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)
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.
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.
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We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
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Hi, i have a question, do i need to buy a splitter? or i can do it in parallel?
Does the plastic come off so I take out the plastic and solder it to conductive thread and a battery?
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?
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.
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.
what is the difference between this and:https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11425
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.
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?
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.
Hey that's great! Thanks Mike. :D
What is the pitch of the JST connector?
2mm.
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.
Can I connect El Wire directly to my AC socket? or its gonna blow? :P
Any clue when this will be in stock again? I hope you're not gonna wait until October... :\
They have been shipped and we should hopefully see them by the end of the month.
Your youtube clip is interfering with the backorder popup.
Can this type of wire be cut if we need to shorten it?
Yes, but you will need to seal it again. You can do this with heatshrink. Ladyada has a good tutorial for EL wire .
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.
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.
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.
For the true tron look you will need elwire that is encased in clear tubing whilst off.
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.