I am starting work on a staff - my first.

Archive FastLED Archive
1

I am starting work on a staff - my first. I have created and 3d printed battery holders to fit inside an aluminum shower curtain rod, and I have a 300-LED strip of WS2812Bs. The strip is in a waterproof silicone sleeve, which seems to offer pretty good protection to the strip, but I’m not sure how to affix the silicone to the pole - is there a glue that will do that? I realize I might have to remove the silicone, but I wanted to hear from experienced folks before I did that. I plan to wrap the single strip around the pole. Any advice?

2

E6000 is pretty great stuff for glueing the silicone sleeved strips. I also suggest looking into an appropriate diameter heat shrink tubing. You would be less likely to accidentally tear the strip off.

3

Gluing to the silicone sleeve can be difficult. Permatex Clear RTV Silicone 66BR (or 66B) is often recommend as one of the few things that will stick. It will require 24 hours to dry. Clean the silicone sleeve and your tube with alcohol before gluing.

Definitely consider using zip ties also. Strong and you can get them in black or white.

Once you figure out your wrap spacing put lines or marks on your tube to clearly guide you while gluing it down. Needing to adjusting the wrapping once you’re nearly to the end of the tube is not fun once the glue is on everything.

4

Thanks, Marc and Matt! I happened to have some E6000, so I cleaned the pole and strip with alcohol, marked the pole every 1 inch, then carefully wrapped and glued the strip on, using bundle ties every 6-7 wraps. It looks great - hope it’s nice and secure once it dries. I’ll check it tomorrow night.

So the next request for advice has to do with the MPU6050 gyro/accelerometer I want to put in. I would like to be able to trigger a few different lighting patterns based on what I’m doing with the pole - particularly tapping it on the ground, shaking it, holding it still, and holding it horizontally. What I’m not sure about is what is the best orientation to mount the MPU6050 - any suggestions?

Thanks again for your input!

5

in this orientation in the middle of your pole
http://areacom.altervista.org/wp-content/uploads/mpu6050-assi.jpg

6

Thanks, Juergen! That helps!