How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

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mnassif
 
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How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

Post by mnassif »

Hey There,

I'm completely new to wearable electronics and need help.

I'm planning on sewing about 25 Adafruit Sequins to the light a tail of a onesie. I know the sequins have resistors built in, but I don't understand how many I can wire together in parallel. Right now I'm planning on 13 per-side with a 2xAA battery pack. How can I be successful?

Sequins: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1758


Proposed Power Source: https://www.adafruit.com/product/770


My second question, how long can the connection be? I'd like the battery pack to be in the pocket which would be about 4ft from led to the power source.

I'm in a rush to have this done by next week otherwise I would have dove down the rabbit hole more on circuits. So I apologize in advance for the basic questions.

Thanks!

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

A 2xAA battery pack should be able to handle all of those in parallel. 4 feet of wire should not be a problem. 26AWG silicone coated would be a good choice:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1970

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mnassif
 
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Re: How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

Post by mnassif »

Perfect! Thank you for your help! I only had a 2 coin cell battery pack and it's definitely too low power.

I have some of the wire, but I wasn't sure if I should bother with that. I bought some heat seal fabric tape and that should adhere the silicon wire to the suit without having my having to sew an obvious line from butt to pocket. (hopefully)

Last question.... Would it be a good idea or bad idea to use electrical tape instead of soldering the wires together? I don't own a soldering iron (yet) and I'm wondering if I can get away without one knowing that it won't be as rugged of a connection as it could be.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

If you twist the wires tightly together then wrap with electrical tape it should work. But it is only a temporary solution. The wires will oxidize and the tape will loosen over time.

Other non-soldering connection methods that are more permanent would be crimp connectors or 'cold-splice' connectors: https://www.adafruit.com/?q=cold%20splice

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mnassif
 
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Re: How Many Sequins Can be Wired in Parallel?

Post by mnassif »

Brilliant, super helpful. The project will last for a week or two which is all I need for now. I can follow up later with more permanent methods like you suggested since adafruit shipping takes a bit.

Thanks Bill! I really appreciate you. :)

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