Safe outdoor lighting

[Bigrhamr]

I need to build some lighted signs that will be outdoors. Basically they will be a metal enclosure with lettering cut into it and a colored transparent lens of some type over the letters. Lighting will be inside so letters show up in the dark.

What I'm looking for is suggestions on the lighting. Safety is the first requirement, then simplicity and of course it would be nice if it was cheap.
They will be outdoors, boxes will be enclosed but not totally weatherproof.
Lights need to be fairly small, I've seen rope lighting that might work good but don't know anything about it.

Does anybody have experience with low voltage lights?

 

[AZ Garage]

I need to build some lighted signs that will be outdoors. Basically they will be a metal enclosure with lettering cut into it and a colored transparent lens of some type over the letters. Lighting will be inside so letters show up in the dark.

What I'm looking for is suggestions on the lighting. Safety is the first requirement, then simplicity and of course it would be nice if it was cheap.
They will be outdoors, boxes will be enclosed but not totally weatherproof.
Lights need to be fairly small, I've seen rope lighting that might work good but don't know anything about it.

Does anybody have experience with low voltage lights?

If your signs are going to be outdoors, as in open to the elements, you will need to make them weatherproof for safety issues.

 

[Fast Orange]

Most commercial signs are only drip-proof-meaning that rain water can't easily get into the sign.Over lapping seams that fit snugly together are the norm.
Typical plastic faced signs use flourescent lamps of an appropriate length to evenly light the sign faces in a long lasting,economical manner.
If there isn't much room in the signs,another alternative would be low voltage lighting simular to the type used for undercabinet lighting.You could layout the track to light the lettering properly,snap the wire into the track,then snap the lampholders onto the track to best illuminate the letters.There are 2 problems witha LV system-lamp life and initial cost.As a very rough guide,figure lamplife of about 2000 hours,and initial cost of about 50 cents per watt.

 

[VHF]

Going with 12V LED lighting would help with safety... not hot, very low power consumption, and al the wiring in the sign itself would be low voltage. However, they are certainly still more expensive than incandescent solutions, but should last a lot longer. 12V LED landscape lighting is starting to come on the market. Check www.superbrightleds.com for some bulb options.