapped.

-Kevin 

+1

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • 200 posts
Posted by Jeff1952 on Monday, December 7, 2020 4:50 PM

Wow! I hadn't expected so many comments guys. Thanks for your inputs. I should have chosen my words more carefully.... when I said "shiny" I should instead have said "Glossy". Specifically, the "Union Station... Travel by Train" billboard. The front surface of mine is glossy and detracts from the "realism" we all aspire to. But I had NOT considered the "invisibility" factor of the see-through portions of the sign around the billboard framework. Thanks to gmpullman for making me mindful of that, and for the trial tests. 

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