Powering the EL Sequencer (COM-12781) and EL wire

Components & Accessories LEDs
1

Hello,

in the documentation about the El Sequencer it said something about being able to plug both ends of the inverter into the board, as to feed both the inverter and the board itself from the same power source.

If this was indeed possible, how much input voltage could the board provide, assuming I would be using an 11.1 V power pack?

About how much voltage would I need to operate about 10 meters of EL wire?

Would I need to solder a different plug to the inverter, if I wanted to do this?

Thanks!

2

Hi Thokari.

The EL Sequencer was designed to work with our [3 volt inverter and that definitely won’t be able to drive 10 meters of EL.

You could modify the EL Sequencer by shorting SJ1 to provide full battery voltage to the DC Out socket and then put a [JST connector on our [12 volt inverter but I’m not even sure that will be able to power 10 meters of EL all at the same time. It should be able to handle a few meters at a time though.](EL Inverter - 12v - COM-10469 - SparkFun Electronics)](Jumper Wire - JST Black Red - PRT-08670 - SparkFun Electronics)](EL Inverter - 3v - COM-10201 - SparkFun Electronics)

3

Hello Chris,

thanks for your reply.

So could I even plug the 12V inverter into the EL Sequencer, drive that using an external power source, and run 10m of EL wire this way?

4

That will work too, but try not to light up all 10 meters at once. :slight_smile:

5

So what would be the maximum capacity in terms of total wire length, assuming I am providing 11 to 12V through a 12V inverter? I would like to be able to light it all at once.

Is there a difference between connecting 2x4m vs. 8x1m of wire, for example?

6

The more EL wire you light up at once, the dimmer the EL wire will be. It’s possible that the inverter will light up 10 meters of wire at an acceptable brightness for you, the only way to know for sure would be to give it a try and see how it goes. If it’s not bright enough for you the only things you can do would be to light up less wire or get a bigger inverter that can handle longer wire.