Attaching an E L Wire to a switch, what do I need to do please (basic schematic attached)

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Update, I'm finally soldering guys (life keeps getting in the way so going much slower than I thought I would oh and I also needed some wire strippers so had to wait for those). I am worried. Will the soldering iron short my transistor? I got some solder on it and it flashed, have I blown it? :-/

I tried to use a multimeter to see if it's working but I can't seem to get it to do anything! It's not even reading the battery I thought I'd try it with. Meh! I'm not going to be an electrician any time soon am I?

Should finish tomorrow if my son isn't too ill for kindy.
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
I have soldered to many transistors and have never seen a FLASH. Iron should be around 25W with a pointed tip. There should be no power on transistor when soldering.
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Yes, no power on. Possibly just a bit of solder lighting up then, feel more confident now especially as I have watched a vid on how to do it. Thanks for the reassurance Bernard. Hopefully a finished products with pics tomorrow, now I'm up and running I think I'll be done after another hour's work.
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Hi everyone! Bernard I have good news and bad news, so the good news is WE HAVE LIGHT!! Whoo hoo!

The bad news is that the two lights are not working together -this seems to be to do with the second position on the rotary switch, the other bit of bad news is that the red light flashes! :-( I am sure they are easy things to fix.

Thank you so much for getting me this far, initially it didn't work but I'd not noted the pos and neg of the power leads, swapped 'em and it was good to go. It's an amazing feeling getting a circuit to work lol!

Please see this link for the video I made showing the problems I was having, I've since re-soldered the wires and now only the red light works, it's still flashing.
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
Lili, I'm receiving only the audio portion of your video post. Could you send a photograph of wiring. Famous last words, " the circuit is so simple that nothing could go wrong".
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Lili, I'm receiving only the audio portion of your video post. Could you send a photograph of wiring. Famous last words, " the circuit is so simple that nothing could go wrong".
I’m watching this problem as well. And I think Bernard or I could provide an easy solution to the issue with the rotary switch.
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
Looking at the SW, just on or off. Double pole, double throw;, , poles 8 & 4 are the armatures or moving parts; when 8 & 7, or 3&4 are connected the SW is off .There should be no wires on either 7 or 3. If we knew where the anti rotating tab is then we could know which poles we are using.
Pole 8, or 4 should have one red wire going to + 12 V supply, pole 1 or 5 ,on, should have 2 wires
one to white light +, other to red light circuit Q1 collector.
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Hi Bernard, don't get all of that but if you advise me what pins to use and which wires I'll re-solder.

The tab is on pin 7.

I soldered to 3 and 4 because that's where the D shaft turns to so seemed logical.

Appreciate the help.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
How fast are the red lights flashing? Once a second?

Did you test the red lights alone, by connecting ground and positive voltage to the respective leads and nothing else? Does it still flash?
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
How fast are the red lights flashing? Once a second?

Did you test the red lights alone, by connecting ground and positive voltage to the respective leads and nothing else? Does it still flash?
No I didn't do this and thank you for having so much faith in me that you believed I'd know how to do it or think of it hahaha! But what it is, the white strip is exactly the same type of light and doesn't flash so I know it's not to do with the light but rather the pot.

Just tested the light, it's flashing a bit faster than 1 per second but not quite as fast as 2 per second. Turning the pot doesn't make the light flash any faster but if I turn the pot down completely the light turns off.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
No I didn't do this and thank you for having so much faith in me that you believed I'd know how to do it or think of it hahaha! But what it is, the white strip is exactly the same type of light and doesn't flash so I know it's not to do with the light but rather the pot.

Just tested the light, it's flashing a bit faster than 1 per second but not quite as fast as 2 per second. Turning the pot doesn't make the light flash any faster but if I turn the pot down completely the light turns off.
I’m trying to have you find out if the white strip and the red strip ARE indeed the same type of light. There is a possibility that they are not.

Just a pot won’t cause flashing. So maybe the strips ARE different. We won’t know without testing.

To test the red strip, temporarily disconnect it and hook the ground or negative connection directly to the power supply. Do the same with the positive connection (@Bernard, is a resistor required?)

Does the red strip light up without flashing?
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Lots of mystery surrounding the red wire as it doesn't seem to be part of any of my orders so I can't trace where I got it from. The question is can I get it to stop flashing? I notice it says it's an X1 neon and the white is an X2
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Do you still have the link for the red light that you bought? I suspect that either the vendor listed or sent the wrong item. Or we missed something in the description.

If you can, send the link and we’ll check it. You may have to ask for a refund and replacement.

Update: we cross-posted. You may have to find another listing and order another one. Hope you can find the order.

I don’t hold out that we can modify the one you have.
 

Thread Starter

TogetherInElectricDreams

Joined Jan 23, 2019
183
Do you still have the link for the red light that you bought? I suspect that either the vendor listed or sent the wrong item. Or we missed something in the description.

If you can, send the link and we’ll check it. You may have to ask for a refund and replacement.

Update: we cross-posted. You may have to find another listing and order another one. Hope you can find the order.

I don’t hold out that we can modify the one you have.
Yes mystery now solved, I have fired off an email. I hope I paid them via paypal which would give me a greater chance of getting my money back should I need it. Really not pleased but thanks for helping me check. Just need to get the white light on now.

I'll see if I can order something from Amazon Prime I may get it tomorrow/Monday.

https://thepihut.com/products/flexible-silicone-neon-like-led-strip-1-meter
 
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