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EL lighting-wire causing noise

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james(at)etravel.org
Guest

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 8:38 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Gents,



I've bought some EL wire and an inverter, and I was thinking I'd run

two lengths of it to light the panel: one above the panel and one

above the sub-panel.



Yesterday I connected it up to try, and it makes a loud high-pitched

whine on the intercom headphones.  I know that EL strips are used in

aircraft, so it's not EL per se that's the issue, which means it's

either wire, or the inverter.



Is there anything I can do practically to stop this, for example

shielding the box with metal or similar?  I'll try a few things, but

if anyone has any experience, I'd appreciate any advice going.



Many thanks.



James



--

Jodel D150 in progress

enginerdy(at)GMAIL.COM
Guest

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 11:50 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

EL is relatively high voltage, so it's a good idea to shield the feed wires between the inverter and EL, and make sure it's not running close to any audio lines. 



Can you move any wires around and affect the sound? That might give you a clue of physically where to look for coupling.



--Daniel



On May 1, 2011, at 11:35 AM, James Kilford wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Gents,

 

 I've bought some EL wire and an inverter, and I was thinking I'd run

 two lengths of it to light the panel: one above the panel and one

 above the sub-panel.

 

 Yesterday I connected it up to try, and it makes a loud high-pitched

 whine on the intercom headphones.  I know that EL strips are used in

 aircraft, so it's not EL per se that's the issue, which means it's

 either wire, or the inverter.

 

 Is there anything I can do practically to stop this, for example

 shielding the box with metal or similar?  I'll try a few things, but

 if anyone has any experience, I'd appreciate any advice going.

 

 Many thanks.

 

 James

 

 --

 Jodel D150 in progress

james(at)etravel.org
Guest

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:05 pm Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Thanks Daniel.  At the moment, the EL wire was all bunched up in the

footwell, a long way from anything except the headphone in use.  I

just connected it temporarily to the L tank fuel sender power feed.

I'll try isolating it a bit more and see what I can fathom.  My

concern is that it will just naturally radiate too much noise.

James

On 1 May 2011 20:46, Daniel Hooper <enginerdy(at)gmail.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	

 EL is relatively high voltage, so it's a good idea to shield the feed wires between the inverter and EL, and make sure it's not running close to any audio lines.

 Can you move any wires around and affect the sound? That might give you a clue of physically where to look for coupling.

 --Daniel

 On May 1, 2011, at 11:35 AM, James Kilford wrote:

> 

>

> Gents,

>

> I've bought some EL wire and an inverter, and I was thinking I'd run

> two lengths of it to light the panel: one above the panel and one

> above the sub-panel.

>

> Yesterday I connected it up to try, and it makes a loud high-pitched

> whine on the intercom headphones. Â I know that EL strips are used in

> aircraft, so it's not EL per se that's the issue, which means it's

> either wire, or the inverter.

>

> Is there anything I can do practically to stop this, for example

> shielding the box with metal or similar? Â I'll try a few things, but

> if anyone has any experience, I'd appreciate any advice going.

>

> Many thanks.

>

> James

>

> --

> Jodel D150 in progress

>

>

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:10 pm Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

At 03:02 PM 5/1/2011, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Thanks Daniel.  At the moment, the EL wire was all bunched up in the

footwell, a long way from anything except the headphone in use.  I

just connected it temporarily to the L tank fuel sender power feed.

I'll try isolating it a bit more and see what I can fathom.  My

concern is that it will just naturally radiate too much noise.


	


   Review chapter on noise in the 'Connection. You need to

   identify the mode of propagation. Shielding is most

   unlikely to fix the problem. Try running the lights from

   an independent 12v source . . . like a pair of cheap

   lantern batteries from WallyWorld . . . and see if

   the noise goes away.

        Bob . . .

Eric M. Jones

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:25 am Post subject: Re: EL lighting-wire causing noise

My philosophy is that changing to an LED strip is the easy way to go. You can fix the EL problems, but does it make sense?

_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net

james(at)etravel.org
Guest

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:39 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Eric, you might well be right -- I was looking on ebay last night, and

you can buy a reel of SMD LEDs, about 5m overall, for about Â£20 or

so...  Seems like pretty good value to me.



What's the best way to dim them though?  I guess they're pretty bright

to start off with.



James



On 2 May 2011 13:25, Eric M. Jones <emjones(at)charter.net> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 My philosophy is that changing to an LED strip is the easy way to go. You can fix the EL problems, but does it make sense?



 --------

 Eric M. Jones

 www.PerihelionDesign.com

 113 Brentwood Drive

 Southbridge, MA 01550

 (508) 764-2072

 emjones(at)charter.net





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=338625#338625

Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2879

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:45 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

That's exactly what I did when I had the same issue.  Those EL lights

aren't the quietest things.  The LED's are quiet though.



Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD

do not archive

On 5/2/2011 7:25 AM, Eric M. Jones wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 My philosophy is that changing to an LED strip is the easy way to go. You can fix the EL problems, but does it make sense?



 --------

 Eric M. Jones

 www.PerihelionDesign.com

 113 Brentwood Drive

 Southbridge, MA 01550

 (508) 764-2072

 emjones(at)charter.net





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=338625#338625

Eric M. Jones

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:55 am Post subject: Re: EL lighting-wire causing noise

I didn't mean surface mount leds, but LED ribbons or "flexstrips". Ebay has them as well as Deal Extreme (my favorite). 



