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wolvoleo 5 hours ago [-]
Yeah I do kinda the same but I embed them into latex prosthetics. Like horns or protrusions for the face that you glue on. They're really good for a cyberpunkey vibe. I'm just casting some at the moment actually because we're coming up on Halloween soon.
They look great but they're difficult to solder. Too little heat and it doesn't attach, too much and it damages them. The strip has some annoying coating that repels the solder.
Some of them have metal crimped contacts that solve this but at the expense of end flexibility. And those usually have contacts at each end, i prefer them with both contacts at the same end so I can cut the strips to size.
They're also prone to breaking and the silicone is very resistant to glues and it keeps jumping around when you try to fix it in place. Embedding totally in liquid latex helps but if you use a lot it takes ages to cure.
I tend to just drive them with an ESP powered by a simple power bank. Just like the OP but I tend to leave out the drivers, for short lengths 3V is ok directly on the ESP. The WLED firmware with an ESP-S3 and a MEMS microphone can even do audio reactivity.
I combine them usually with ws2812 strips too which have individual RGB. These flexi strips of course don't.
Ps one annoying thing is that some strips are much brighter on one side than the other, and some are not. But on AliExpress it's really hard to determine which ones you end up getting.
gotosun1 4 hours ago [-]
This sounds very interesting, do you have any pictures how these look like?
scottbez1 17 hours ago [-]
Author here, happy to answer any questions!
bigwheels 13 hours ago [-]
Just want to say- this is a really neat idea and project!
I wonder if white thread would've been more invisible, the black thread seems more obvious against the LEDs? Being nitpicky, its a cool project for a single night.
d3Xt3r 13 hours ago [-]
There's actually a specific transparent thread you can use for this, it's called a monofilament polyester (aka "MonoPoly") thread, in clear or "invisible" variant. Would be perfect for this project.
embedding-shape 12 hours ago [-]
I was gonna say maybe fishing line would work, but I think maybe some fishing line is some sort of monofilament polyester?
scottbez1 13 hours ago [-]
Or color matched. Hadn’t even thought of that to be honest
verdverm 17 hours ago [-]
Have you thought about ways to make the lights detachable so you can wash the garment? Or is the trade off at a point where redoing it is easier overall?
scottbez1 17 hours ago [-]
It’s maybe plausible to gently wash it with the filaments still attached? I did actually use connectors so the shirt could be detached from the drive electronics, though I’d be a bit worried whether the stitches would survive and corrosion on the solder joints. Adhesive/waterproof heat shrink could maybe help?
The other option is maybe attach the filaments to an embroidery style patch instead of the shirt itself and then attach it with Velcro to the shirt?
wolvoleo 5 hours ago [-]
You could use shrink tube around the solder connections. That would limit water ingress though it's not perfect. It's what I always do, it also gives more mechanical strength so you don't break off the the wire easily.
ok_dad 11 hours ago [-]
Magnets?
khaki54 10 hours ago [-]
One of my kids had something like this built into a Halloween costume that their mom procured from Amazon. One of the filaments was blinking out within a day so I started running the length of the filament to figure out where the bad connection was. Unexpectedly it shocked the hell out of me. I put a meter on it and it was 240V. I couldn't believe I got such a nasty poke from 2 AA batteries.
almost certainly, since EL wire has a driver to boost the v
DylanMerigaud 4 hours ago [-]
Looks solid, best of luck with it.
4d4m 17 hours ago [-]
The pwm animation/flicker/ramp up was a REALLY nice touch
landgenoot 6 hours ago [-]
That's a nice wearable!
mlmonkey 10 hours ago [-]
Is "LED Filament" the same as "EL Wire" ?
numpad0 7 hours ago [-]
LED uses EL effect of diode, EL wire uses EL effect of compounds dispersed in a material. Technically related, but this is based on tiny LEDs on a flexible PCB covered in the yellow LED goo. It's the same type of strip as ones used for retro look LED lightbulbs.
ThrowawayTestr 10 hours ago [-]
No, those are more similar to old fluorescent bulbs.
xgulfie 8 hours ago [-]
EL wire is different, it's higher voltage AC making a magnetic field and exciting a phosphor, it's actually a continuous strip of illuminating material. This is small, dense LEDs in a strip.
danilafe 13 hours ago [-]
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
IshKebab 12 hours ago [-]
Ooo this is cool, I didn't know these exist. I once half made something like this with EL wire but I stopped after getting an electric shock from some EL tape. Turns out the edges are not at all insulated and you need high voltages to drive them. I'm not wearing that. 24V sounds much nicer.
fnord77 6 hours ago [-]
We old timers used to use EL wire for this.
wolvoleo 5 hours ago [-]
Yes I've used that too but it has some drawbacks. It's way less flexible for starters, and not as bright. It's not dimmable unlike the leds.
Also it needs much higher voltage around 100V compared to leds so you always need some bucket converter. And there's a minor risk too when it comes to wearables though in general the wire is well insulated.
stuga 4 hours ago [-]
looking great!
Razengan 13 hours ago [-]
Reminds me of a Japanese tech demo on YouTube I can't find right now, of projecting a flexible hologram on to a t-shirt with invisible markers.
buredoranna 12 hours ago [-]
This is great, because the one problem I have with the cyberpunk dystopian future we live in, is the disappointing lack of neon.
They look great but they're difficult to solder. Too little heat and it doesn't attach, too much and it damages them. The strip has some annoying coating that repels the solder.
Some of them have metal crimped contacts that solve this but at the expense of end flexibility. And those usually have contacts at each end, i prefer them with both contacts at the same end so I can cut the strips to size.
They're also prone to breaking and the silicone is very resistant to glues and it keeps jumping around when you try to fix it in place. Embedding totally in liquid latex helps but if you use a lot it takes ages to cure.
I tend to just drive them with an ESP powered by a simple power bank. Just like the OP but I tend to leave out the drivers, for short lengths 3V is ok directly on the ESP. The WLED firmware with an ESP-S3 and a MEMS microphone can even do audio reactivity.
I combine them usually with ws2812 strips too which have individual RGB. These flexi strips of course don't.
Ps one annoying thing is that some strips are much brighter on one side than the other, and some are not. But on AliExpress it's really hard to determine which ones you end up getting.
p.s. thanks for the additional sourcing details
The other option is maybe attach the filaments to an embroidery style patch instead of the shirt itself and then attach it with Velcro to the shirt?
Also it needs much higher voltage around 100V compared to leds so you always need some bucket converter. And there's a minor risk too when it comes to wearables though in general the wire is well insulated.