Nice job! I've always found the 2x T5 exit signs pretty neat but they're not common here. There might be a date on the old ballasts so if you still have them it's worth it to check them.

I have looked at the stamping on the old ballast and did not see anything indication a date code. The back rest of the surfaces were smooth. Attached is a picture of the stamping.

The signs housing is made out of cast aluminum, and some of the corrosion is deep. I started scrubbing with simple green and scotchbrite pads and after getting nowhere I switched to barkeepers friend, steel wool, and a stainless steel brush. After an hour of scrubbing no more progress was made and I was tired. This is as good as it is going to get.

More pictures to come later.

Nice job! I've always found the 2x T5 exit signs pretty neat but they're not common here. There might be a date on the old ballasts so if you still have them it's worth it to check them.

Hello all, I have been sitting on pictures of this McPhilben Exit sign restoration that I mostly completed a few weeks ago. I could not know any information about the sign itself anywhere so I am unsure about the age, but I am guessing that is was made after 1980, so this section seems most appropriate. If anyone out there has an old McPhilben catalog and can find the date, model number, and options that would be appreciated.

The original robertson L8 ballasts were cooked and crispy char would fall out of both of them. One of the ballasts the coil ohmed open, the other did ohmn good, but while slightly adjusting the wires It would also read open, or ohm to ground/earth. I replaced both ballasts with robertson L48 ballasts.

Electrical specs:
2x robertson L48 ballasts (original robertson L8)
2x F6T5 tubes, warm white because it is what I had on hand
2x FS5 starters, new and not pictured
Combined the sign consumes 20 watts and 0.59 power factor.

More pictures to come later.

Very good question Dor!  Such thinking would make you a good physical chemist.

The vapour pressure of a liquid is influenced by the intermolecular (or atomic) forces that exist within that element or compound.  These are characterised by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation that links the vapour pressure and temperature of different materials.

Just because a pure element has a high or low vapour pressure does not mean that its compounds will share such properties.  For instance even though both sodium and thallium metals contain bare atoms, their atomic interactions are entirely different due to their greatly differing size and electronic structure.  Sodium ions form rather weak bonds between themselves, but very strong bonds with the halogen and between their halide salts.  For thallium the inverse is true.

My knowledge is not deep enough to explain the precise electronic differences between thallium halide and sodium halide salts, I will try to research further because it is a most interesting topic.

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What a shame... He had a lot of useful info and some masterful photos in his gallery

he has indeed sadly, as I understand it that due to Ria and Sammi leaving the site and the (quick) un-banning of Dor, he decided to also leave, and sadly he deleted all his uploads when he left, I really wish he had not done that, as that is quite damaging to the lighting community, especially for all those that put in the effort to respond in kind to his uploads with detailed comments and research findings the such like, I really wish he had decided to at least leave his gallery up so all that hard work both from himself all others that contributed to his uploads was not lost

Unfortunately, his behaviors to me was rude exactly like Ria and Sammy. He entered into arguments with me when I said sometimes wrong, and he reported every thing that I've said which was wrong to the administrators, and deleted every comment I posted on his pictures, like Ria done.

What a shame... He had a lot of useful info and some masterful photos in his gallery

Are you aware that the hole in the ozone layer has been restored, exactly because we have dramatically reduced our emissions of CFCs in spray bottles and refrigeration systems? The ozone hole is no issue anymore *because* people in the 80s, 90s and 2000s did things to solve that issue.

It didn't just happen by itself. It was created by humans, and it was solved by removing the human factors that lead to it creation. Had the people in the 80s not started working on it, then we still had major issues with it.

Well, Laurens. Ozone hole was healed. By a coordinated international effort. How nice! Our little green planet is saved! Millions of people spared from skin cancer! Tears fills my eyes. A wave of renewed trust in humanity goodwill thaws my cold heart ... But... But... Lets look at hard data... Hard data honestly presented and plot in scale. Do you trust American NOAA? NOAA is sure serious, right? Let's look up NOAA data on CFC concentrations in atmosphere. They measure it. https://gml.noaa.gov/hats/graphs/graphs.html

So? WHAT? Ozone hole has healed, but atmosphere levels of CFCs have not dropped any significantly yet??? How can that be??

So it really was not that poor little R-12 molecules? Still a lot of R-12 around, but atmosphere now thrives? Ozone hole does not actually depend on CFC levels, but on something else or what happens? Natural oscillations? Solar activity? Some unknown cosmic factors?

How interesting, right?  But refrigerant makers already made billions on replacements. May be trillions. Out of our pockets... Many good old working equipment was trashed. There was once a nice R-113 liquid, a good electrical insulator. A major enemy of our little planet. Was used in Tektronix high-voltage probes, nice and precise. Now useless because the lack of replacement.

Still trust in 'science' ?

It’s never good to feel like that, but one thing I find uplifting is gaming?
I’m wondering if you’re a gamer?, I’m not really a social person myself, so the loss of friends is irrelevant to me, (I know that may sound a little harsh?), I’m only still in touch with just one of my old school friends, but we both do our own thing today?
As for covid?, covid for me was just a 9 week, government paid Xbox holiday! 🤨
I can understand your home predicament though, the housing market here is exactly the same bin fire as in the US!
But things always get better so they say?