Baby Tron Costume

Step 4 Making the El-Wire

The approach that I take to any project is to prototype first, then refine the project in iterations.  After getting all the pieces in, I wanted to assemble a simple test.  This approach makes it easier to debug problems when things don't work quite right.  In order to test the El-Sequencer, you need

1) A power source
2) The El Sequencer
3) A strand of El-Wire

The first thing that you really need to assemble is the El-Wire.

Online you can find a number of tutorials on how to solder El-Wire. The most professional approach seems to be to use foil tape.  The two "angel" wires get bent back and soldered onto the foil tape which is wrapped around the wire casing.  I didn't use foil tape, but it would help to make the connection more durable. Instead, I followed the approach used by SparkFun on one of their El-Wire projects.

http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/Jacket/Jacket-15.jpg

You can see in this picture the center wire covered in phosphor and the angel wires.  You should use shrink tubing on both wires so that you keep some isolation and provide extra strength.

http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/Jacket/Jacket-17.jpg

Just like they did at Sparkfun, you should put an outer shrink wrap on it too.

http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/Jacket/Jacket-18.jpg

The El Sequencer has JST connectors for both the power sources and the El-Wires. Because the El-wire is AC, it doesn't matter which wire you connect to which.  I tried to keep it consistent and put the black wire to the center.

Lastly, you need to solder two JST connectors onto the inverter. I used the IFW 3294 2K 3v inverter from coollight.com. Make sure to get the DC power going into the inverter correct.  The AC power coming out doesn't matter.  As I mentioned before, I like to keep all of the connectors consistent and would recommend that you do the same.