Table of Contents
HOW LONG WILL EL Wire last?
When kept indoors or with limited outdoor exposure the lifespan of the EL wire will last as long as three years. Keeping your EL wire outdoors in direct sunlight will cut the life span to one to two years. The voltage is applied to your EL wire also affects its lifespan.
Can you cut EL Wire lights?
You can cut EL to any length or shape, but you must reseal the ends you cut. If you do not have an end cap for the EL wire, you can still seal the ends with hot glue or epoxy to seal cut wire. If you don’t reseal, you could end up getting a good jolt.
How thick can you get EL Wire?
A: The EL Wire thicknesses are: Thin Diameter – 1.3 mm (0.05in) – for usages requiring flexibility. General Purpose – 2.3mm (0.09in) – for common indoors usage. Outdoors – 3.2mm (0.13in) – for outdoors usage.
What voltage is EL Wire?
EL Wire typically operates in a range of internal voltage of 80-130+VAC (RMS), depending on the needs of the application. EL Wire can be operated at a wide range of frequency too – the most range from 450-3000Hz range.
Is EL wire waterproof?
EL WIRE is water resistant but should not be submersed in water or be used in high humidity applications. You could, however, slide clear heat shrink tubing over the EL Wire for waterproof applications.
Can you plug EL wire into wall?
EL Wire needs a power source to glow, and for that you have a couple different choices: ready made kits, plugging it into a wall outlet, or hooking it up to a battery pack. EL Wire doesn’t run on a common household power, because it uses a special high frequency alternating current which enables the wire to glow.
Can I bend EL Wire?
EL Wire is very flexible, but it is also delicate. Too many back and forth bends in any one spot will make the tiny angel hair wires located in the wire to break and cause your wire to short out. When using in costuming applications, we recommend keeping the EL Wire free from knees and elbows.
How do I make an EL Wire?
Slide a piece of shrink tube onto the wire that will get soldered to the center core, and then solder the wire in place. Solder the other wire to the copper tape. Slide the small piece of shrink tube over the center copper core and shrink it into place.
How do you secure EL Wire?
For example, EL wire can be mounted to a plastic surface (such as a helmet) by hot glue, E6000, or 3M Super Strength Adhesive. Another method for attaching EL wire to clothing is to make a casing or channel with sheer fabric, and slide the wire through there.
What is the brightest EL Wire?
As with all electroluminescent technology, because the EL naturally glows blue/green the brightest colour of the wire is the Aqua, Lime Green and White. The least bright are the red and purple as they have to be filtered the most to get the colours right.
What is the thickest EL Wire?
The EL wire is now also available in a larger 5mm diameter! The 5mm EL wire is thicker and brighter than its 2.3mm counterpart. Note that this item requires more power than the 2.3mm EL wire therefore you can only connect 1 5mm EL wire to the standard battery pack. Good news everyone!.
How flexible is EL Wire?
Flexibility of EL wire is similar to common phone wire, folding angle reach more than 15 degree, maximum bending achieve 360 degree, and can be bent or stretched repeatedly. The length of EL wire is cut according to customer’s application but the homogenous lighting effect remains still the same.
How do you power EL panels?
To power EL, an AC source is required. It is not possible to light up EL with DC such as batteries or a wall adapter! The output of the inverter must be a sine-wave with no DC component. It is not unusual to have an inverter run from batteries, such as this ‘pocket’ AA driver.
Is EL wire brighter than LED?
LED strips are the clear winner in this category, as they can easily change color and brightness while EL wire and tape can only be one color and level of brightness. LED strips require significantly more power to operate than EL wire and tape.
Does all EL wire make noise?
Nearly every el wire inverter or battery pack that has been made to date uses a very high frequency (generally over 1500Hz), which tend to make a loud humming noise which is in our audible range, and can be annoying in quiet environments. This is because most inverters are never really in tune.
How do electroluminescent materials work?
electroluminescence, production of light by the flow of electrons, as within certain crystals. Electroluminescence is one of the few instances in which a direct conversion of electric energy into visible light takes place without the generation of heat, such as occurs in the incandescent lamp.
What does an EL Wire inverter do?
EL Wire Drivers (or EL Wire Inverters) are the magical lifeblood of the EL Wire’s glowing power. They are Plug-in Units or DC inverter that allow your EL Wire to glow. They come in a variety of sizes and power, and allow your wire to glow where you need it, when you need it.
