Review Neon Light Dance Party Decor Light LED 2022. Somehow, on the Internet, I came across an interesting thing – an electroluminescent wire or cable (aka El Wire, aka flexible neon) and, after searching on Aliexpress, found that it was quite inexpensive, and therefore decided to order a copy powered by USB. This is what will be discussed in this review.
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Flexible neon is used to decorate all kinds of signage, to create backlighting for interiors, objects, car interiors; the costumes are very interesting, in the decoration of which it is used, and in many other places. What is he like? In short, this is a thin PVC tube inside which there are three conductors (one central, and the other two – in a spiral around it) between which there is a dielectric and a layer of electroluminescent phosphor, glowing under the action of an alternating field provided by the inverter. For a stable glow of the phosphor, an alternating voltage of 100-170 volts must be provided, for which there is a transformer in the inverter design. The conductors act as a capacitor, which is discharged onto the phosphor layer, causing it to glow.
There are several commercially available cord options with different types of power: from USB (5 volts), from a 12 volt power supply, or from 2xAA batteries (this option allows the cord to provide a flickering or fading effect). It seemed to me that the most convenient option was with USB power. There are many different colors and lengths, I chose a fluorescent green with a length of 10 meters. By the way, the glow color is provided due to the color of the PVC tube, inside which the wire is located, the phosphor is the same everywhere:
The structure has already been assembled and is completely ready for use, but if you buy a cable of a different length “cut” separately, you will have to tinker with its connection, because the conductors inside are very thin and require certain wiring and soldering skills. In this case, the neon itself is already connected to a regular wire and the place is insulated with a heat-shrinkable tube:
Next comes the detachable connector.
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… the second connector of which is located on the inverter wire:
The inverter has “ears” for fastening and is not demountable, completely filled with epoxy:
The thickness of the neon tube is about 2.5mm. Honest cord length: 1004cm.
Other sizes:
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On the reverse side, a protective cap is welded for tightness. The cord, if necessary, can be shortened, for example, when it is too long, but the main thing is that the conductors do not close together at the same time.
Kit weight is about 100 grams:
You can connect to any charger or power bank:
At the same time, the current consumption (at this length) is very small, about 0.3A. However, do not forget that after the inverter the voltage is more than 100 volts, so you need to make sure that the insulation at the junction of the inverter and the cord is not damaged.
The wire shines evenly along the entire length of the tube and 360 degrees:
The tube is strong, but at the same time very flexible, the bending radius can be made about 5mm:
The glow is not super bright, but it is clearly visible even in the light:
However, it looks especially interesting and entourage in the dark 🙂
The task of the wire is not to illuminate, but to emphasize the contours of the form:
These are fantastic photos, and in reality it looks spectacular:
At a low current consumption, the wire will work long enough even from a small powerbank, the only drawback is that when the inverter is on, it emits a squeak audible at a close distance (a feature of the circuit), so you need to remove it further. Even with prolonged operation, the cord does not heat up at all, and the inverter heats up to about forty degrees. In general, the thing is quite interesting and suitable for all kinds of design ideas, creating inscriptions and much more, it would be a fantasy 🙂
I bought it here, and if necessary for interior decoration of the car, then the same cord is sold here, only with a transparent thin rim, which is tucked into the technological gaps between the panels and does not require any additional fasteners or glue. It looks like this:
