So what the hell is 'electroluminescent cable'? Produced by US company SoftNeon Lighting, basically it's a thin piece of wire that, when connected to a special power supply, lights up along its length. The wire is flexible enough that it can be easily made to follow contours and curves, go around sharp corners - even be tied into knots if you want. While mainly intended for decorative purposes, the cable can also be used to outline an opening so it's is easier to see at night, or provide illumination in small areas otherwise hard to light up.
The cable consists of a flexible copper wire coated with a phosphorescent material which has been wrapped with two tiny "transmitter" wires, each a little thicker than human hair. This is sealed inside a waterproof sheath that gives it a finish much like standard speaker wire (about 16 gauge). It is available in both kit form with a suitable power supply, or it can be bought raw (ie by the foot). When energised, it glows very evenly and looks much like a very small diameter, glowing neon tube. However, unlike neon, the manufacturers claim that electroluminescent cable:
- Is flexible
- Costs far less
- Is cool to the touch
- Is able to be cut and spliced
- Is easy to install
- Is weatherproof
EL cable is not designed to light an area as a light bulb would - it is not bright enough to be visible in a brightly lit room or outside during daytime. But if greater brightness is required, doubling - or even tripling - the cable will produce enough reflected light to provide a very strong glow. Brightness is also determined by the voltage of the AC electricity provided, with this set by the driver box being used. When power is applied to the driver box, the EL cable lights up instantly.
The cable loses its brightness over time, but is rated for about 2000 hours with a driver frequency of 400Hz. Interestingly, sections of EL cable can be joined together, allowing a longer length to be produced or a length to be made up of different colours. However, note that if the resulting cable is too long, the brightness can be affected - as it can be if you cut it too short. Since each driver box has recommended max and min lengths of EL cable, it's easy to determine if this is likely to be a problem. The colours that are available are: aqua, blue, yellow, orange, coral (pink), and white.
So how much does this stuff cost? A starter kit comprising 5 feet (1.52 metres) of EL cable with 9V - 12V driver and one tube of vinyl glue costs US$27.95. If you wish, you can buy the cable by the foot (US$3.30 a foot, min order 3 feet) with appropriate transformer driver boxes (ranging from $US19 to US$47.50) also available.
Using It
SoftNeon Lighting provided us with a US$27.95 starter kit to review - it came with the blue EL cable. The cable is as flexible as the company describes it, and is terminated with a small two-pin plug. This connects to a cable coming from the driver box, a small potted box of electronics, 35 x 25 x 20mm in size. The driver box supplied with our kit was a little distorted, as if the container wasn't quite rigid enough to hold the potting compound when it was being added. However, since the driver box will always be hidden away, this is not really a problem. Another plug is provided on the driver box, presumably to allow a second length of EL cable to be driven, while the power supply wiring consists of a red wire (positive) and a black earth cable equipped with a spade terminal. A tube of instant glue is provided, allowing the cable to be attached to different surfaces, while a small strip of double-sided tape is included to hold the driver box in place.
When we plugged the EL cable into the driver box connector and applied 12V, the 5 feet of cable immediately glowed a faint blue. Place the cable in less bright conditions and the cable's blue light intensifies, giving a very good affect.
We decided to use the EL cable to outline the mouth of a glovebox, so that the size and shape of the opening was clearer when the glovebox lid was opened at night. Since the glovebox was already equipped with an internal light that operated only when the lid was opened, a ready switched power supply was available.
We detached the light from the inside of the glovebox, then wired the EL driver in parallel with it. (The driver takes only milliamps, so any available source of switched 12V power will do.) The spare EL driver plug we insulated with electrical tape, with the driver box then pushed through the opening created by the temporary removal of the glovebox light. After that, the light could be placed back into position - leaving 5 feet of glowing blue wire to stick somewhere! Rather than cutting it, we used a double run around the glovebox, gluing the EL cable into place short section by section. The supaglue loves sticking your fingertips, so it's best to wear disposable rubber gloves when applying the stuff.
After about 30 minutes - from start to finish - we had the EL wire installed.
So how does it look? In a word - different! The effect is quite unusual in that the wire is a thin glowing line, rather than a large tube. This lends itself to the tracing of trim and other techniques where just an outline is required - the cable's thin enough to fit into the stitch lines on door linings, for example. It's also a lot subtler than neon, and far more versatile.
Conclusion
Cheap, effective and innovative. (And installed it looks a heap better at night thatn these pix suggest...) We love it!
www.softneon.com
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