EL WIRE How To

Author: M. Burgess

People have been modding for years using EL Neon Wire to light up there Cases, Monitors, and Keyboards. One of the best features of EL Neon Wire is it's flexibility when doing designs. You can really shape and mold the EL wire really into any shape or design that you want. Today we will show you how to make the Jedi Master himself "YODA".

Materials and Tools Required:

• EL Neon Wire (Any Color you wish)
• 16 gauge soft brass copper wire
• Black Electrical Tape
• Hot Glue Gun or Zip Ties
• Wire cutter

Step 1: The first step is to decide what design you would like to do. Either find or draw a picture of the design that you would your EL Wire to represent. . We went and searched through Google and found a nice head shot of Yoda.

Step 2: Once you have your picture you now need to figure out the best way to route your EL Wire. You will need a Starting point and a Ending point since this will be one continuous line through out the design. Obviously you will not be able to do every detail in some designs. Using a marker trace out the main lines of your design that will best define your image. There will be some parts of the image you may not want lit, but you have no choice with running the wire. We will go back to those areas and put black electrical tape around that section so it will not light up.

Step 3: You will now use the 16 gauge soft brass cooper wire to lay down your design. Find your starting point and start laying the copper down. Use little pieces of tape to help secure the copper down to the picture for now. I found it best to put a little piece of tape at every bend to help secure the copper down while you are still shaping. Like I said above in step 1 you might have some places where you need to do a double layer. Try to squeeze them together as tight as possible so it still looks like one piece. Once you have made it to the end use some wire cutters and cut the cooper.

Step 4: Now you may remove all the tape off of the copper and lift your design up off the picture. After you have chosen your color of EL Neon Wire to use in this project go back to the starting point. Use either Zip Ties or a Hot Glue Gun to attached the EL Wire to the copper. We found Zip Ties to be a little easier and less messy then a Hot Glue Gun. Try to do the same as above with the Zip Ties or Hot Glue and place them at every bend to create a better shape around the bends.

Step 5: Once you have your EL Neon Wire completely attached to the copper wire then you can go ahead and use some Black Electrical tape to black out the areas that you do not want lit up. Then plug it in and you should have a nicely lit design.