EL wire class

[magid]

Monday I went to an EL (electroluminescent) wire class given by Dave Stefanovic. He showed us how different thicknesses of wire looked lit up, and discussed how to connect them, and how much wire can be run off different sizes of inverters, plus information about soldering (safety and use). Then came the hands-on part of the class, connecting the wire to the inverter so it will light up.

I was a bit nervous about this: I've never used a soldering iron before, and having it be rather pencil-shaped had me thinking it would be similar to a pencil to use (ie, the tip), whereas it's more like using a knife (using more of the blade). Oddly, I kept thinking about my bare feet under the table, presumably a holdover from always wearing shoes even though in the house when canning. That's the trickiest part; the rest is fairly doable.

The process:

1. Strip one end of the EL wire, being careful not to break off either of the two "angel hair" wires wrapped around the main wire (though I thought they were rather more like insect antennae). Bend them out of the way and scrape off the phosphor on the main wire (an Exacto knife works well).
   
2. Put a piece of heat-shrink tubing on, sliding it down for later (not really necessary when dealing with a single wire, but a good habit for more involved projects).
   
3. Line the edge of the unstripped wire with copper foil. Bend the angel hair wires back onto the copper foil and solder together.
   
4. If the connector piece comes with both male and female ends, cut it in half. Choose whichever the correct connector is and pull the two wires apart partway to the connector.
   
5. Cut one of the two connector wires shorter, by the length of the copper foil band. Strip the two 'pigtail' wires.
   
6. Put a piece of narrower-diameter heat-shrink tubing onto the shorter pigtail. Then twist the shorter pigtail with the stripped part of the phosphor (EL) wire, and solder together.
   
7. Center the small heat-shrink tubing over the connection and shrink with heat gun (or hair dryer).
   
8. Solder the longer pigtail to the copper foil.
   
9. Cover both connections (already covered and not) with the larger heat-shrink tubing, and shrink.

It's a similar process for putting a connector onto the inverter as it is to putting one on the end of the EL wire. Just make sure they're a hetero pair of connectors.

EL wire can be connected in serial or in parallel; the only constraint is the length of wire the inverter can handle (and if it's too much, it'll just be dimmer). There are controls that let them flash on off, or in sequence. Note that the different colors have different brightness, so a constant brightness using different colors is unlikely.

I managed to put connectors on two wires and the inverter, and now I want to do more! I have a lot of ideas for projects. The one that's currently highest on the list should be doable: I just need a lot more blue than I bought (which turned out to be rather turquoise; I'd like something bluer) to bend into interesting swirls and curves on a furry coat, to be seen at night.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

oooooooooooh!

[magid.livejournal.com]

I know there are going to be more classes this fall; should I pass on dates and such when I find out when they'll be?

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

yes! something so shiny.....

how much does the stuff run per foot?

[magid.livejournal.com]

It's about $1.25–$1.50/ft. There's a kit they had me buy, in addition to a list of materials to bring with (soldering iron, a lamp, etc.). I was able to cobble together the materials from friends, pretty much.

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

yes, yes you should! Also shouldn't there be pictures?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I didn't think pictures would be all that interesting, given that it's just wire, not anything more involved, but since you asked...

Here's the blue wire, the first one without flash and the second one with.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Depending upon the design of the inverter that you're using, it is usually also possible to give it a different DC voltage than for which it is rated (within reason) and drive the wire brighter or dimmer. With that in mind, a variable-voltage DC supply (even as simple as a potentiometer configured as a voltage divider) can be used to brighten and dim the wire while running.

There's a lot of back-EMF in the inverter on startup, so if you're driving this sort of thing with an MCU, be sure to be using good FETs

[magid.livejournal.com]

This is way beyond my current (minimal) understanding of electricity/electronics, unfortunately.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

It's easier with diagrams. Next time I see you, I'll scribble.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Perhaps that will happen before next Arisia :-)

[powerfrau.livejournal.com]

I am hoping to create something simple for me and Meg. Have wire and drivers and an expert for the endeavor. Lee's gona teach me how to do it...Wheeee.