EL light question

[MoonWolf]

I have a question about walmart EL lights. My friend gave me a blue el light (15ft) but he does not have the inverter. He says that when he bought it, the package said it was rated at 12v. No more details than that. I originally came with one of those car adaptors.

Can I just plug it into the +12v line of my PSU or do I need some sort of inverter?

 

[MoonWolf]

Okay... is this correct?

"Unlike neon signs, that use about 15,000 volts, the EL lights use a standard 12Volt AC adapter (can also be powered with a car battery, 9V and 3V alkaline battery cells).

Here is how it works: The AC adapter plugs into a standard 120Volt/60Hz outlet, the AC current is transformed to 12V DC current and goes into the inverter driver, in which the DC current is "inverted" back into AC at 120V (400 - 1600Hz). The voltage and frequency of the inverter will depend on the size of the EL lamp.

Laminating the EL lamps is important since it locks out humidity and makes them safe to handle while lit."

So from what I understand, It will work fine just being plugged into my PSU. Am I right or wrong?

 

[PriMoPyR0]

OKay, You DO need an inverter no matter what, the power in your computer is 12volts but the frequency is NOT high enough, in order to power EL wire you need a frequency of 2000hz to 4000hz ..
What you can do is just simply get an EL inverter that is rated at 12volts power input, and plug the inverter into your computers powersupply and then attach the EL Wire into that inverter.... Its really simple acually, I would suggest the 1-40 foot inverter from www.elwirecheap.com its cheap and its pretty small, and if you want you could easily hook up more EL wire to it at a later date....

 

[MoonWolf]

Thanks, thats all I needed.

-Wesley