Electric Paint Lamp Kit

With this article I would like to share my enthusiasm for my first use of a conductive paint (Electric Paint in Black) in a project. The high price for the lamp kit (> 30 euros) had put me off a bit, but under the pretext of wanting to give it away for Christmas, I bought it then. So it was 4 days on my desk and my curiosity I could no longer keep in check.

What You Get

A proper package of cardboard contains the - few - necessary components. This is the first plus noted: no plastic waste and few components for a nice "craft evening". The documentation is unique: Under point 3 there is talk of "Combine your skills" - a kind of dry exercise before it comes to the actual application of the conductive ink on the circuit. The Light Up Board is already preprogrammed with different modes, so that no Sketch Upload is necessary (if that's even planned, I can not answer). But beware: only one of the 3 prepared lamp templates can be used with the Light Up Board (there are also Light Up Boards in the shop for reordering).

Preparation

Get yourself a hair dryer, if you are impatient since, to shorten the waiting time for dehydration of conductive ink. Of course, a beer does it too.

I recommend familiarizing yourself with the extensive tutorials in advance. Just the bending of the lampshades needs some attention, so that it stays in its desired shape for a long time. There were no colored lines on my lampshade indicating "mountain" and "valley". In the tutorial (focussed on EPLK) there was this help.

Here are short FAQ

Let's Start

Out of curiosity, I immediately tried out the lamp board: powered by a power bank with 5V and already the integrated LEDs have undergone a startup.

It was enough to touch the contacts with my fingers alone and the trigger was set:

After that, I did the "dry exercise": for this purpose, the documentation shows symbols in gray. The liquid of the color can be applied well and opaque. Much of this is not necessary, but the conductivity is given only with the drying.

Application of Knowledge

I decided to implement a dimmer lamp out of the 3 options (touch, dimmer and proximity). From the FAQ, you can see that the 10 ml color is probably sufficient for the application on the other two templates.

Even with my forearm on the table, I did not succeed in drawing a consistent line, but that does not stand in the way of success: setting in the corners was not a problem.

After the drying time, the Light Board is used on the spot: you will also find dry exercises in the documentation. Be careful not to fold over the clean cut points, just push the board into the holes.

Then add a drop of color to the contacts and open a second beer. The tutorial speaks of tea (step 3 "Cold Solder"), but certainly only because the kits are recommended for teenagers over 14 years.

Test it again and push the lampshade into the 2 tabs. Now connect the USB cable (nice - extra long) to the board and be happy!

The Result Demonstrated

I plan to integrate my lamp into a picture frame, of course without glass so I can use the dimmer.

Update 03.12.2018:

So a blessed Advent season: you have a star appeared in the sky.

Update 17.12.2018:

Outlook

Here is a introduction for Electric Paint Circuit Kit.