There is a mistaken idea that LEDs need Pulse-Width-Modulation or Quantum Heisenberg Compensators or some such....all untrue. Dimming them is just a matter of changing the dc voltage to them. Any dimmer, even a resistor, zener or potentiometer will do.

_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net

N20DG

Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 61
Location: lancaster, texas

Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 6:40 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Cruising around on E-Bay I've seen dimmers for the led light strips and  have always thought I need to get them for the plane. Time will tell

 Dick

 #606/N20DG

  

  In a message dated 5/2/2011 7:40:02 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  james(at)etravel.org writes:

  	  Quote: 	
		  -->    AeroElectric-List message posted by: James Kilford    <james(at)etravel.org>



Eric, you might well be right -- I was    looking on ebay last night, and

you can buy a reel of SMD LEDs, about 5m    overall, for about £20 or

so...  Seems like pretty good value to    me.



What's the best way to dim them though?  I guess they're    pretty bright

to start off with.



James



On 2 May 2011 13:25,    Eric M. Jones <emjones(at)charter.net> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   -->    AeroElectric-List message posted by: "Eric M. Jones"    <emjones(at)charter.net>



 My philosophy is that changing to    an LED strip is the easy way to go. You can fix the EL problems, but does it    make sense?



 --------

 Eric M. Jones

    www.PerihelionDesign.com

 113 Brentwood Drive

 Southbridge, MA    01550

 (508) 764-2072

    emjones(at)charter.net





 Read this topic    online here:



    http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=338625#338625





<= Use  ilities  ay                 - MATRONICS WEB FORUMS               - List Contribution Web Site  p;                             


	




	


 [quote][b]

james(at)etravel.org
Guest

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 3:51 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Yep, absolutely.  This is the sort of thing I've seen:



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5M-White-SMD-3020-Waterproof-300p-LEDs-Strip-Light-Lamp-/260769350652



James



On 2 May 2011 13:55, Eric M. Jones <emjones(at)charter.net> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 I didn't mean surface mount leds, but LED ribbons or "flexstrips". Ebay has them as well as Deal Extreme (my favorite).



 There is a mistaken idea that LEDs need Pulse-Width-Modulation or Quantum Heisenberg Compensators or some such....all untrue. Dimming them is just a matter of changing the dc voltage to them. Any dimmer, even a resistor, zener or potentiometer will do.

klehman(at)albedo.net
Guest

Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:41 pm Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

FWIW my EL lights are powered through the homemade analog dimmer circuit 

on the aeroelectric pages and there is no noise evident at any 

brightness. I think the circuit used a LM317 regulator.

Ken



On 5/2/2011 8:43 AM, Tim Olson wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 That's exactly what I did when I had the same issue. Those EL lights

 aren't the quietest things. The LED's are quiet though.



 Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD

 do not archive

 On 5/2/2011 7:25 AM, Eric M. Jones wrote:

> 

> Jones"<emjones(at)charter.net>

>

> My philosophy is that changing to an LED strip is the easy way to go.

> You can fix the EL problems, but does it make sense?

>

> --------

> Eric M. Jones

> www.PerihelionDesign.com

> 113 Brentwood Drive

> Southbridge, MA 01550

> (508) 764-2072

> emjones(at)charter.net

james(at)etravel.org
Guest

Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 6:53 am Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

Thanks Ken,



I've a couple in the electronics box from when I made some dimmed map

lights.  I'll give that a try.



James



On 5 May 2011 01:35, Ken <klehman(at)albedo.net> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 FWIW my EL lights are powered through the homemade analog dimmer circuit on

 the aeroelectric pages and there is no noise evident at any brightness. I

 think the circuit used a LM317 regulator.

 Ken



 On 5/2/2011 8:43 AM, Tim Olson wrote:

>

> 

>

> That's exactly what I did when I had the same issue. Those EL lights

> aren't the quietest things. The LED's are quiet though.

>

> Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD

> do not archive

> On 5/2/2011 7:25 AM, Eric M. Jones wrote:

>>

>> 

>> Jones"<emjones(at)charter.net>

>>

>> My philosophy is that changing to an LED strip is the easy way to go.

>> You can fix the EL problems, but does it make sense?

>>

>> --------

>> Eric M. Jones

>> www.PerihelionDesign.com

>> 113 Brentwood Drive

>> Southbridge, MA 01550

>> (508) 764-2072

>> emjones(at)charter.net

>>

>>

klehman(at)albedo.net
Guest

Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 12:26 pm Post subject: EL lighting-wire causing noise

If it is quiet I can look up the resistor values that I used to adjust 

the voltages to something more suitable. I think full dim for my EL 

inverter cube was around 5 or 6 volts so I altered the design a bit to 

still have full range adjustment on the knob.

Ken



On 5/5/2011 10:50 AM, James Kilford wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Thanks Ken,



 I've a couple in the electronics box from when I made some dimmed map

 lights.  I'll give that a try.



 James



 On 5 May 2011 01:35, Ken<klehman(at)albedo.net>  wrote:

> 

>

> FWIW my EL lights are powered through the homemade analog dimmer circuit on

> the aeroelectric pages and there is no noise evident at any brightness. I

> think the circuit used a LM317 regulator.

> Ken

>

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