EL tape is the big sister to EL wire - it has the same glow effect but with a flat, wide shape instead of a round shape. The glowing part of the tape is 1 cm wide (the plastic coating is about 1.5cm wide). The other side has an adhesive on it so you can stick the tape onto something. Its covered in what seems to be PVC, the tape is thus weather-proof - but note that the connectors are NOT waterproof, just a bit of heatshrink. This isn't something we would suggest leaving outdoors for extended periods.
Because EL tape has more surface area than wire, it requires a more powerful inverter for the same length. This tape is about 4 times more capacitive (per length) than our high-brightness EL wire and 8 times more capacitive than 'standard' EL wire. For that reason, we are shipping the EL tape in 100cm lengths with two EL connectors soldered on, one on each end. You can cut it into two pieces of any length and use both halves!
Note that the maximum amount for the 2xAA pocket inverter we carry is 60cm so don't try to run the full strip off of one inverter - it will look dim and isnt nice to the inverter - cut it in half first! Plug it in and it will light up nicely! A 50cm strip draws about 200mA from the 2xAA batteries in the pocket inverter (so 2000mAh batteries will last ~10 hours if on 'constant' mode). You can also use our 4xAAA inverter which is strong enough to power a full meter at once - plug in only one end of the tape to the inverter or cut it in half and plug both halves in.
Please note! EL tape, EL wire and EL panel are made with different processes and so the color and brightness will not be consistant between the two: white tape, white wire and white panels will not necessarily match!
Technical Details
Size: 100 cm x 1.5 cm about 1mm thick, the glowing part is 1cm wide
Skip to content
