I've worked with EL wire, EL tape, and EL panels extensively, on- and off-playa, all the way back to nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say "dickety" back then because Larry Harvey stole our word for "twenty". I chased that rascal to get it back, but gave up after dickety-six miles. The important thing was I had EL wire wrapped around my belt, which was the style at the time.

These days I'm adamantly anti-EL and all-in on LEDs, and I want all the burgins and lighting-curious folks out there to know why you should categorically avoid EL, and some of the cooler LED options out there right now. May creative inspiration flow.

Here's the thing with EL

Electroluminescent (EL) products work by running AC current through a layer of phosphorous to make it glow. Different types of phosphor and/or plastic sheathing produce different colors. This video shows examples of EL wire, EL tape, and EL panel, and explains the technology far better than I'm going to. If money's no object, EL paint is even a thing (though results may vary, by a lot). Looks cool enough, but:

• EL inverters are LOUD, like "is that EL wire or do I have tinnitus" loud. It gets really, really annoying, really, really fast. Especially if you're wearing it.
• It's a nightmare to solder. Ain't nobody got time for that.
• It's dim. Really dim. Dimmer than a hippie lost in a k-hole. Only really visible in low light or pitch-dark, and not at all from a distance.
• Its brightness decays even further over time. Expect 50% loss in max brightness halfway through its relatively short lifespan of 5-8,000 hours, compared to 30-50,000 hours for LEDs to lose 30% max brightness.
• Single-colors only.
• No meaningful way to fade on or off. It's either on, flickering, or off.
• It's fragile. It breaks. It shorts out, often. It's a pain to troubleshoot and repair. Panels develop dead spots. Exposed edges or ends can zap you. Inverters have to match the total wire length or tape/panel area fairly closely, or the inverter and/or EL will fry.
• It's outdated technology. Most reputable manufacturers have shut down or moved on. You should move on too.
• Bottom line: using EL as anything but a one-off disposable light decoration will eventually disappoint you.

Better LED options

LEDs are silent, more durable, come in a galaxy of formats and sizes, and most have RGB/addressable versions. And they're bright. Probably too bright. Most look great at 20-40% max brightness, which saves power and eyeballs. Keep that in mind when building.

Some less common LED formats, and others it's just nice to have a name for:

• COB strips. These have the same gapless glow as EL wire, and ultra narrow versions are available (like under 3mm wide). Love these.
• S-shaped strips. Designed for sharp bends at irregular angles.
• Pebble lights (aka seed pixels). Great for those tacky LED fur jackets you sometimes see.
• Fairy lights. Cheap, abundant, powered by coin batteries. Throw them in a clear plastic jar for camp lighting, wrap the around your bike, toss a roll onto your backpack. Easy.
• LED filament. Wouldn't necessarily trust this stuff on playa, but it sure is pretty.
• LED ribbon strips. Multi-row COBs that mimic the EL tape effect.
• Side-emitting LED strips. Great for that "writing something with glowing lines and hanging it on a wall" look. Neon flex rope is the same idea, but chonkier and more widely available.
• Double-sided LED strips. Double the diodes, double the fun. Strips with 360° glow, with 360° neon rope being the cheaper, chonkier equivalent.
• LED sheets. Even, panel-based backlighting. Can be roughly cut to shape.
• LED film. One day, this will be cheap and accessible. This is not that day. But maybe soon.
• Conductive thread, velco, fabric, etc. for sewing LEDs directly into clothing or fabric.
• Fiber optics. It's just fancy plastic tubes glued to LEDs inside a housing. Surprised we don't see more of it.

Add a diffusion material to any of these to soften and smooth out the glow. WLED is the best starting point for using patterns and animations with strips that support them. Bit of a learning curve if you're brand new to all of this, but if you want to dive in, this is a decent place to start. Have fun.

And seriously, EL wire was the bee's knees 20-25 years ago, but it's no longer worth your time. Use better tech.

I have a small assembly with a piece that rotates freely around a rod, butted up against a hub the rod fits into. The goal is to have the rotating piece rest at 0° (parallel to the ground), rotate up to -90° under load (so pointing directly down), then return to 0° when the load is removed. In practice the actual movement range is closer to ~10-75°, so 90° total travel has a bit of a buffer built in on both sides.

The rest of the dimensions apparently make this difficult. The spring needs an ID of >32mm to fit around the outside of the hub, with one leg attached to the hub and the other attached to the rotating piece. The spring body length would ideally be <20mm. Even before considering wire diameter and number of coils, those dimensions appear wildly non-standard. I don't need a ton of torque, only 2-2.5N if I'm calculating right (the rotating piece is ~19in long and lifts another assembly that weighs ~7lbs).

Based on those specs, two questions:

1. Assuming a torsion spring is the right solution here, how would I calculate the wire dimension and number of coils based on the above?
2. If a torsion spring is not the best solution given the dimensional constraints, what could I use instead that might be an easier, off-the-shelf solution?

For context, this was previously achieved with a length of shock cable attached to the far end of the rotating piece and anchored outside the pictured assembly, I'm trying to find a new approach that removes both the elastic "bounce" of the shock cord and the external anchor point.

I have a buddy who opened a skeeball arcade in the SF Mission District (19th & Shotwell). He mostly uses it one or two nights a week to host a competitive skeeball league (which I participate in, and it's freaking awesome), but I think there's some serious potential for a Burner-oriented event that's far stupider and potentially even more fun.

Why skeeball? Because it's fun for all ages, compatible with alcohol consumption, and is one of those things you don't have to be good at to really enjoy (but also, people get really, really, really into it, which is also fun).

Here's the pitch:

• There's a bar. There's classic arcade machines. Open slot for a Burner fam DJ. Pop-up food options. Playa attire encouraged. We'd have the place to ourselves. Most importantly, there's skeeball.
• Drop-ins are welcome, but I'm looking for a critical mass of folks to form teams of 3 or more to engage in some seriously un-serious skeeball shenanigans. Established camps are encouraged to show up, show off, and mingle with free agents shopping around for a potential playa home. Also a great opportunity for new Burners to meet crusty dusties in person and ask if they can still get tickets or what kind of tent they should bring.
• Teams non-competitively compete in increasingly ridiculous skeeball matches that have little to do with skill and quite a bit to do with style, combined with skill.
• If it's a hit, we can turn this into a "for Burners, by Burners" alternative league night where we basically goof off once a week for 8 weeks, which I'm super here for.

Sound like a good time? Yay or nay?