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.

[Ron Wanttaja]

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 17:21:58 GMT, john smith > wrote:

>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.

Then there's plain-ol' cyalume lightsticks. Assorted colors, long-term
storage, long-lasting, fairly cheap. You can also buy holders that let you
modulate the amount of light released. Good option for emergencies, or for
folks who fly at night only rarely.

I used one of these to light my panel on a night flight about seven years
ago. I posted the story here, and added it to my web page as well:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/Night.htm

Ron Wanttaja

[dave]

I've used cyalume's before, but wouldn't trust my life to them.
I've found many DOA freshly out of the package.

Dave

Ron Wanttaja wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 17:21:58 GMT, john smith > wrote:
>
>
>>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.
>
>
> Then there's plain-ol' cyalume lightsticks. Assorted colors, long-term
> storage, long-lasting, fairly cheap. You can also buy holders that let you
> modulate the amount of light released. Good option for emergencies, or for
> folks who fly at night only rarely.
>
> I used one of these to light my panel on a night flight about seven years
> ago. I posted the story here, and added it to my web page as well:
>
> http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/Night.htm
>
> Ron Wanttaja

[James Lloyd]

John,can you give us a source for some of these lights?Thanks,Jim

[Rich S.]

"James Lloyd" > wrote in message
...
> John,can you give us a source for some of these lights?Thanks,Jim
>

I bought a 3' "Glowstrip" at http://www.glowire.com/ to mount under the
glareshield. Have yet to do so. Click on "New products" and scroll down to
Glowstrip.

Rich S.

[sidk]

(James Lloyd) wrote in message >...
> John,can you give us a source for some of these lights?Thanks,Jim

http://www.backcountry-equipment.com/accessrs/a-hd_lmp/krill.html

[James Lloyd]

Got it,thanks.We need all the lighting we can get in the Ercoupe.Jim

[B2431]

>From: Ron Wanttaja
>
>
>On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 17:21:58 GMT, john smith > wrote:
>
>>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.
>
>Then there's plain-ol' cyalume lightsticks. Assorted colors, long-term
>storage, long-lasting, fairly cheap. You can also buy holders that let you
>modulate the amount of light released. Good option for emergencies, or for
>folks who fly at night only rarely.
>
<snip>
>
>Ron Wanttaja

Don't leave the cyalumes in the aircraft. The higher the temperature the
shorter the shelf life.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired

[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