Precautions handling neon signs
High voltage can injure you! Never clean or attempt a neon sign repair without unplugging it first!!!!
Another good rule if you missed the first:
Unplug the sign's transformer before cleaning or repairs.
Get that? Good!
Be safe.
A neon sign transformer is capable of producing voltage that can injure you.
Amps will stop your heart. That means you could die. Fortunately, neon sign transformers have very low amp outputs. That does not mean it's safe to touch a bare wire by any means! The high output voltage could knock you away or leave you "stuck" holding the wire unable to let go. That is not good. So, unless it's up on display, UNPLUG it!
Now safety on the glass itself..... Glass is heated when manufactured into the straight tubes neon shops bend. A neon sign's glass tube is re-heated in each section that is to be bent, one bend at a time to shape it to the desired design. After all that heating, finally the tube is "bombarded" to clear out any impurities. The bombarding procedure once again heats the entire finished bent glass tube. All of this means is that the final glass tubing product is more than fragile, it is also extremely brittle. If it breaks, shards of glass can and will go flying. This means it can stick deep into your skin or go into an eye. Owww! So, when handling neon tube glass, respect the tube. Believe it or not, a neon tube will flex to a very slight extent. Not a good practice however. Remember when a colored sign tube breaks, there was a trace amount of Mercury in it. Mercury is toxic. You do not want any skin contact with Mercury, just as you do not want contact with a charged high-voltage wire!
Speaking of wires, another thing to remember is to insulate or cover those connections after performing any repairs. Always verify wiring condition prior to use, both on the primary (the plug) and secondary (neon output) wires. Arcing wires can and will start fires! High voltage will seek ground readily, and produce an arc to get there. 120V from the outlet can provide enough amps to start a fire when it seeks ground. Electricity provides us with a lot, but if also needs to be properly controlled and respected.