Troubleshooting EL wire... help!

[HappyFunJay]

Howdy burners!

I purchased a couple of these electroluminescent wire kits.

On this, our 11th, hour, I am trying to rig up these kits for my costume. I rigged up one of them without a hitch. The other one suddenly stopped working. :(

It seemed like the kit was working fine a couple weeks ago when I did a quick test. Now, when I turn it on, the power light on the power supply inverter turns on, but the EL wire doesn't glow at all. Sometimes, if I fidget with the connection between the inverter and the wire, I can get it to glow, but it's very unreliable.

I don't think I bent the wire too far, but I guess I can't rule that out.

As a total newb to EL wire, I don't know much about how to fix it. I believe I have tracked the problem down to the inverter. When I swap the EL wire that is connected to the bad inverter, it doesn't work. Either wire works fine with the good inverter.

I'd gladly replace the bad inverter with a new one. But, being the 11th hour, that doesn't seem to be an option. Even if I had time to receive delivery of the new part, it seems the vendor is out of stock.

What can I do?? Any suggestions (besides screaming)? Help would be tremendously appreciated. Is there a camp at Burning Man that is good at fixing this sort of thing? Does anyone have a spare inverter?

[fenwick]

Howdy burners!

I purchased a couple of these electroluminescent wire kits.

On this, our 11th, hour, I am trying to rig up these kits for my costume. I rigged up one of them without a hitch. The other one suddenly stopped working.

It seemed like the kit was working fine a couple weeks ago when I did a quick test. Now, when I turn it on, the power light on the power supply inverter turns on, but the EL wire doesn't glow at all. Sometimes, if I fidget with the connection between the inverter and the wire, I can get it to glow, but it's very unreliable.

I don't think I bent the wire too far, but I guess I can't rule that out.

As a total newb to EL wire, I don't know much about how to fix it. I believe I have tracked the problem down to the inverter. When I swap the EL wire that is connected to the bad inverter, it doesn't work. Either wire works fine with the good inverter.

I'd gladly replace the bad inverter with a new one. But, being the 11th hour, that doesn't seem to be an option. Even if I had time to receive delivery of the new part, it seems the vendor is out of stock.

What can I do?? Any suggestions (besides screaming)? Help would be tremendously appreciated. Is there a camp at Burning Man that is good at fixing this sort of thing? Does anyone have a spare inverter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

El-wire - although a nice effect - is a pain at times.

You say the inverter power indicator lights up - but the wire itself does not glow.

My opinion - their is a small fray in the outer silver wire - or perhaps a fray among any of the smaller wires.

So - how is your soldering skills?

Get a magnifying glass, and check the connections or anywhere the outer coating of the wire is bent or been cut into. If you see any broken wire, and I am refering to the outer wire that is about a millimeter in thickness, and that might be the break that is causing you grief.

If your good at soldering, this be easy to remedy. If your not good at soldering, this will be a gruesome, but possible task, and I sympathizise - because I tried el-wire and due to no hand-eye coordination - it was a grueling few hours to correct and fix.

Hopefully because your jiggling the connection and this works, but not reliable, this be the only area that needs to be closely examined.

Might need to consider cutting and creating a new connection.

http://burningman.rengeekcentral.com/elwire.html

Fenwick


Once you get this item working, do everything possible to keep the costume flat, and as less stress (bending) of the wires as possible.


After careful re-reading - you can consider the following option

3-5 feet of el-wire will "glow" via a clip to a 9-v battery. These clips are available at radio shcak or any good hobby toy stoy that deals with heavey elctronic gadgets. If you have a broken radio or anything that does not work that used a 9 volt battery, you can improvise that way.

with battery in hand, you will need to join the el-wire to the battery clip wires - see link above fo solder tips. Then plug the wire to a 9-volt battery and secure the batter to the costume.

I have a draw full of blown inverters for el-wire. I also have many feet of el-wire. Someday I will trash the blown inverters and make use of the wire in a glow project. When it works - it is great - when it doesn't it can be a pain, much like the agony your suffering.

[HappyFunJay]

El-wire - although a nice effect - is a pain at times.

You say the inverter power indicator lights up - but the wire itself does not glow.

My opinion - their is a small fray in the outer silver wire - or perhaps a fray among any of the smaller wires.

So - how is your soldering skills?

Get a magnifying glass, and check the connections or anywhere the outer coating of the wire is bent or been cut into. If you see any broken wire, and I am refering to the outer wire that is about a millimeter in thickness, and that might be the break that is causing you grief.

If your good at soldering, this be easy to remedy. If your not good at soldering, this will be a gruesome, but possible task, and I sympathizise - because I tried el-wire and due to no hand-eye coordination - it was a grueling few hours to correct and fix.

Hopefully because your jiggling the connection and this works, but not reliable, this be the only area that needs to be closely examined.

Might need to consider cutting and creating a new connection.

http://burningman.rengeekcentral.com/elwire.html

Fenwick


Once you get this item working, do everything possible to keep the costume flat, and as less stress (bending) of the wires as possible.

Alas, my soldiering skills are nonexistent. I guess this means I ought to learn it.

Unfortunately, that doesn't help me in the limited time I have before launch. But thanks a lot for the info.

[fenwick]

Never give up - I updated my original reply - concerning the inverter. for about 5 feet - maybe 7 feet - you can power el-wire directly with a 9-v battery.

soldier skills suck as bad as mine - if you can cut the wire - and carefully seperate the wire- instead of soldering, try electrical tape. You just need to make the connection. Sadly these wires are single strand and very small. I bribe a friend whom is very handy with a soldiering gun to finalize the connections - for beer.

I been where you are - I ussually build my "glow art" in June and then carefully store in the RV until August when I test them again for working.

Even this year I am leaving behind some "glow art" because I am not gonna agonize over it this late in the game. I have plenty of glow art this year. Requires a series of 3 12volt deep cycle car batteries, but then they get recharged by solar panels during the day.

Try the electrical tape or perhaps even duct tape. Hardest part is dissecting the smaller wires from the main wire. These wires are incredibly small and reasonably fragile, but then I have bent the heck out of some connections and they still manage to work.

Peace,

Fenwick

[mk-ultra]

The nice folks over at coolneon.com put a guide to soldering EL wire online:

http://www.coolneon.com/SolderGuide.html