Electroluminescent wire offers neon alternative

[Erik Sine]

Electroluminescent wire offers neon alternative

EL products are cheaper to install and operate than neon lighting, as well as being more energy efficient

Electroluminescent wire and panels provide a cost-effective visual alternative to traditional neon lighting. EL products are cheaper to install and operate, cooler to the touch, more energy efficient, easier to manipulate and (almost) unbreakable. Brilliant lighting and display solutions can be provided for customers needing to create special effects in an entertainment environment, or who need to illuminate a dark area.

EL products are becoming more common in health and safety environments such as edge of step illuminators and safety clothing.

They are also being used in retail displays, architectural lighting and signage.

Rapid will be selling 26 Surelight lines, including an evaluation kit featuring a power pack and sample quantities of wire.

The wire is available in six colours - white, pink, gold, blue, aqua and lime - providing uniform brightness along the length of the wire.

The products can run on battery power for long periods, making them suitable for portable applications where mains power may not be available.

This electroluminescent (EL) wire from Surelight is an innovative solution for many applications where a versatile, long-life light source is required. Utilising the latest developments in EL technology, this wire can be used in many different applications such as for safety lighting, architecture and decor, signage and retail display. Already in use in the entertainment industry in TV/film, theatre, opera, venues and nightclubs and by performance artists throughout the world.

# Available in several vibrant colours

# Available in 1.5m or 3m lengths

# Uniform light distribution across full length of wire

# Wire ø2.5mm

# Cool to the touch

# UV resistant for longer life

# Splashproof

[YYZ]

The half life of this stuff is somewhere around 10,000 hours - with extremely high grade stuff getting maybe 15,000 hours. Its long life compared to incandescent or halogen (which is a common source for small scale edgeglow fiber optics), but not in the range of neon or LED. It's also nowhere near as bright.

It's cool for safety lighting, car interiors and other oddball short life stuff - but not architectural. It's for direct view accents or effects in near total darkness, but that's about it. We've had several people come to us looking for a longer life replacement for a previous EL installation.

Edited October 18, 2007 by YYZ

[Martianalix]

Computers have been using LEDs for years, usually green ones to indicated power, red ones to indicate hard drive access and other colors to indicate standby, floppy access, or diagnostic activity. LEDs generally produce a single wavelength of light as low-voltage electrical current flows through the device. The colors of light available from different LEDs encompass the entire visible spectrum and even lightwaves that reach into the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

By combining more than one color of LED device into a single package, you can have LEDs that produce different colors depending on the direction of the current. These are commonly used as system power indicator LEDs, since they can be green when on, yellow in standby mode and red in hibernation mode. LEDs are also used to show system diagnostics, power, and system standby status. One purpose of these LEDs mounted on your system board is to remind you that just because the system is "off", it does not mean that it does not have power! Along the lines of the system diagnostic LEDs, is memory with built-in status indicators - Corsair makes memory modules that constantly display memory access and activity while the computer is running.

[manuellynch]

EL has a very short life compared to neon. EL also operates at voltages (I believe it is 80V) above Class 2 levels so it isnt that safe in wet environments. Usually used for short life display applications.

EL was the first light source used on PDAs, then CCFL, and now LEDs.

The stuff is very popular at Burning Man.

[YYZ]

The stuff is very popular at Burning Man.

Now that's a festival I want to hit. It's a little harder coming from the east coats and I wouldn't camp the whole week - but maybe the 2 days on/around the fire finale would be cool. If I had time to take away from work, we could build a kickass tent/showpiece with lighting, artwork, etc...

[manuellynch]

Now that's a festival I want to hit. It's a little harder coming from the east coats and I wouldn't camp the whole week - but maybe the 2 days on/around the fire finale would be cool. If I had time to take away from work, we could build a kickass tent/showpiece with lighting, artwork, etc...

Not this year - but next? Maybe Marko - we could have fun. The art is pretty interesting and amazing - this place is in the middle of nowhere with no services (plumbing, water, electricity).

The rampant drug/sex scene is a little bit of a time gone by...and when you see a couple having sex on the barren flat sand in the middle of the day as people bike by and a kid on a Big Wheel circles them...ok. A lot of kids when I was there.

Perhaps the best experience was standing in the center of this massive camp and looking at an art piece and the man next to me dressed in drag seemed familiar. Hell...it was George Mueller, the ex CEO of Color Kinetics. It was odd to meet up in the middle of this...and soon after they sold their company to Philips.