Electroluminescent Lighting

[dave]

Hi all,

Anybody use Electroluminescent Lighting for their instruments/cockpit?

Pro's, Con's ...

Anybody notice any RF noise or other problems from the power inverter?

Thanks

Dave

[john smith]

dave wrote:
> Anybody use Electroluminescent Lighting for their instruments/cockpit?
> Pro's, Con's ...
> Anybody notice any RF noise or other problems from the power inverter?

I carry some in my flight bag for emergency purposes.
I have had to use it a couple of times when I couldn't get the panel
lighting brightness high enough to see the instruments.
There are several sources where you can purchase 3-foot lengths of EL
"string" at discount prices. They are available in assorted colors and
come with an inverter powered by two AA cells that will last for tens of
hours. Green is the brightest, I also have blue.
Krill lights are another handy item to have in the cockpit. They run on
a single AA and will last 40-50 hours. The light does not destroy your
night vision. Also available in assorted colors.

[Chris Kennedy]

dave wrote:

> Anybody use Electroluminescent Lighting for their instruments/cockpit?

Yep. Big strips of the stuff on the underside of the glare shield.

> Pro's, Con's ...

Pros: Runs cool, has a nifty "emergency" position on the inverter than
allows it to run for several hours off of its own nine volt battery
should ship power fail, easy on the eyes once dark acclimated. IMHO it
beats the hell out of post lights from hell, but YMMV.

Cons: It's decidedly more of a glow than a point source, making it
difficult for those not familiar with the aircraft to read the legends
on all of those switches mounted at knee level. Haven't quite figured
out what I'm going to do about _that_.

> Anybody notice any RF noise or other problems from the power inverter?

No, not on anything ranging from the 430 to the ancient 121 #2 nav to
the 141 ADF.

Cheers,
Chris.

[Tim Ward]

"Chris Kennedy" > wrote in message
...
> dave wrote:
>
> > Anybody use Electroluminescent Lighting for their instruments/cockpit?
>
> Yep. Big strips of the stuff on the underside of the glare shield.
>
> > Pro's, Con's ...
>
> Pros: Runs cool, has a nifty "emergency" position on the inverter than
> allows it to run for several hours off of its own nine volt battery
> should ship power fail, easy on the eyes once dark acclimated. IMHO it
> beats the hell out of post lights from hell, but YMMV.
>
> Cons: It's decidedly more of a glow than a point source, making it
> difficult for those not familiar with the aircraft to read the legends
> on all of those switches mounted at knee level. Haven't quite figured
> out what I'm going to do about _that_.
>
> > Anybody notice any RF noise or other problems from the power inverter?
>
> No, not on anything ranging from the 430 to the ancient 121 #2 nav to
> the 141 ADF.
>
> Cheers,
> Chris.

One more "con": EL panels have a "half-life" -- that is, they gradually get
dimmer over time. On interrmittent usage as in panel lights, that's
probably not a problem. But I used to work for a company that used them as
back-lighting on alarm panels where they were on every night, all night.
There, it was a problem.

Tim Ward