EL Wire - Blue 3m

EL wire, or electroluminescent wire, is a flexible wire coated in phosphor. Apply the appropriate voltage and it lights up! It looks a lot like a thin flexible neon tube. They come in many bright colors (check below for other colors) and can be driven pretty easily with an inverter. Check below for compatible inverters as well.

This particular wire glows blue and is 3m (almost 10 feet) in length, 2.3mm in diameter and is terminated with a JST PH connector. This connector works directly with our two driver boards, the El Escudo and the EL Sequencer. Or, you can wire them directly into the output of an inverter.

(The video states they are 6 foot in length, but they are actually 10 feet in length)

EL Wire - Blue 3m Product Help and Resources

EL Sequencer/Escudo Dos Hookup Guide

December 3, 2015

A basic guide to getting started with the SparkFun EL Sequencer and Escudo Dos to control electroluminescence (EL) wire, panels, and strips.

Heartbeat Straight Jacket

June 4, 2009

An EL project that displays one person's heartbeat on another person's costume.

EL Wire Hoodie

October 24, 2018

In this tutorial, we will sew standard electroluminescent (EL) wire to a hoodie.

EL Wire Pants

July 18, 2019

In this tutorial, we will sew standard electroluminescent (EL) wire to a pair of pants.

Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping

If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.

2 Electrical Prototyping

Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels


Comments

Looking for answers to technical questions?

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  • Member #810455 / about 9 years ago / 1

    Hi, i have a question, do i need to buy a splitter? or i can do it in parallel?

  • Member #323784 / about 13 years ago / 2

    Does the plastic come off so I take out the plastic and solder it to conductive thread and a battery?

  • Member #543693 / about 10 years ago / 1

    does the power lead length have any effect on power required from invertor?

    i want to have about a 5 foot power lead between inverter and EL wire. will that cause voltage drop or more RC on circuit?

  • Member #363460 / about 11 years ago / 1

    Does this require the inverter or can I connect it directly to 120 from the wall? Id like to avoid the noisy inverters if possible. I could probably build some sort of vented sound resistant box if I need to.

  • Member #486847 / about 11 years ago / 1

    can such EL Wire work with this inverter ?

    • We haven't tried hacking one here yet to see if you could make them compatible. Out of the box, no, as they have different connectors.

  • Saurutobi / about 11 years ago / 1

    what is the difference between this and:https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11425

    • Iron man / about 11 years ago / 1

      nothing, the product you mentioned is designed in sparkfun's amazing packaging for business or people that may want to sell the product. other than that it appears to be the same product.

  • 16 BIT HOMEREW / about 12 years ago / 1

    Neon for avc entry 2014!!!!!!!!!!!! And also my friend worked on tron and said this is not the wire they used

  • Is it possible for me to connect the El Wire via usb to my computer port. I want to make a table lamp out of it powered by my USB port drive?

    • MikeGrusin / about 12 years ago / 2

      Sounds doable. You'll need the 3V EL Inverter (in the related products below), and since USB ports provide 5V, and you need to run a 3V inveter, you'll also need a 3.3V regulator. Hook the 5V coming from the USB port to the 3.3V regulator, and the output of the 3.3V regulator to the EL inverter, and the output of the EL inverter to your EL wire, and you should be good to glow.

  • Member #233774 / about 12 years ago / 1

    What is the pitch of the JST connector?

  • Member #43547 / about 13 years ago / 1

    Is this El wire or El Wire tape water proof? I need to have one of these submerged in water, or at least within a close proximity to water. The water is plain tap water.

  • gcarmonar / about 13 years ago / 1

    Can I connect El Wire directly to my AC socket? or its gonna blow? :P

  • R0B0T1CS / about 13 years ago / 1

    Any clue when this will be in stock again? I hope you're not gonna wait until October... :\

  • ET3 / about 14 years ago / 1

    Your youtube clip is interfering with the backorder popup.

  • dksmall / about 14 years ago / 1

    Can this type of wire be cut if we need to shorten it?

    • rdm_box / about 14 years ago / 1

      Yes, but you will need to seal it again. You can do this with heatshrink. Ladyada has a good tutorial for EL wire .

  • Roger7 / about 14 years ago / 1

    Is this EL Wire washable like the Lilypad stuff? I'd like to incorporate this into some clothing, but would prefer not to have to remove the wire to wash the clothing.

    • SomeGuy123 / about 14 years ago * / 1

      The outer layer of the wire is plastic so it should stand up in a gentle wash. The ends are not sealed though.

    • I highly doubt it. It's not specifically mentioned, but I would be it would degrade the wire as it's not sealed.

  • Jonbowen234 / about 14 years ago / 1

    Is this Tron blue? You know we all want to know what color they used in Tron :) Some pics with them lit up would be great as well.

    • Sir. MiDri / about 14 years ago / 1

      For the true tron look you will need elwire that is encased in clear tubing whilst off.

      • Jonbowen234 / about 14 years ago / 1

        The blue-green looked more like what is needed but the color will be off. Something clear but glows blue.

        • I will get pictures of each wire lit up here soon. There's a video coming which has most of them lit up.

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