You will have to find the places that the neon tube connects to the lead wires or other tubes. Check to see if it is loose and can be twisted and pulled back. If not, heat it with a heat gun or blow dryer and or cut the insulation tubing with a very sharp knife. Be careful not to break the neon tube with pressure, support it with your other hand .
(boy is that knife sharp, wink-wink).
Pull the insulation tube back to expose the electrode wires.
You will see something like this. The wires should be twisted together, be careful not to break these tiny wires. Just un-twist them in the proper direction.
Do this to both ends of the tube(s). the small wires on the neon tube can break off it bent too many times at the tube. Always try to not bend twist them at the glass, you can even use needle nose to steady the wire while un-twisting.
Some older signs use a metal crimp to hold the wires together, these can be difficult to remove. You can try lightly crushing it in the opposite direction to loosen it, you can try using dykes to split it length wise (being careful to not cut through your little wires). If all else fails you can just cut off your HV wire near the tube or if you have 2 tubes connecting together you can cut the bad tubes wires if one is a bad one.
Most neon signs will have the tubes held on with small wires like this.
Just un-twist them. Some newer signs have plastic ties, you will have to cut and discard those then use wire to re-assemble, some just snap in place.
Once un-twisted, you will have to remove them.
Notice how these are done, you will want to re-install them later.
Take all these ties off, then you can remove the neon tube. Note newer signs may have plastic tube mounts that snap onto the tubes.
Do pay attention to the order that the neon tubes must come off, you will need to
follow this order when re-assembling.
(boy is that knife sharp, wink-wink).
Pull the insulation tube back to expose the electrode wires.
You will see something like this. The wires should be twisted together, be careful not to break these tiny wires. Just un-twist them in the proper direction.
Do this to both ends of the tube(s). the small wires on the neon tube can break off it bent too many times at the tube. Always try to not bend twist them at the glass, you can even use needle nose to steady the wire while un-twisting.
Some older signs use a metal crimp to hold the wires together, these can be difficult to remove. You can try lightly crushing it in the opposite direction to loosen it, you can try using dykes to split it length wise (being careful to not cut through your little wires). If all else fails you can just cut off your HV wire near the tube or if you have 2 tubes connecting together you can cut the bad tubes wires if one is a bad one.
Most neon signs will have the tubes held on with small wires like this.
Just un-twist them. Some newer signs have plastic ties, you will have to cut and discard those then use wire to re-assemble, some just snap in place.
Once un-twisted, you will have to remove them.
Notice how these are done, you will want to re-install them later.
Take all these ties off, then you can remove the neon tube. Note newer signs may have plastic tube mounts that snap onto the tubes.
Do pay attention to the order that the neon tubes must come off, you will need to
follow this order when re-assembling.
