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Physics plays a huge role when building large signage. Acrylic expands and contracts with temperature much more than metal does. If you bolt a 4-foot acrylic backer tightly to a metal shell, the first hot summer day will cause it to warp or snap.
To prevent this, we drill "oversized expansion holes" in the acrylic back of every large backlit letter. We then use washers with a Teflon spacer. This allows the acrylic back of the backlit letter to "float" and slide slightly as it expands in the heat, preventing stress cracks that would otherwise ruin the sign.
Water management isn't just about sealing holes; it is about gravity. We utilize the "Drip Loop" technique. When the wire comes out of the wall and enters the back of the backlit letter, you should never run it straight down. Rainwater will cling to the wire and flow right into the connection.
Instead, we leave a small U-shaped slack in the wire below the entry point. This forces water to drip off the bottom of the loop rather than entering the backlit letter electronics. It is a zero-cost trick that saves thousands in water damage repairs.
Imagine a backlit letter that is 6 feet tall. The acrylic back panel is too heavy for one person to hold while trying to service the LEDs. For these giants, we use a "Split-Back" design.
We cut the acrylic backer into manageable interlocking sections. If a driver fails, maintenance only needs to unscrew one small section of the backlit letter backer to reach the power supply, rather than wrestling with a heavy, dangerous sheet of plastic high up on a ladder.
