This Orange EL Wire provides 250cm of flexible, glowing orange lighting for costumes, decorations and electronics projects, with a 2.6mm diameter, orange outer coating and pre-soldered quick-connect connector. Compatible EL inverter required but not included.
EL Wire, also known as Electroluminescent wire is a stiff wire core coated with phosphor and then covered with a protective PVC sheath. When an AC signal is applied to it, it glows an aqua (blue green) colour. This EL is orange-coated so that it looks orange. It looks a little like thin neon. Very bendable, it keeps its shape and you can curl it around your finger. Its an easy way to add some glow to a project, not as bright as LEDs but uses a lot less power!
We've got 2.6mm thickness EL wire, with a orange covering, pre-cut and soldered to a standard quick-connect EL wire. It is made with the latest technology and twice as bright as 'standard' 2.3mm EL - running it at 1.5KHz/90V it emits 32 cd/m^2 or light and a half-life (50% brightness reduction) after 3000 hours of continuous use. Draws about 10mA per meter. The capacitance is about twice that of 'standard' EL, 11 nF/m so if you're using an inverter, it will drive only half as much high brightness wire as standard.
Often used for costuming, decoration, accent lighting, safety vests, bicycle/motorcycle/car/boat/home decoration, signs, etc! This wire is not designed explicitly for outdoor use so it will fade if continuously exposed to UV.
To use, the wire must be connected to an inverter that provides an AC supply of approximately 100V at 2000 Hz. An inverter is not included! This wire is 250cm long which is the maximum that can be driven by our handy 2xAA portable pocket inverter The full length draws 200mA from the 2xAA batteries (so 2000mAh batteries will last ~10 hours if on 'constant' mode)
This is a pre-cut, pre-soldered, 250cm long piece of EL. You can plug this right into an inverter and get glowing in seconds, and if you want to do something a little more complex, cut and resolder it as desired. Soldering to EL wire is a little tricky but luckily Adafruit wrote a detailed step-by-step tutorial! To cut and re-solder EL, you'll need wire strippers, a soldering iron & solder, copper tape and heat shrink. A third-hand tool is really useful as well.
Please note: EL tape, EL wire and EL panel are made with different processes - the colour and brightness will not be consistent between the different types of EL products. The EL tape will not match the EL wire or EL panel exactly, they all will be slightly different colours.
We also stock this in a variety of colours! This product is available in: Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Aqua and White. This is the orange version.
Features
2.6mm diameter electroluminescent wire with orange PVC coating that glows orange
Pre-cut to 250cm length with pre-soldered quick-connect terminals
Twice as bright as standard 2.3mm EL wire – 32 cd/m² brightness output
Low power consumption – draws approximately 10mA per metre
Highly flexible and bendable whilst maintaining shape
Half-life of 3000 hours continuous use at rated brightness
Requires AC inverter supply (approximately 100V at 2000 Hz) – inverter not included
Compatible with 2xAA portable pocket inverter for approximately 10 hours runtime
Suitable for costumes, decoration, accent lighting, safety applications, vehicle/bicycle/boat decoration and signage
Can be cut and re-soldered for custom applications
Not designed for continuous outdoor use – will fade with prolonged UV exposure
Colour and brightness may vary from EL tape and EL panel products
Revision History
As of Sep 22, 2021 - We used to stock Wanyu EL wire, but sadly they've closed doors so we no longer have the high-brightness EL wire. That said, this brand seems to be good quality and close in brightness!
