Disclaimer : This is my First Instructable. I appreciate any constructive criticism and helpful advice. Now any of you who just ramble on about “I’m just in it for the money” or “You misspelled instruction” or “He’s trying to control the world” just leave me be and we'll be just fine. (Ok, the World Domination may be true.)
Now I don’t claim to know that I am the end all knowledge on EL wire but I have done my research before I bought anything, plus, I have compiled what it’s made of, what makes it work, some history, and helpful tips to help you out. So let's get started.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: What is EL Wire?
Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated to EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in phosphor, which glows when an alternating current is applied to it. It can be used in a wide variety of applications- vehicle and/or structure decoration, safety and emergency lighting, toys, clothing etc - much as rope light or Christmas lights are often used. Unlike these types of strand lights, EL wire is not a series of points but produces a 360 degree unbroken line of visible light. Its thin diameter makes it flexible and ideal for use in a variety of applications such as clothing or costumes.
EL wire's construction consists of five major components. First is a solid-copper wire core. This core is coated with phosphor. A very fine wire is spiral-wound around the phosphor-coated copper core. This fine wire is electrically isolated from the copper core. Surrounding this 'sandwich' of copper core, phosphor, and fine copper wire is a clear PVC sleeve. Finally, surrounding this thin, clear PVC sleeve is another clear, colored translucent, or fluorescent PVC sleeve.
An electric potential of approximately 90 - 120 volts at about 1000 Hz is applied between the copper core wire and the fine wire that surrounds the phosphor coated copper core. The wire can be modelled as a coaxial capacitor with about 1 nF of capacitance per foot, and the rapid charging and discharging of this capacitor excites the phosphor to emit light. The colors of light that can be produced efficiently by phosphors are limited, so many types of wire use an additional fluorescent organic dye in the clear PVC sleeve to produce the final result. These organic dyes produce colors like red and purple when excited by the blue-green light of the core.
Thanks to Wikipedia and Electronics Warehouse for information.
(Picture credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL_wire )
EL wire's construction consists of five major components. First is a solid-copper wire core. This core is coated with phosphor. A very fine wire is spiral-wound around the phosphor-coated copper core. This fine wire is electrically isolated from the copper core. Surrounding this 'sandwich' of copper core, phosphor, and fine copper wire is a clear PVC sleeve. Finally, surrounding this thin, clear PVC sleeve is another clear, colored translucent, or fluorescent PVC sleeve.
An electric potential of approximately 90 - 120 volts at about 1000 Hz is applied between the copper core wire and the fine wire that surrounds the phosphor coated copper core. The wire can be modelled as a coaxial capacitor with about 1 nF of capacitance per foot, and the rapid charging and discharging of this capacitor excites the phosphor to emit light. The colors of light that can be produced efficiently by phosphors are limited, so many types of wire use an additional fluorescent organic dye in the clear PVC sleeve to produce the final result. These organic dyes produce colors like red and purple when excited by the blue-green light of the core.
Thanks to Wikipedia and Electronics Warehouse for information.
(Picture credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EL_wire )
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
1. Parallel end to end....in which the core of the second is connected to the end of the core of the first and angel hairs of second connected to the end of the angel hairs of first. This is the way to connect them end to end. There is no series end to end. Parallel rules apply here
2. Parallel side by side....in which all strands have their cores and angel hairs connected to supply. All cores connected together and all angel hairs connected together. Parallel rules apply here
3. Series side by side....in which the cores of some strands would connect to angel hairs of other strands. like putting batteries in series the + and - of the ones in the middle connect together. Only two strands would connect directly to supply. This is the only way series rules would apply.
http://www.neonstring.com/index.php?tasket=solder
Are you using the copper tape (with the adhesive on also it is used to do stain glass projects) around the center copper wire?
Or, are you using it for the Angel wire which goes around the coated Copper wire?
could you please send or show a little clearer photos with the different wires "ID'ed" or how you used the copper tape.
Please understand I had worked in the electronic field a long time ago (before LED's were commonly used mid 1970's) and I been out of doing any electronic work or building stuff like this since the early 1990's when I became disabled and I am way out of practice.
Thanks
Krisy
Being fragile, the angel wire must be soldered so it will not flex coming out of the solder glob. Cut the strip of copper sheet/tape shorter than the heat tubing or tape already in place around the soldered inner wire and the phosphor coating. If the angel wire and copper sheet/tape are not already tinned, do so now.
Lay a paper clip over the shrink tubing already in place to provide an air gap and heatsink under the copper tape. Place the small patch of copper tape--adhesive side toward the paper clip--and position the angel wire over the copper tape. Go ahead and make the solder.
Remove the paper clip and wrap the copper tape around the heat tape already in place. Now place another piece of heat tape around the whole joint and shrink it in place.
if you were doing something (like making a helmet or whatever) that needed several different "locations" of E.L. wire (like different designs in between non-lit spaces) the typical suggestions that i've seen is to just "bury" the parts you don't want visible behind whatever you're mounting the wire to/in/on. to maximize your purchase of wire, would it be a safe assumption that you could cut the wire into the necessary final lengths to make each individual design, and then bury the connecting wire instead of wasting lit wire?
if one were to do something like this, would it be best (from a brightness standpoint) to wire the connector wires back to the controller in series or parallel? assuming that the total length of all the wire used is within the specs of the controller.
would the added lengths of connecting wire decrease the brightness of each separate length? what would be a suggested gauge for the connecting wire (i typically like to use pretty small gauge solid core wire, like CAT6 for anything that i can get away with)?
P.S. if your good with a BCD counter you could try having the different designs "twinkle" at different rates.
i'm not terribly worried about all of the soldering, or the solder joints as most of this stuff will end up embedded in plastic and not out in the open.