A closer look at EL

I had the chance to open the inverter up this morning and true to my suspicion, they were using a transformer. This is the part that makes the whole unit hums or gives a high-pitched noise. Anyway, do not try to open it up when there is power because in effect, the circuit transforms a normal 12volt battery DC (Direct Current) to an AC (Alternating Current), which I guessed, could be 160 volts and at a frequency in the Kilohertz range.

Although I did not have the time to test it out on the project, a quick measurement looked as if it could fit. And later on, join it with blue EL and control it with a relay.

There is a switch on the right of the picture which controls the mode
of the inverter, (OFF/MUSIC/ON). So, you can either set it to light
all the time or flash in sync with music/sound. We set it to music
and it flashed while were were arguing about the price at the shop.
On the left, is the volume control to adjust the Mic's sensitivity

On the left is a fancy-wancy 12volt plug for vehicles and it has quite a long lead.
And on the right is the connector from the inverter to the EL string. I can put
about 4 EL strings as the inverter is powerful enough to do that. However,
since both of us could not verify the inverter's potential power, I think one
or two 1.5m LE strings are enough. If its longer, the LE string might be
not be very bright at all. Still, let's see how it will be when my Credit
Card clears up soon.

Here is a closer look at the connectors. The left is from the inverter while
the right is from the EL string

You can easily cut these strings to make it longer or join with another
EL string of another colour. All you need to do is to strip the outer
sheath, locate the two thin wires and that is all there is to it.
In theory, that is