/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1296461
Pic related is the side emitting fiber optics.

>>1243785

Second easiest way to do it would be side emitting fiber optic. This utilizes a fiber optic that takes some of the glow from an LED down the length of it instead of transferring it all to the end. This is somewhat harder to work with than EL, but the benefits are well worth it.

Pros:
+somewhat flexible
+cheap
+many colors and you can get color changing LEDs
+bright compared to EL, can easily be seen in the day light
+nearly unlimited life, just replace the LED if it burns out

Cons:
-if you fuck up bending you have to start the segment over
-not as flexible as EL

This is a great way to make a faux neon sign in my opinion.

>>1181785

As this anon suggested, hot glue works well for sticking it down, or just about any type of adhesive. One of the good things about EL as well is that i can hold its shape pretty well versus side emitting fiber optic.

>>1181788

EL needs high frequency for excitation. The frequency inverter you will get will squeal like a bitch. Get some foam and a small box or case where you can pack in the foam around it and close it up tight to get rid of the noise.

Side emitting fiber optic (pic related) is nice in the sense that it's lower voltage, it's brighter, will last ages longer, and if the LED dies you just replace it. I forgot to mention that EL has a relatively short half life of 10,000 hours (it will be half as bright at that time).

>>1165863

>EL wire

Look at side emitting fiber optic if you're not running it for really long stretches. EL wire and side emitting fiber optic have their benefits and draw backs. Both probably won't give you enough light to replace a standard light bulb. Only do it for convenience or accent lighting.

As >>1165871 said they don't get hot. Mine might get slightly warm to the touch but never hot.

>>1085626

This is side emitting fiber optic. It's illuminated by LEDs (either 5V or 12V). You can add LEDs to both sides to increase the brightness if you're running a long strand. The cable is cheap and readily available on ebay, the LEDs are pretty cheap and available on ebay, it's easy to make different color sections, it's easy to animate different sections, it's brighter than EL, you can mix colors to get a wide range of color combinations, you can use individually addressable 5V LEDs for full 256 color range, and it doesn't have that annoying high pitch whine that the inverter boxes for EL have (which isn't a hard fix). In my opinion side emitting fiber optic beats EL in all aspects except that EL wire will have an even brightness throughout the length of a wire. This is easily solved by adding another section of side emitting fiber optic.

So OP, from someone who has done both I recommend side emitting fiber optic. You should probably try both though because they really are two totally different lights, but LED is the way to go in my opinion.