Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Artwork => Topic started by: Blanka on November 13, 2010, 05:07:38 am
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I'm looking for LED strips to make TRON-like stripes. The problem is, these things ALWAYS seem to be dotted ugly crap.
The usual crap:
http://images.google.com/images?q=led+strip (http://images.google.com/images?q=led+strip)
I need like a 5-10mm wide milky/opal strip, that is even lit over the full length using RGB leds, and individual LEDs may not be visible. Like this:
(http://www.angryzenmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/tronlegacy13.jpg)
I prefer not to assemble stuff myself, so please complete solutions.
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http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=el%20wire&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283 (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=el%20wire&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283)
This is what you need!
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Thanks!
It's close. Not colour changable, but it might be useful.
Do you know how fast these EL lights are? Can you drive them high speed with some controller?
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That's exactly what I'm doing in my cab. I picked up some ELWire, and designed (with some help from my electrical engineer dad) a circuit using optoisolators to switch the 90v AC that the EL Wire requires via the standard 5v signals from an LEDWiz.
Works great, though in restrospect, I think it would have been slightly easier to use solid state relays, I just didn't know they existed till later.
At any rate, they're single color, but with the LED wiz, you can fade them, blink em, etc just like a normal LED.
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And what about driving the 90V with power mosfets on the led wiz?
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El wire is all on or all off for the entire run correct? There is no way to light it up partially or in sequence? IE 1" then 2" lights then 3" lights etc?
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No idea about the mosfets, but if anyone knows, I'd love to hear more.
Yes, a single segment is all on or off.
But you can clip the wire to whatever length you need, connect it up, and drive it as effectively "separate" leds if you need multiple segments to light individually.
I'm doing that very thing in my cab.
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And what about driving the 90V with power mosfets on the led wiz?
The 90v is actually 90V AC @ ~2000 to ~5000Hz
There is a company that makes a led strip that is lit very evenlt but it is fairly this (about 1/2") i think. Cant seem to find the link right now...
Edit: Never mind, i thought you meant to run the el wire directly....
yes, you could use mosfets or anything that could switch 90v for that matter, i probably would have used an SCR, but an opto isolator is probably the safest.