[sdiy] EL Film from guy on Ebay ( Success! )

[harrybissell]

You can use a series capacitor to run the EL panel on 120VAC.
(of course use a film type, probably 400V or better for safety).

The inverters usually run at 400Hz or better. Brightness will NOT
be real good on the 120VAC because the panel will only light a
portion of the time (when voltage is high enough) ~and~ the pulses
are too far apart.

Any port in a storm...

H^) harry

Amos wrote:

> I think I was the guy who mentioned 90VAC... mainly because that's
> about what the inverter in the Moog Voyager puts out @ maximum.
> However I know that you can plug EL wire directly into a US wall
> socket (110/120VAC @60Hz) -- it will be very bright...  basically EL
> stuff runs on AC with a brightness proportional to voltage and a
> half-life (loss of brightness over time) inversely proportional to the
> voltage used.  That is, the brighter you run it the quicker it will
> decay, losing brightness over time.  I have some vague memory of a
> half-life of 10,000 hours at full brightness?  But I have nothing to
> back that up.  I do know that if you run at half brightness it doubles
> the half-life...  so it's a pretty direct relationship.  I reckon it's
> safe to experiment, within reason.  If I understand correctly it's a
> coating of phosphor on a conductive film, so... not much to break!
>
> I also remember that the AC is pulsed at ~300 Hz, and is nonsinusoidal
> (for efficiency, IIRC)
> here is a datasheet for a small EL driver IC with some useful info
> about typical voltage and frequency...
>
> http://www.rogerscorporation.com/durel/pdf/LIT-I9034A07.pdf
>
>
> oh and pardon me, it's a coating of phosphor on an insulative film,
> according to the informative article below... makes more sense now's I
> think about it...
>
> http://www.edn.com/article/CA56670.html
>
> Google is my friend, I tell you... :-)
>
> -Amos
>  On 10/7/05, Tom Arnold <xyzzy at sysabend.org> wrote:
>
>       On Fri, Oct 07, 2005 at 07:37:22AM -0700, Thomas Hudson
>      wrote:
>      > I'm curious as to the specs on the inverters they use.
>      Have you
>      > measured the output of the inverter? I think I saw
>      somewhere that the
>      > EL needs 70VAC,
>
>      Specs are very light on this stuff.  I havent yet measured
>      one of the
>      supplied inverters but I've seen mention of 90vac.
>
>      Seems the inverter in my TG77 is toast.  I also tested the
>      old EL sheet from
>      the 77 and yeah, its way way dim but I get no high pitch
>      whine from the TG77
>      inverter and of course no light.  I play some more tonight
>      and I'll post
>      results.
>
>      --
>      --
>      --------------------------------------------------------------
>
>      - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace
>      http://www.sdiy.org
>      - SynthGeek        -
>      - BBD Fanatic      -  "...is it a virus, a drug, or a
>      religion?"
>      - echo evho wjxo   -    Juanita Shrugs. "What's the
>      difference?"
>      --------------------
>
>