Glowies, Blinkies, UVies & Other Illuminations

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:52 pm

The UnjonHarley mentioned Din-a-motor....
http://web.tiscali.it/dinamotor/Home-english.html

It's a very interesting concept.....

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:24 am

Whether you end up using rope lights or EL, you can give a boost to them visually by mounting them on a reflective surface such as the mylar tape used for making custom car trim....available at Pep Boys and such. In the case of EL you can also boost output by doubling it up, although this obviously doubles the cost as well.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:42 am

Horrable Fright sells a two inch wide reflective tape. Three rolls for cheap.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 8:46 am

That'd be a good width for ropelights. You can also increase the reflectivity by elevating the rope or EL from the surface- there are little clear plastic widgets called standoffs that are designed to hold neon tubing and are available from a sign shop or through some googling. Or you can make your own outa wire. Mounting lights on standoffs is less durable than gluing directly to a surface, but it makes it vastly easier to change out damaged lighting if you're using stuff with a short life or high vulnerability.

safetythird · Post by **safetythird** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:39 am

Have you thought of using LED rope light? You get the brightness of incandescent with the low power consumption of EL.

Here's the first link I found on google for some:

Xmas LED Rope Light

It's a little spendy but it does have it's advantages.

Safety Third!

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:12 am

Yeah, I noticed LED rope light when I was hunting for regular rope light prices but quickly hit the back button when I saw how much it costed!

At that rate I think I'm better off with 4 strands of EL wire instead.

I tested a 30 ft strand I had already and it only drew .124 amps at 12 volts! It's definitely not as bright but it will simplify the power issues quite a bit.

Now only if I could find or make a sequencer that adjusts frequency and voltage instead of just turning them on/off.

Simply Joel · Post by **Simply Joel** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:55 am

Dork wrote:Yeah, I noticed LED rope light when I was hunting for regular rope light prices but quickly hit the back button when I saw how much it costed! :) At that rate I think I'm better off with 4 strands of EL wire instead.

I tested a 30 ft strand I had already and it only drew .124 amps at 12 volts! It's definitely not as bright but it will simplify the power issues quite a bit.

Now only if I could find or make a sequencer that adjusts frequency and voltage instead of just turning them on/off.

may i suggest using some type of reflective mylar behind the light rope/el-wire to get the maximum reflection possible.

just a thought, to "get the most bang for your buck"

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:53 pm

We seem to think similarly about mylar, if not language....Look three post back.

gatonegro3 · Post by **gatonegro3** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 4:09 am

Hey,
Does anybody know that LED gizmo that swirls in bicycle wheels and produces an amazing rotational pattern

Not the usual "tire flare" but something that's clipped along a spoke and makes amazing swirly pattern.

If I can find it, I will mount it in a staff and have it drawing in the air.

gatonegro

Zulegoona · Post by **Zulegoona** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:25 am

Are these what your talking about?
http://lightgod.com/store/product.asp?id=1958&catid=510

They are cool but a little more thab I would want to spend.

Mithra · Post by **Mithra** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:38 am

Check out www.enlighted.com Janet a local burner here in San Diego owns the company and kicks ass. She hosts workshops for local burners.

Her site will give you some idea about what is possible.

ElWire in clothes is pretty strait forward, just use regular ElWire of the desired thickness and color. After trying lots of different methods I've found that sewing ElWire to clothing is the way to go. The stuff with a tail is mostly for apolstry, not so good for clothing.

Mithra

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:41 am

The 10 Channel sequencer kit I built does fine on 4 LED's in series, but they sure are dim. When I chop one of them out of the circuit they glow bright but stay stuck after triggered on by the sequencer. Suggestions?

Here is a link to the kit which is pretty cool and cheap:
http://www.hobbytron.net/CK156X.html?AI ... ID=1185411

Cheers!

Lorgasm · Post by **Lorgasm** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 9:01 am

Last night I met the cutest couple. They own a business that sells many blinky things. Things for you bike, your pet, your body, etc. They guaranteed immediate delivery and they are familiar with Burningman. I told them I would post their biz on the board to share with my friends. Check them out. I purchased a nude woman and a blinking penis. How adorable is that.

www.bandjgiftworld.com

See y'all soon!!!!

