# EL wire 'neon' sign

**URL:** <https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324>\
**Category:** Projects\
**Created:** [10 July 2015 12:20 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324 "2015-07-10T12:20:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 17\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:20 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/1 "2015-07-10T12:20:20Z")

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I just finished this. 3 layers of laser cut acrylic with EL wire sandwiched between them. Heat shrink tubing to black out the wire between letters.  
Needs a better inverter, but I just ordered some USB ones.

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/cc7c39f309f3b9801ef3c8a4a54c31f194d21264.jpg)

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**Author:** ![gordonendersby](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/gordonendersby/32/21_2.png) [@gordonendersby](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/gordonendersby)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:33 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/2 "2015-07-10T12:33:13Z")

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That really has a neon tube look about it.  
I think the black tube adds to it.  
Looks good.  
How big is it?

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**Author:** ![Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/dermot/32/14757_2.png) [@Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Dermot)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:37 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/3 "2015-07-10T12:37:00Z")

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Looks great…

How bright is this stuff, and can you vary it? What happens with different frequencies? And what voltages are involved?

Will you blog it?

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**Author:** ![Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/dermot/32/14757_2.png) [@Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Dermot)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:40 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/4 "2015-07-10T12:40:16Z")

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@tomnewsom were you Glownimals based on this stuff?

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:54 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/5 "2015-07-10T12:54:03Z")

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It’s about 200mm square. The EL wire is 2.6mm diameter, which fits nicely in a 3mm layer of acrylic.

I thought about making the back layer black to hide the wire between the letters but I agree with @gordonendersby and liked the black tube - it looks more neon tube like, I think.

I think it’s hard to vary the brightness, and control it generally. It needs a high AC voltage to drive it. I’m using a little inverter that takes a couple of AA batteries at the moment, but I’m hoping the USB ones I’ve ordered will drive it a bit brighter.

What do you mean by blog it, @Dermot ?

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**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 12:59 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/6 "2015-07-10T12:59:56Z")

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@dermot Glownimals is based on that stuff yes… You can do dimming with PWM. It’s not hugely bright, you can’t see it in daylight.

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2015 13:44 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/7 "2015-07-10T13:44:54Z")

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Yeah it’s only any good in the dark. It also degrades under UV so can’t be installed outdoors

Very flexible stuff though. All sorts of applications. A bugger to solder.

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [14 July 2015 01:18 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/8 "2015-07-14T01:18:24Z")

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You’re not going to catch me trying to solder it!

Working on another one…

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/cc12fef0375e0b98d31a19cc7f3abd4f86b6bba1.jpg)

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [16 July 2015 17:12 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/9 "2015-07-16T17:12:23Z")

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Finished!

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/2aec22aef0a4d47b7c4bca4965fa5d7ae309072e.jpg)

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**Author:** ![gordonendersby](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/gordonendersby/32/21_2.png) [@gordonendersby](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/gordonendersby)\
**Post date:** [16 July 2015 20:49 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/10 "2015-07-16T20:49:17Z")

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From the photos. it looks like the real thing. pun intended.

Gordon

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [17 July 2015 10:24 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/11 "2015-07-17T10:24:16Z")

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I figure I may as well upload the dxf files I cut these from. I’ve added an extra set of holes in the Coke sign as the middle could do with a bit more fixing.

[Atari.dxf](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/3e4f4a00ad16254f0d043fa56d9eb7147f80fe7b.dxf) (92.0 KB)  
[CocaCola.dxf](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/1X/6ece3cfe20d77b4feb8380e5806affab03b991dd.dxf) (295.9 KB)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [20 July 2015 17:31 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/12 "2015-07-20T17:31:25Z")

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@tomnewsom Have you any experience with the 5mm EL wire? Or @unknowndomain?

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [20 July 2015 18:58 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/13 "2015-07-20T18:58:22Z")

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I’ve only ever used the 2.4mm stuff.

The only difference is the thickness of the outer sheathing. So the thicker wire actually looks dimmer because it diffuses the light over a larger surface area. The only reason to use it is to get a deliberately chunky look, or for longer life in an outdoor application (the sheathing protects the phosphor from UV).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [21 July 2015 09:50 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/14 "2015-07-21T09:50:51Z")

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Thanks @tomnewsom although that’s not the answer I wanted to hear! Was looking to scale up the Coke sign but if it’s going to be even dimmer then it might not be worthwhile.

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [21 July 2015 10:01 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/15 "2015-07-21T10:01:54Z")

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The only way to get a wider line while maintaining brightness is by bundling multiple wires. Can look good, but you don’t get that clean neon-like appearance.

EDIT: You can also use an over-sized power supply to increase brightness, but it decreases lifetime.

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**Author:** ![Sung\_Gyue\_Bae](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/letter_avatar/sung_gyue_bae/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Sung\_Gyue\_Bae](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Sung_Gyue_Bae)\
**Post date:** [26 September 2016 07:23 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/16 "2016-09-26T07:23:01Z")

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@richM Woderful work! How can you glue wire on acrylic ? 3M?

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/8/8915ab7aa38284eccf118aa46126a71943540ecf.jpg)

this is my work

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [26 September 2016 07:38 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/el-wire-neon-sign/324/17 "2016-09-26T07:38:35Z")

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Being an ex mechanical engineer I went down the bolt-it-all together route.

The EL wire fits into a groove laser cut in the centre of three layers of laser cut acrylic which are bolted together with M3 machine screws. Heatshrink tubing blanks off the gaps.