El wire behind guages? *Update*

[xavier]

I was thinking of running some white el wire behind my guages to brighten them up....anyone try it?

*Update* Went to advance auto and bought a 5 foot strip of white with the 12 v inverter for like 18 bucks. The color is SICK!! but 5 feet is just not enough for what I want...I love the color though...really brightens things up. Im gonna order about 15 feet with an inverter and see how that works....

[djsaltine]

What's this El wire your talking about?? Are your gauges still stock??

[xavier]

My guages are stock. The white part of the guages is actually opaque plastic allowing the light from the back bulbs to pass through. I figure, you can make it anycolor with bulbs....but bulbs suck!
What about wrapping this behind the guages, it comes in any color, its cheap, and its super bright. Im gonna try it when I get some spare time....just wondered if anyone else has tried it. It would be like having stock reverse indiglo guages.

http://www.elwirecheap.com/elwirebyfoot.html

[Jon11582]

EL stands for ElectroLuminescent - any material that glows when electricity is applied to it.

"Indiglo" guages (Regular and reverse glow) are acutally EL technology too, except its not in a form of a wire, the conductor is thin sandwiched in plastic and overlays the stock guages.

In EL wire, the conductor is in the shape of a wire incased in plastic.

[xavier]

Yeah, but have you put it behind you guages on WEED!!
Just kidding. I dont want guage overlays....I just want a brighter whiter white. Im gonna test it

[indiglosolara]

To be Honest. Those are not going to work better then the blubs. Also you have to becareful when working with constant electric current when its running behind there. If something shorts out its going to blow out the entire clusther since your running current through the entire gauge cluster. Althought they are bright have you considered the heat the El wires can produce?? I've never personally worked with them before but i've heard stories and they aren't pretty even in well ventalated area like the dash.

just FYI.

[xavier]

I appreciate the info. I do think they would work better than the bulbs. I really didnt think they produced any heat at all really. They make like suits, gloves, and sunglasses out of this stuff

[Jon11582]

EL wires actually run very cool...cooler than bulbs and cooler than even cold cathodes (thin neons).

Prob with them is thier not very bright (EL is not brighter than a LED), and the light doesnt get well distributed. Wiring them should be no different than doin indiglos, but you need to fab your own inverter or get a donor inverter from a guage kit.

I dont think its worth the effort, but it shouldnt be too huge an effort if you wanted to do it.

[that1mexguy]

Yeah, but have you put it behind you guages on WEED!!

Man i read that and I couldnt stop laughing... you just brought so many memories for when I was stationed in Cherry Point, under aged and drinking every day... watching that movie almost everyday with my best friend at the time... thanks man!! LOL

[djsaltine]

EL stands for ElectroLuminescent - any material that glows when electricity is applied to it.

"Indiglo" guages (Regular and reverse glow) are acutally EL technology too, except its not in a form of a wire, the conductor is thin sandwiched in plastic and overlays the stock guages.

In EL wire, the conductor is in the shape of a wire incased in plastic.

Thanks Jon.
Good luck Xavier

[xavier]

Yeah, but have you put it behind you guages on WEED!!

Man i read that and I couldnt stop laughing... you just brought so many memories for when I was stationed in Cherry Point, under aged and drinking every day... watching that movie almost everyday with my best friend at the time... thanks man!! LOL

Hahah No problem. I love that movie

EL wires actually run very cool...cooler than bulbs and cooler than even cold cathodes (thin neons).

Prob with them is thier not very bright (EL is not brighter than a LED), and the light doesnt get well distributed. Wiring them should be no different than doin indiglos, but you need to fab your own inverter or get a donor inverter from a guage kit.

I dont think its worth the effort, but it shouldnt be too huge an effort if you wanted to do it.

There are actually a few different strnd thicknesses so I'd imagine some are brighter than others. I want the white so as to get the red and white to show. I think fab would be easy conisdering it would be like taping the wire around the translucent areas. The inverter would be required but most retailers of this stuff also sell 12 volt car inverters for like 8 bucks. I would go with LEDs but three LED's (matrix) is like the same price as this kit with inverter and 10 feet of the wire. I'll just have to take the pictures of the outcome...