EL Panel Enclosure

thingiverse

The files now include adapters to fit on the end of the respective dew shields of the Orion ST80 and William Optics RedCat 51 in addition to the Canon EF300 originally posted. The main enclosure and the cover remain unchanged. This project is an enclosure for a 5-inch round electroluminescent panel that I sized to fit snugly over the end of my Canon EF 300mm lens. This isn’t of much interest to daytime photographers, but it’s essential for generating “flats” when processing astrophotographs. In short, this project converts a 5-inch diameter panel to fit my 77mm lens. The EL panel kit from Ellumiglow has a very small control box to adjust brightness and is powered by a 9v battery. It travels easily, so I bought it directly from the manufacturer at https://www.ellumiglow.com/electroluminescence/el-panels/astrophotography-5in-circle-kit. The enclosure protects the panel, and the entire assembly adds negligible weight to the mounted camera. A 3-foot cable keeps the control box and battery off the mount, which is not significant anyway. I’ve included the FreeCAD project file so it can be modified for other size combinations. There are four bodies: 1. Main enclosure: You’ll need to change the diameter for a different-size panel. 2. Wire Passthrough: If the main enclosure is resized, make sure the passthrough still passes completely through the wall and protects the connector. Print this together with the main enclosure as one piece. The ready-made STL includes both. I plan to stuff little silicone sealant into the opening for strain relief. 3. T-Adapter: The outermost diameter should change as the main enclosure diameter changes, fitting snugly into the main enclosure without adhesive so you can exchange it for another T-adapter made for a different lens. The innermost diameter should fit over the lens like a sleeve. It doesn’t need to be snug unless you point the lens towards the ground. If you change the inside diameter, you may need to change the outside diameter of the sleeve too, to give it some strength. In that case, the cover will need to be adjusted as well. 4. Cover: This should fit just snugly enough so it doesn’t fall off.