Y’know the stuff! It’s basically just an LED strip with a very nicely diffused sheath that people use to mimic the look of a neon light. You can tell when you’re close up, but at a distance it’s convincing.
I don’t care if they’re addressable, as long as it’s available in different colors. (actually single color is probably preferable)
My google-fu is failing me and I was wondering if anyone had a lead on an affordable source for this stuff.
Or at the very least, just knowing what they’re actually called would help me find my own source.
Thanks for all the leads folks, I know this looks kinda like one of those ‘let me google that for you’ type of posts.
Was hoping for some magical term that vendors call the stuff so I could dial in a bulk source, I’m thinking I’m not gonna get any better than “neon LED”
@jiggliemon This is great, I love having an in-person source when possible for this kind of thing!
Try something like “seperate neon silicone strip” or “flexible neon strip.” If you’re looking to order in bulk (say 100+ meters per color), you could source it from overseas and that’d be the most cost effective.
^ Some EL wire used to produce a whine when on, at least back in the day. I wonder if it still does that and/or whether I’ve aged out of being able to hear it…
EL requires AC voltage in the range of human hearing, and it does actually mechanically compress and relieve itself with the application of voltage, so it’s basically a speaker too. And it scales with size, so larger pieces of EL wire are going to radiate a significant amount of sound.
60Hz to 8KHz max. So there’s no way to drive it outside the audible range.
EL wire is not nearly as durable as LEDs. It fades in as little as 100hrs at peak drive. It’s damaged rapidly by sunlight or excessive mechanical flexing back and forth.
Just posted last week –
