The Full "How To" Manual For EL (Electroluminescent) Wire

Step 6: Better, Bigger, Badder

For those who missed last step:

On top of the items listed in step 2, you will need:

Copper tape (or copper sheeting with an adhesive backing)

More shrink wrap 

And tons of patience

First you need to prep all the EL wires striping them of both the PVC as well as the phosphor coating. Solder one wire to another. Shrink wrap the connection and making sure that you cover all of the exposed copper wire and heat. Next the you cut the copper sheet into a small strips. Now here you can have some freedom with connection, You can wrap the copper around the PVC of one wire or you can wrap it around the shrink wrap or you can lay the strip along one side of the shrink wrap. I choose the laying method to allow better contact point for the angel wires. After placing the copper solder the angel wires of both EL’s to the copper.

***Soldering should be done quickly to avoid melting the shrink wrap or the adhesive on the copper sheet.***

You can do this separately or how I did it was placing all four wires laying flat on the copper sheet and then soldering them at the same time. After allow the solder to cool (couple of seconds should do it) wrap it with shrink wrap heat and there is your finished product.

You can do the process many time with different lengths of EL as displayed. I have read online that 50ft of EL wire can be powered by a single AAA battery, but I wonder about that.

I hope you found this a helpful guide to the wonderful world of EL wires and found it quite illuminating. (Sorry I had say it.) Please see the last page for further ideas, last minute insights and other EL links.

Comments

[Kristyanna1019]

From the photos it is hard to see how you use the copper tape.

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

[MTJimL]

Have you yet found your answer Krisy? If not, I'll try to answer your question--though I'm not the Instructable's author.

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.