Lorgasm

headquarters · Post by **headquarters** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 6:30 pm

robotland wrote:GOOP adhesive holds well and peels cleanly from EL when it's time to change designs, but will bond to loosely-woven fabrics so a test is advised. For shoes, helmets or non-porous costumery or props it's fantastic.

so is the only problem in your opinion is that the goop won't come off of the fabric later? or will it not even hold it on the fabric? i don't care if i trash the fabric, but if it isn't even going to stick then i will try something else

thanks

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 8:23 pm

I have a brocade frock coat that I'm lighting up for this Burn, but it's dry clean only. So I can't comment on the washability of EL wire. Haven't tried it, not planning to.

Word on the thread-and-needle attachment system. It takes awhile but it's a nice relaxing pursuit in what is often a frenzied effort to get stuff ready for the Playa. Something nice to do while you're chatting with fellow Burners at crafting parties and compression get-togethers.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 10:49 am

[quote="headquartersso is the only problem in your opinion is that the goop won't come off of the fabric later? or will it not even hold it on the fabric? i don't care if i trash the fabric, but if it isn't even going to stick then i will try something else

Oh, It'll hold all right! Anything that an adhesive like GOOP can flow INTO and THROUGH so it can bond to itself around whatever material will be pretty permanently GOOPed. I made a favorite Silly Hat by GOOPing aluminum objects onto a furry winter-coat hood, and it has stood up to a lot of abuse. Most of my studio clothes have spots of it since I use the stuff for EVERYTHING. It'll bond to denim and withstand machine washing whether you want it to or not!

headquarters · Post by **headquarters** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:32 am

thanks robotland! i will goop it up then. i was looking around on threads about el wire looking for this thread and i saw you mention goop no less then maybe 5 times. good stuff!

glam_daddy · Post by **glam_daddy** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 4:14 pm

This jacket was made by sewing (using clear fishingline) the EL wire onto the jacket...

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 4:24 pm

scarlet_minnow wrote:The problem I've found is that if you sew EL wire on clothing, you can't wash it. In my mind, that's a lot of effort for a one-time use item. A better way to work it is to sew tabs onto the clothing every few inches and then thread the EL wire through the tabs.

Could you do some sort of velcro openable tabs? Or snaps even?

Stormy · Post by **Stormy** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 8:27 pm

http://shopping.netledger.com/core/medi ... ae493a247e

Though don't ask me about cleaning the garment after sewn in.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:26 am

Even if you seal the EL wire well, washing creates condensation inside the wire that messes it up....You can temporarily fasten the wire onto clothing with small snaps, velcro, thread, fishline as stated above, or pins(ideally safety pins).

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:30 pm

Still talking about strippers here. If you work with El Wire, you simply must acquire the HEAVY DUTY automatic self-adjusting wire strippers. The ones I posted on earlier kept breaking. I've been looking all over for these and forgot to look in the most obvious place... Radio Shack!

Now lets talk about real strippers! (the ones wearing the clear acrylic heels).

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:35 pm

Here's a link to these strippers.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... id=64-2982

Superb for removing both of the plastic coatings with one swipe and leaving the el coating intact.

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:58 am

I was showed a trick last year for quick stripping ELwire - use a candle to gentle heat almost to melting point the outer layer, then pull it off. Takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but then it works like a charm. Have yet to damage an inner wire this way...(YMMV)

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 8:23 am

I recently scored a big handful of EL badges for a buck apiece- The kind with 4-phase animation and a little 2AAA driver box doublesticked to the back- By soldering jumpers to the animation leads I was able to make el cheapo drivers for EL wire. Rip off the plastic badge and pop the case and you'll find the leads readily accessible, four "channel" leads with a "common" on each end. The box'll run several feet of EL wire, enough to make great little project drivers! Unable to abide the amount of soldering necessary to make a flock of fluttering butterflies, I simply wrapped the wirelead on the center coax and BENT THE END OVER. Then I fastened the two microdinky wires, snugged it all down and clearheatshrinktubed the whole mess. Now if I get bored with this hookup, it'll yank apart without much damage. It is, however, plenty strong.

