QA

Question: Where To Get El Wire

How thick can you get el wire?

EL Wire has a copper core coated with the glowing phosphor and covered with a protective sleeve. The sleeve comes in four different thicknesses: 1.5mm, 2.3mm, 3.2mm and 5mm as well as a ‘welted’ sleeve that has a thin tag running along it. All EL naturally glows light blue/ or blue/green.

Can you cut EL wire anywhere?

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 LONG WILL EL wire last?

Although EL wire has great staying power, its color will eventually fade from sun exposure. Keeping your EL wire outdoors in direct sunlight will cut the life span to one to two years. When kept indoors or with limited outdoor exposure, your EL wire’s color will last as long as three years.

Are EL wires bright?

The ‘high brightness, long life’ EL wire we carry is about twice as bright and has about twice the capacitance.

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.

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.

How bright are EL panels?

Typical EL Panels have a light output of around 100-150cd/m2. When comparing to other LED mediums, like televisions or monitors, which typically range from 200-350cd/m2, they do not appear as bright, however they use far less power, are flexible, and can even be made into various shapes, or even logos.

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!.

Why does EL Wire need an inverter?

It is not as bright as LEDs or Neon but provides a very nice eye-catching light and illumination. EL Wire requires an inverter to light up. The inverter’s function is to convert the low DC voltage into higher AC voltage necessary for EL Wire operation.

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 the 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.

Does EL wire burn out?

EL wire is thin and flexible, can be bent, wrapped or even sewn into clothing. It runs off of high-voltage, low-current, high-frequency AC, which is typically supplied by a battery pack with an inverter, also sold by the same companies. EL wire will eventually “burn out”, depending on how hard you drive it.

Does 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.

Are EL panels dimmable?

With the EL panels you can dim them with a Rheostat, I use a 100 omh Rheostat with a 12v power adapter with the Rheostat on the negative lead to the power module.

Is El wire any good?

EL wire is best known for producing a neon-like continuous line of light. It is flexible enough to be fashioned into delicate shapes, and can be sewn onto clothing. However, it has many limitations, and I used to spend a lot of time explaining why I did not recommend it for certain applications.

Can El wire change colors?

EL Wire, because of the properties, can never truly change colors from Green to red, or blue to orange. EL Wire is made from a colored plastic tubing which cannot change colors.

Can you see EL wire in the day?

It’s extremely thin, flexible and provides a brilliant glow (about 4x-10x the brightness of EL Wire), which can even be seen in daylight.

How do you use EL wire on clothes?

How to Add EL Wire to a Coat or Other Garment Step 1: List of Materials. Step 2: Choose Garment to Light Up. Step 3: Plan the Light Layout. Step 4: Select and Order the EL Wire and Inverter. Step 5: Cut, Strip and Solder the EL Wire Junctions. Step 6: Attach the EL Wire. Step 7: Finishing Steps.

How long does EL panel last?

Generally speaking, EL has a lifespan of about 4,000-6,000 hours, however with our MEGA series of inverters, this lifespan is increased to about 6-8,000 hours, but we’ve seen products last well over 10,000 hours using these inverters.

What is El wire made of?

EL wires consists of a thin central copper wire coated in phosphor, a chemical which glows when exposed to an energy source. This central coated wire has two thin outer copper wires wrapped around it.

What AMP is a lighting circuit?

Lighting circuits do not require large currents. Typically, a circuit breaker or fuse of 6 amps is used. The conductors in lighting cables therefore need not be very thick. One 100 Watt bulb uses less than half an amp as shown below.

Do EL panels get hot?

They can be used in applications that are mounted flat against a wall; mounted in a standard picture frame; adhered to various types of signage. The EL panels do not generate heat, and therefore need no special venting.