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Eco
11-20-2008, 10:40 AM
I've tried looking through this forum, but haven't found anything yet.
Is lit EL wire safe to touch? If I put some on the outside of an LED hilt, do I need to cover the wire with anything to keep from getting zapped or burned by the electrical current?

Malaki Skywalker
11-20-2008, 11:08 AM
ROFL, the current and Voltage is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to low to give you a shock or zap :p

xwingband
11-20-2008, 11:19 AM
ROFL, the current and Voltage is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to low to give you a shock or zap :p

Nah, I bet it could. But like most wire it's covered in a plastic coating. He'll be fine.

Ghostbat
11-20-2008, 11:30 AM
The glowy part is completely safe, but power coming out of the inverter CAN be a mite bit painful if you aren't careful. Always heat shrink your connections and it's fine :)

My wife and I made her an EL-Wire laced flight helmet to wear under a bubble and I was foolishly using electrical tape. The tape slipped and every time the EL blinked (it was a blinking driver) she got a nice electroshock in the back of the head.

She was a little pissed at me.

Jedi-Loreen
11-20-2008, 11:56 AM
I have done a lot of work with EL wire, I've probably made around 50 blades. You can definitely get a painful zap, just keep the connection to the inverter well insulated with heat shrink and you'll be fine.

I get zapped all the time, because I have a self containted inverter with a battery compartment and switch, that I use to test my blades during various stages of construction, I want to know immediately if I have a problem (the peskly small wires that wrap around the main wire that's coated with phosophorus like to break). I keep the wires bare that are coming off the end of the inverter, I need them that way to test, so, of course, I sometimes get zapped, but I'm used to it. :p

Novastar
11-22-2008, 12:46 AM
This explains J-Lo's quirky mind...

Just kidding, heheheh :D

Jedi-Loreen
11-22-2008, 11:17 AM
No, what probably explains it, is having had 2 different jobs where I worked on CRTs and computer monitors.

I've taken 100,000+ and 250,000 volts. Yes, the number 0's are correct.

Low amperage, of course, or I wouldn't still be here.

Novastar
11-22-2008, 05:26 PM
Next thread:

"Is Jedi Loreen safe to touch?"

Answer:

"Not unless you've got rubber gloves... and/or you're grounded."

lol

Jedi-Loreen
11-22-2008, 08:19 PM
Yes, I've been told I have an "electric" personality. :p


Actually, you want to be insulated from ground in the case of dealing with high voltage like that, not grounded.

You do not want want the flow of electricity going completely through you.

I did wear an ESD wrist strap when I was working on the circuit boards, but not when checking the voltage on a CRT anode.

Lord Dottore Matto
11-22-2008, 09:01 PM
Next thread:

"Is Jedi Loreen safe to touch?"

Answer:

"Not unless you've got rubber gloves... and/or you're grounded."

lol


Not safe...Uh uh, no way... :lol:

Novastar
11-23-2008, 03:37 AM
I set a trap for Loreen, and boy did she fall into it... I *KNEW* I could never get a "get yourself grounded" kind of thing past her when it was supposed to say (as she CORRECTED me): "get yourself isolated/insulated", heheh... :D

Still... yep. Without JL... what would the EL & LED community have??? Not quite as much I tell you.

swear000
11-23-2008, 09:19 AM
I thought the song went..gotta get yourself connected.....

Novastar
11-23-2008, 04:03 PM
it's: get yourself CORRECTED! :)

(by Jedi L...)

heheheh