Look out, Lenny Jones!

Dream EL projects:
-Stewart Tartan EL kilt (no kin of mine, but Clan Davidson's largely black)
-Octopus Cloak with EL "chromatophores" to produce rapid color changes
-EL "passengers" for the side windows of the car
-Freestanding EL trees with animated Autumn leaves

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 8:39 am

Thanks, Dragonfly Jafe and Robotland. Good stuff all. Where did you score the badges? I love those things and looked at a good selection at www.lightgod.com

Last night I finally got to see my daughters perform at the local production of A Christmas Carol. I worked on the aqua marine color el wire for the dress of the Ghost of Christmas Past as well as the head wreaths that the children wore. I warned them that a blue spotlight would wash it out, so that's just what the lighting guy did. Still, the entry and exit on the darkened stage was great. I learned that the aquamarine color is great in white guaze and lace as it illuminates in a very ghostly way. I confess that I had to keep reminding myself to watch for my girls, not the el wire!

My dream elwire projects:
The Cloak of Shame
Kilroy the Konscious
A better sequencer to drive the 10 hour clock on the mutant vehicle:
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACC ... /id.192/.f

Look up our friend Dougaldutch here from Scotland. He has just completed his own elwire kilt and sings his body electric!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:27 am

Here's some sequencer stuff...
http://elbestbuy.com/livewire.html

Those badges were the same as those available at LIGHTGOD, but unfortunately my score was a one-time thrift shop find after a store stock liquidation. I'm just glad I bought 'em out- Got twenty at a buck apiece. Still, if you can solder, then TEN bucks apiece for a four-channel sequencer isn't too bad. best I've seen for a portable is about twice that.

I'm a little surprised that EL stuff is taking as long as it is to creep into toys and novelty items, at least around these parts....Maybe it's a UL high-voltage issue. I was surprised and delighted to dicover an EL flatpanel inside of an emergency EXIT sign that I found on a dumpster dive....now the dome will have a safety feature.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:02 am

Thanks, Robotland. Sounds like you and I both are diving dumpsters these days.

I'm getting in the habbit of taking the rear entrance at strip malls just to drive by the dumpsters. Yesterday I scored a perfect restaurant booth bench from a defunct chinese restaurant. There was a tiny poem written on a scrap of paper that fell out.

I think I'll buy a couple of those badges and play with soldering on them. This stuff is so addicting!

Here's a holiday sale on el wire with some pretty great prices:

http://shopping.netledger.com/s.nl/c.AC ... ry.2157/.f

The sequencer I am coveting is this one:

http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACC ... /id.192/.f

They have been promissing it for half a year and I understand they are having trouble with their manufacturer in east Asia.

Cheers!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:34 am

Mister Jellyfish Mister wrote: I'm getting in the habbit of taking the rear entrance at strip malls just to drive by the dumpsters.

I have a very old, very faint scar on my right side.....do you have one on your left?

Let me know if you need further info on hacking those blinkybadges...I'll warn you that you can just pretty much rip them off of the battery box, but it'll pull the five little leads out of the badge. (I'm still trying to figure a way to salvage them.) The leads pass through a slot and into the box, and are more like thin metal strips than wire- I removed them by clipping a hemo to each and then touching the connection with a soldering tip to make them fall out. Then you just replace it with a wire and feed it out the slot to your EL wire project.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:10 pm

I must be getting antsy. I swear I sometimes do el wire just for the fuck of it, like tying fishing lures. Made a sign for my buddy's tour bus "Mr. E. Train" (get it?) Tonight I soldered different colored scraps in a row just to look at them all lit up at once. I need a life.

Glowies, Blinkies, UVies & Other Illuminations

swirly LED's for bike

Sequencer

This Should Solve the Problem

strippers

Link

lazy robot!

Good stuff all

El Wire Sale

Re: El Wire Sale