Tron Legacy Costume

[Fullmetalsam]

China (from eBay) - about 50$ for 5m (about 15') of RGB LED strip + driver + remote... the only thing left to pick up is a battery pack.

Search for 5050 waterproof RGB LED strip

 

[colonelmasako]

Some more pics of my suit in action. It was a hit at the con and rave I took it to.

 

[Thermistor]

10,000 mAh.

Just use 8 of these babies (12v), or 6 if you only want 9v:

Amazon.com: 8 pcs of Tenergy D Size 10,000mAh High Capacity High Rate NiMH Rechargeable Batteries: Electronics

Tenergy D Size 10,000mAh High Capacity High Rate NiMH Rechargeable Batteries

 

[Fullmetalsam]

Thermistor - this is great - but I'd rather pick up a rechargeable battery pack.

For the same price you have a nicely made battery pack with the appropriate charger... saves you the trouble to actually build the pack install a switch and everything else to make it look nice

 

[popoG2040]

I'm not sure how it will look, but one thing to keep in mind is that full brightness could be too much. If you are using an SI disc mod, you wouldn't want to have your strips be more powerful than the disc. The SI mod is bright, but I worry that if I am at full brightness (EL is meant for lighting) it might be way brigter than my disc.

I'll let you guys know what happens.

Hey Mister digital, nice work thus far on the KF jacket.

Also, can you explain what/how your hooking up this rechargable battery pack to the EL tape connections? This is confusing as seeing how there is 2.1mm jack....appreciate it, b/c from what i understand while looking at my connections for my current EL tape, it simply looks like pins and wires (2pins total)

so are we talking about splicing wires?

 

[games001]

Hey Mister digital, nice work thus far on the KF jacket.

Also, can you explain what/how your hooking up this rechargable battery pack to the EL tape connections? This is confusing as seeing how there is 2.1mm jack....appreciate it, b/c from what i understand while looking at my connections for my current EL tape, it simply looks like pins and wires (2pins total)

so are we talking about splicing wires?

You could very easily run the leads of a Quick Connect from the ELStrip into one of the small holes in the jacket's skin, then directly to a qucik connection on the battery pack hidden within an inside pocket or compartment. All you need is a + & - lead, so two wires is dead on.

The issue of a 2.1mm jack is easy to deal with.. just get the jack and chop off one end of the cable. Those leads you attach to the quick connect and you are rockin. (i.e. something like this with 9v clips could also do the job just as well with clips on both sides of the line being broken up) it all depends on your pref of connectors.. I, personally, pref Quick Connects as they are small and lock in place well.

Thermistor - this is great - but I'd rather pick up a rechargeable battery pack.

For the same price you have a nicely made battery pack with the appropriate charger... saves you the trouble to actually build the pack install a switch and everything else to make it look nice

I bet that would be one damn heavy little battery pack. At 10k mA you could run my TRON 1.5 suit for the better part of 30 hours without pause (scary).

 

[popoG2040]

okay so just to double confirm, that i understand what your saying. Basically if i cut the wire on the left of this image posted.(wire would be connected to the battery pack)

Then theoretically i basically have a very large "9v battery", with a positive/negative wire sticking out, which i can then use to power my EL tape/strips.

CORRECT? appreciate it

 

[popoG2040]

i could also use this , as opposed to splicing the other wire, right?

it's also 2.1mm

 

[MisterDigital]

Yes and no. Gams is technically correct on all points, but that isn't the way I will be doing it. I will be using all the existing connections. I will make one adapter that makes a molex to 2 pin quick connect for just one connection. All the others match up. Here a simplified diagram I whipped up of what I'm doing.

*****Oops. That should say Molex to 2 pin, not 2.1mm.******

The main reason I am doing it this way is three fold:

1. I am powering everything on 2AA right now with perfectly good illumination in a dim setting (as you can see). I am only trying to see if this set up will make my lights white in a brighter/harsher indoor setting like a con or a store. Fluorescent lighting really takes the punch out. If it doesn't make a significant enough difference (which is possible), I'll be sending all this stuff back for a refund. I can't do that if I splice it up.

2. If it DOES work, but outshines my SI disc mod by too much, then it will all be going back for a refund anyway as I want to have a uniform look. As Colonel Masako said, I don't want my disc to look like a toy in comparison. Not to mention, I''m going for an on screen look, so my lighting shouldn't power an entire village. lol.

3. If I use the existing connections and just make the one adapter, all the parts can be used over and over for different projects in a ton of combinations since I will have all the splitters.

I never like to splice anything unless its the only way.

