EL Tape Question

[Tchail]

All of the electroluminescent tape strips that I've seen have connectors already built into them.

Does anyone know if it's possible to add your own connectors?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-Tchail

[ChrisQ]

I have also been searching for this. It would be really useful to be able to cut a strip for a nacelle and wire it straight into the same 6v supply I use for the rest of the model without needing an inverter.

I am still using LEDs and still unable to produce a really uniform glow with straws, styrene tubes, etc.

[en'til Zog]

Dude, EL strip needs high voltage (around 100+ volts) to work. An inverter isn't just a good idea: it's the la... a necessity.

Sadly.

And EL stuff is rather dim compared to LEDs and short lived, from my experience.

[swhite228]

I have also been searching for this. It would be really useful to be able to cut a strip for a nacelle and wire it straight into the same 6v supply I use for the rest of the model without needing an inverter.

I am still using LEDs and still unable to produce a really uniform glow with straws, styrene tubes, etc.

You won't get a uniform glow using straws or tubes. at most you will get a hot spot where the led is and a rapid drop of light the farther away you go from the led.

You could run one of the led strips thru the tube which would help even the light out (but still leave you with hotspots) then fill the part with fiber fill to difuse the light.

[Paulbo]

Tom,

I believe that if you get the EL tape with the thin unlit "seam" running down the center then you can add your own connectors, one on each side of the seam.

I know I could do that with the ribbon tape available from MicroStru.com, but not sure about other suppliers and I know it doesn't work with their solid material that has a boatload of connectors around the sides. I think there are a couple of suppliers that make the larger sheets with the seam down the middle.

If you're cutting a complex shape into the larger material, you'll want to have roughly the same area on one side of the seam as on the other or it won't light evenly.

Also, remember that all of the EL material has about a 400 hour half-life - i.e. after 400 hours of operation it's half as bright as it started. 400 hours later, it's one quarter as bright, and so on.

One supplier has a lifetime replacement warranty if it gets too dim, but returning the material to the supplier would mean ripping your model apart to get to it.

[Glorfindel]

How long of a strip do you need? Something like this might work:
Experimenter's kit #2504....a little bit down the page. Mr. Girven found this site a few years back and figure I'd save it for something in the future. Perhaps that day has come?
http://www.microstru.com/Experimenter-Kits.html