Hey everyone, I am wondering if you can give me some opinions on EL Wire vs. LED's for lighting. I am currently backlighting a piece of plexiglass with LED's, but I am not sure that it is the best way to go. I am mainly less than impressed with the narrow angle of the light emitted. I am looking for something a bit more diffuse. I came across EL wire while browsing CCFL offerings. I looks like it would be an appropriate replacement, but I have never seen any in person and couldn't really judge it's brightness nor color fidelity from the images. Does anyone here have any experience with EL Wire? If so, what is your judgement on the brightness of the light? Is it fairly diffuse? Any thing you may have to say about it, please be constructive or informative, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. MatrixOps
I had el wire once, It gives out a diffused light that's about a third the brightness as a ccfl. I got rid of it in the end, because it was sitting about 100mm away from my monitor, and was interfering with it. The inverter for it also gave out a high pitched whine that could get annoying. Inside a case it'd be quite good though, but the light output isn't great, you might need to double it up or something.
^What he said. EL wire really isn't that bright, so while it's OK for highlighting etc it's not great for acting as a light source. You have to have a direct line of sight with the EL wire. I found it's good for going round fan grills but I wouldn't put it actually inside a case.
Perhaps, some clarification on what I am using it for....I need to backlight a piece of plexi, nothing too bright. It is too make the letters painted on the back show through the first layer of paint. You can see the letters faintly without light. Lit from behind it looks like this You mention that it interfered with your monitor. Would this be a concern inside a computer case? I would mount this on the same panel as the motherboard, only on the reverse side. Thanks for all your help. MatrixOps
No problems inside the case, the interference only came when I pinned it under my desk to illuminate the keyboard, it was very close to the monitor itself, so there was some "noise". This was with a CRT, and as isaid, it was very close.
Thanks for the help Elthomsono. I can only guess why there is less of a problem inside the case. Probably due to the metal of the case, but that is a guess. What is your opinion on using it for backlighting that panel above? MatrixOps
I don't think it'd be great, if I was doing it I'd look into a white light source, mabye a halogen downlighter. How much depth do you have to play with, and have you tried shining different things through it? See how it performs under torch light, and that'll give you a good idea what you need to get the right effect. BTW, it looks great so far, I really like the rivets (are they rivets?) around it.
They are what we call stainless machine screws, with the threads and nuts on the outside. I have enough room for 5mm LED's, perhaps 7-10mm total. That is sort of the reason I was looking at the EL Wire. I am not sure I could fit anything other than that or LED's. Torch light?
Sorry, in Britain we call a flashlight a torch, I guess that could be confusing. It's just to get an idea of how much light you'd need to get the effect you want. With so little space though, I'd suggest LEDs with some sort of diffuser over them, mabye some frosted pvc?
when i need really wide angle LEDs i just file off the top of one, works great and is pretty easy to do with a dremel and a sanding drum. (can be done with other tools, but the sanding drum won't take your fingers off if you slip) You can allso use this to make the LEDs flat if you need a thin light source.
I have already sanded the LEDs to diffuse the light, but I might test your idea. It can only improve the lighting. MatrixOps
This may be of interest to you. A short length could easily be powered by LEDs. http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Sideglow.htm
