If you’re familiar with digital signage or are planning to use it in your business, there are ways to maintain it to make it last. Digital signage is good for either indoor or outdoor use, plus you’re able to change your business messaging whenever you need to. It’s easy to use, but you also need to maintain it for it to last over the years. How do you go about doing that with limited time to get to the sign or signs? Here are some maintenance guidelines that are fairly easy to follow.
Cleaning on a Regular Basis
- Any digital screen and its message require daily wipe downs to prevent dust buildup. Either use a cleaner designed specifically for screens or a window cleaner. Wipe the screen with a microfiber cloth so you can rid the screen of dirt or debris. Another suggestion is a compressed air duster to remove dust from any of the cracks and smaller crevices.
- A mild soap that you dilute with warm water is all you need to clean the surfaces of indoor and outdoor signage. For outdoor signs that are made from stainless steel, aluminum, or fiberglass, use car shampoo or a product with a wax coating.
- Maybe your sign requires little to no repairs but just needs a general wipe down. When the exterior contains debris, grime, and mold, you probably have limited visibility. This makes the sign look old and grungy. You can transform your sign with a quick wash.
Replace Lettering
Check your letters, whether they are digital or a more traditional type, as the letters themselves, may be hard to view through fading over time or general wear and tear from the sun or the elements. You don’t want to give the wrong impression with faded or missing letters. You want to replace them quickly.
Exposure Problems
Maybe your sign has sections where it’s broken and open. This could raise a problem with the exposure of electrical parts to the weather. The parts either break down or just partially function. There could also be light bulbs that flicker along with fading paint or broken letters. These small things will only get worse if they are not caught, repaired, and maintained. With any electrical components, you want to engage an expert electrician or a sign technician to care for the faulty electrical parts.
What Not to Do
- With raised surfaces, like letters, numbers, symbols, and raised letters, you don’t want to scrub them as the paint could wear away. Also, you do not want to use a steel wheel or rough scrub
- Don’t leave any moisture on a sign as it can damage it and don’t allow cleaning fluids to dry on the surface of a sign.
- Don’t use any cleaner that contains alcohol or industrial strength cleaners
- Steer clear of using a razor blade to remove sign residue as it could chip paint
- Avoid pressure washing or steam cleaning
- Read cleaning product ingredients—Make sure they’re compatible.
Software Updates
With software being the key element to your digital signage system, update it regularly. You can’t wait months or even years for updates. If your installation goes past the year date, you’re due for an update. It’s like the updates with your phone or computer software. You want to make time for maintenance checkups to determine:
- functionality
- security
- memory
- replacements
Hardware Maintenance
With digital signage, issues with hardware parts will happen as they’ll wear out over time and you’ll need to replace them. Like anything else, hard drives, media players and servers require attention. You’d much rather replace a part rather than the whole digital signage.
You can usually replace old hardware with upgrades, so you’ll want to check with the manufacturer. With a hardware upgrade, you won’t lose anything as all your content will migrate onto your upgraded system.
Cable and Cord Inspection
Regularly checking your power cords and cables for faulty connections and fraying is important. With damaged cords, you can experience glitches with software and screen displays.
Weather Resistant Materials
Though an outdoor sign may be weather-resistant, you still want to protect it against the elements. Find a shady spot or one that isn’t exposed to constant sunlight and the effects of rain or wind. You can also place it near a tree or large plant, so it has a natural cover. A commercial sign company should be able to give you ideas on how to protect your sign without hiding its message.
Bracket Check
If you place your sign on a building with brackets and those brackets show looseness, rust, or damage, replace them. You can tighten the nails and remove the rust, but dealing with the brackets can be a challenge. Tightening nails and looking for rust is easy, but if you find that dealing with the brackets could be a challenge, hire a commercial sign company to help you.
Management of Your Sign Content
Content management doesn’t seem to have a close association with sign maintenance, but keeping up-to-date on the content you use on a sign is an important part of remaining ahead of the game. Digital signage can lose its punch or impact when it lacks the appeal it originally had. You want your content to capture your audience through a powerful design. The right software that updates your signage content will help you manage it.
Reflection on Your Business
A sign that lacks upkeep can be a poor reflection on your business. You want any signs you use in your business to continue to look attractive, plus draw potential customers. Coming up with a maintenance plan for your business signage will only keep you ahead of the game, plus your signage will function well and look good at the same time.
Digital Signage is an investment and if you want it to continue to work for you, maintaining it is a simple given. With the maintenance tips given here, you can maintain your own sign and its related components, but if you simply don’t have the time or have many signs, consult with Tupp Signs. We have been around for over 90 years and deal with all facets of signage that include producing, designing, manufacturing, installing, repairing, and maintaining signage. Call us for all your digital signage maintenance needs at 302-322-1600. You’ll be glad you did.