 

[AmmersVI]

I didn't get any finished photos from the End of the Line party but here is how my program turned out. The two strips were connected to the same inverter. The EL Panels were 1"x4'. Powered off of a 8AA battery pack.
SI mod kit is fantastic. The four magnets aligned perfectly with the bolts on the back of my disk hub. Used e6000 to put larger magnets on the hub and the disk never fell off.
I used adhesive fun foam to cover over the hole in the center of the hub. This held in the inverter also.

Because the stretch vinyl is a weaker material, I bolted some strapping into the back of the jacket for arms to go through under the jacket. I had the battery pack hang off of the straps inside in a pouch that way everything was hidden. The best part was that this set up allowed me to wear the hub, disc, and batteries like a backpack supporting all the weight and taking the stress off of the jacket.

 

[DannyO]

People are talking tech now, this makes me happy.

 

[popoG2040]

@MisterDigital


okay so i appreciate your diagram, although i followed everything, except where you illustrated the 12v inverter, how necessary is this, and what is its function, as opposed to just hooking up strips to the rechargeable battery pack

is this what you used?
12 volt inverter for A6 size EL panel/sheet/tape/wire | eBay

 

[MisterDigital]

Its absolutely essential. The inverter adjusts the battery's power ( no matter what voltage you are using) into a frequency that the strips can run on. Each inverter is made to convert a given voltage. If you plan to power your suit on 9v, you will need a 9v inverter, 12v for 12v etc. Mine is powered by the 12v battery pack hence the 12v inverter.

Often, if you buy a kit from somewhere it has the EL wire/tape that plug directly into a little battery box with an on/off switch. The inverter is built into that box already. If you are making your own stuff, you will have to add an inverter yourself. DO NOT connect the strips directly to the power supply. Either it wont work at all, or you will blow them out, depending on your voltage.

[Sent via Tapatalk]

 

[tim]

Its absolutely essential. The inverter adjusts the battery's power ( no matter what voltage you are using) into a frequency that the strips can run on. Each inverter is made to convert a given voltage. If you plan to power your suit on 9v, you will need a 9v inverter, 12v for 12v etc. Mine is powered by the 12v battery pack hence the 12v inverter.

Absolutely correct. To add, the inverter changes the frequency of the electricity supply and raises the voltage (EL strips work on a very high voltage of a few hundred volts). So, hooking strips directly to battery will most likely cause the strips not to light without damaging them.

 

[MisterDigital]

@MisterDigital
is this what you used?
12 volt inverter for A6 size EL panel/sheet/tape/wire | eBay

No, its not the same as what I'm using. If you read the details of the inverter you posted it creates an output of 100vac/1000hz. As I mentioned before, each inverter is tailor made to hit a certain frequency. The EL tape from LF runs at 280vac/650hz. The one on you posted may or may not work, and could lose you some brightness if it does. Though it may not even be a noticeable amount.

The easiest way to avoid all this is to eliminate the guesswork and just buy your inverter from the same place you get the tape. Then you know your vac/hz will match up just fine. Hope that made sense.

 

[Icey]

Just posting some pictures of my nearly finished Clu helmet. I have a few touch ups to make still and I'll have to hit the rest of the helmet with some floor polish or something to shine it up so it comes closer to the glossiness of the front. My el wire came only a few hours ago so I haven't had a chance to make the lighting element for it yet, but I'll post pictures when I get it installed.

 

[games001]

That's rather kewl Icey... I imagine walking around is going to be tricky, but awesome work so far.

 

[masterpotty]

hey shogun I saw you at free comic day at 4 colors, i was ecstatic to see you in your costume, but i was first in line so i didnt want to lose my spot

 

[Solarhawk]

I know it's been a while, Actordiver, but in response to your post #919 saying:

That's the disk most of us have. It's already out and available in stores like toys r us and target..for less money too.

Speaking of Identity disk..has anyone figured out how to wire it so the push button can be an on off switch?...I know on the back there are 2 switch settings one for "on" and one for "try me" on.

Might be cool if someone figured out how to make it so it would just be in constant "illumination" mode. (yes I know the batteries would drain faster)

I just asked Soulinertia (on his disc mod kit thread) if it would be possible with his kits to do this, basically my idea was using the "switch" part as on/off for the C ring, and the button activating a relay that keeps the switch active for the outer ring. As I'm super new to the forums, the post has to be approved by a moderator and hasn't yet shown up.

 

[Solarhawk]

Oh, and sorry if it was already answered, I'm still only up to page 39 out of 148.

Solar