EL Wire? Has anybody used it?

[Jobefx]

Has any body used EL Wire before?

If so has anyone done the blinky flashy thing with it? How did you do it?

If you dont know what El wire is you can google it or take a look at thatscoolwire.com.

I saw a video of someone using an MR16 to control the El Wire, (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login)  but this confused me a bit. EL Wire runs on AC current, however it has a very low power draw so people use DC batteries connected to an inverter to power the El wire. Which means that to connect 16 wires to the mr16 you would have to buy 16 inverters . There is only one wire in the video (poor dog) but I want to control more wires.  Buying a ton of inverters which I don't want to do at $20 each and powering them from the MR16 doesn't make much sense to me.

It would make more sense to me to control the El wire using standard SSR4s, EL wire lights up using 120v AC current. I tried it and it does work. The problem I am having is that the El Wire is too dim, the brightness of the wire is a result of the frequency of the current and El wire is brightest at 1500-2000hz instead of a 60hz standard out of the wall. So my question to you electrical geniuses out there is... is there a simple / cheap circuit to change the frequency of AC current that could be attached to the el wire post SSR4? Or can the power be changed prior to entering the SSR4 without damaging the SSR4? I thought about purchasing a AC plug in unit from thatscoolwire and wiring it to the input of the ssr4. Would that work or would I just end up frying the ssr4?

Thanks for your help I am trying to get my head around all of these electronics sorry if I am asking too many question.

[tbone321]

He was probably using the MR16 to either power the inverters or he was using it to switch some relays on and off as there was no dimming in that video.  Since dimming of EL is more a function of frequency than voltage, neither the Express or a SSR4 would be very effective at doing that.  I am not sure if a plain SSR4 would work properly at such high frequencies and a DMX enabled SSR4 would not work at all.  If all you are concerned with is controlling on and off of the EL wire, then build a relay bank to deal with the voltage and frequency requied by the EL wire you are using and use either an Express or a SSR4 to control the relays. 

[dilgod]

EL wires are really cool. I love them and I have used them to create a unique display this year.

I built a harp which was a key feature in my display.  As the EL wires are DC, I attached AC adaptors to the Lynx Express to turn the EL Wires on and off.

A big thanks to RJ and team in being a part of all this as we were featured in the CBS 8 San Diego News this year. I have posted the news segment on you tube - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login showing the "Harp" that uses EL Wires.

Dilip

[RJ]

WOW!!!!

Really Cool!!!!!

RJ

[Jeffl]

Where do you get this stuff from?  Also; I'm curious if it works in cold temps around zero degree?

[dilgod]

The tech support is good. They will be able to answer you if it handles zero degrees (Farenheit I presume).  I know it handles zero degree celcius.

These wires can be obtained (by the feet in length) from
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They are called glow wire or EL wire.

Hope it helps.

[joshuashu]

Dilip,

what is your address in poway? my sister lives in PQ and i would like to send her over to see it.

Thanks,

joshua

[dilgod]

PM sent.

[Jobefx]

Ive been doing lots of research on el wire. That harp is very cool Dilip. I found this article on a guy who made a midi controlled el wire setup

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He uses triacs to control the el wire, same as an SSR4.  The triacs in an ssr4 are capable of controlling the the 120v 1500Hz voltage used to power el wire. The optocouplers in the ssr4 should keep the rest of the circuit safe from the wacky voltage.  SO....

If there is any one else trying to use el wire you can do it two ways.  Option one you can use a DC controller like the MR16 attached to transformers that power the el wire, for each wire (channel) you control you will have to have a separate transformer.  Option 2  you can get one of the large ac frequency transformers, one of the one that powers 100-300 feet of el wire  and use ssr4s (with out the dmx option). Instead of plugging the ssr4 into the wall (mains) use the output of the ac transformer to send power to the ssr4.  Then the el wire attaches directly to the ssr4 channel outputs.

I have tested option 2 for short amounts of time ( a few minutes ) and it seemed to work fine but I don't have the el wire integrated in to my display yet so I don't know for sure if I will have any problems with it after running them for a few hours or days, hopefully the triacs can handle it with out heating up too much.

As far as I know neither option will let you dim the wires, the brightness of the wire is determined by the frequency of the voltage not the power. The guy who did the midi controller dimmed his wire by rapidly blinking the triacs on and off, im not sure this is possible with the current setup.

[occhristmas]

Hi - I am having much better luck with it this year than last year.  I have outlined the buildings of downtown Dallas and the Pegasus with El Wire.  The key, I realized after last year, was a quality inverter as well as a quality 12V power supply.

I am not blinking or dimming the el wire - I use it as a static channel that is plugged into my d-light controller and it is always 100% on.

Last year, I used it a bit more and it caused me some issues (namely waterproof issues which was most common).  After deciding to use it again this year, I made sure that I did not have the same experience as last year.  Now, I have a quality inverter from Coolight You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and a 12V power supply that I ordered from Ray Wu that is waterproof.

It is not bright but works well for me since I just wanted to use it as kind of a mirage type effect since I have the Reunion Tower ball and the led pixel sign which are really the features.  So, just do not expect this to be a bright addition to your show.  You cannot see el wire until it is almost completely dark.  I posted a video of this years display to give an idea how I use el wire.

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[RJ]

Neat use of newer stuff!

RJ

[rrowan]

Neat use of newer stuff!

RJ

So you are prototyping a Lynx EL as we speak?

Cheers

Rick R.

[RJ]

No I already had that figured out.  As he said you just modulate the power with freq to dim them.

I just wonder if I could get a brighter and color changing effect using side fiber optic and 3w Rgb leds to light them. I played with it already but I did not have EL to compare the brightness to.

But I could dim and change colors also so that was a benifit!

Rick I always have more on my plate than I have time to do. 

RJ

[dilgod]

Hi - I am having much better luck with it this year than last year.  I have outlined the buildings of downtown Dallas and the Pegasus with El Wire.  The key, I realized after last year, was a quality inverter as well as a quality 12V power supply.

I am not blinking or dimming the el wire - I use it as a static channel that is plugged into my d-light controller and it is always 100% on.

Last year, I used it a bit more and it caused me some issues (namely waterproof issues which was most common).  After deciding to use it again this year, I made sure that I did not have the same experience as last year.  Now, I have a quality inverter from Coolight You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and a 12V power supply that I ordered from Ray Wu that is waterproof.

It is not bright but works well for me since I just wanted to use it as kind of a mirage type effect since I have the Reunion Tower ball and the led pixel sign which are really the features.  So, just do not expect this to be a bright addition to your show.  You cannot see el wire until it is almost completely dark.  I posted a video of this years display to give an idea how I use el wire.

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Very nicely done. I like the whole setup - neat and soothing.

What Video Camera did you use to record with such clarity from that distance?

Dilip

[occhristmas]

Very nicely done. I like the whole setup - neat and soothing.

What Video Camera did you use to record with such clarity from that distance?

Dilip

Thanks for the comments - I use a Canon Vixia HF S10.  It was my Christmas present last year.  I am still trying to figure out the best settings and I am not very educated on aperture and all that mumbo jumbo - but I really enjoy this camera.  Three years ago, I purchased a JVC and could never get a good video...these blinking lights are very tricky to capture.  

I still need to work on capturing the vivid colors, but that would require reading the manual.  

But, again, thanks for the comments!  Happy lighting!