We get a lot of questions about using fiber optic side glow cable for replacing neon lights. Fiber optic lighting can be used as a neon alternative and it will use less electricity than conventional neon lights. One other unique thing about using fiber optic lighting is that it can color change as well. Since there is no glass in fiber optic cable, you will never have to worry about tubes breaking and costly maintenance. Fiber optic lighting can save you money on your electric bill as well because neon consumes more power. One last thing to mention, neon lighting is the leading cause of commercial fires and when you replace your neon lights with fiber optic lighting, make sure to call your insurance company to let them know because in most cases it will lower your commercial building insurance as well.

With all of the benefits stated above, we will now go into planning fiber optic lighting as your alternative to neon lighting. The first thing you will need to do is to get some basic dimensions of the area you would like to light. Once you have those dimensions, you will also need to look at where you are going to place your fiber optic illuminator. Now, the fiber optic illuminator that we recommend is UL listed for indoor and outdoor use, so you will just have to make sure that you have access to the illuminator so you can periodically change the light bulb when it goes out.

Some basic rules about using fiber optic side glow cable as an alternative to neon are as follows. You will need to use 250 watt metal halide fiber optic illuminator and either the SV84 or SV126 fiber optic side glow cable. Your longest run of cable should be 50 foot in on direction where the fiber dead ends or 100 foot loops where the fiber optic cable starts and ends in a fiber optic illuminator. Here are some basic diagrams for illuminator placement and how to run the fiber optic cable.

In the first diagram here, it is showing you a top view of a building layout if you wanted to run 200 feet of fiber optic lighting around the perimeter of the buiding. On the roof of the building, you would need to have two fiber optic illuminators and run 100 feet of fiber optic cable in each direction where the fiber optic cable starts and ends in a fiber optic illuminator.

In the next diagram, we are showing a simple sign here and how you would run the cable. This example is less than one hundred feet in length and you would only need one fiber optic illuminator.

These are some basic diagrams and in closing we have a materials list of items you will need.

1. Fiber optic side glow cable (SV84 or SV126)

2. 250 watt metal halide fiber optic illuminators (This depends on total linear footage of cable)

3. Mounting track or P Clips for the fiber optic cable

4. Hot Knife (You will need this tool to cut the fiber optic cable and to prepare the fiber head in the illuminator)

5. You will also need to determine if you would like to have it color change, solid color or just plain white light.

After you understand the basics, we encourage you to call one of our sales representatives to finish specifying in your fiber optic lighting and answer any other questions you may have. You can find basic pricing in our fiber optic side glow cable section.