EL Wire and Tape

EL Wire

EL Wire, also known as Electroluminescent wire, is a stiff wire core coated with phosphor and then covered with a protective PVC sheath. When an AC signal is applied to it, it glows an aqua (blue green) color. Sometimes its covered with a colored plastic shell to make it appear another color. It looks a little like thin neon. Very bendable, it keeps its shape and you can curl it around your finger. Its an easy way to add some glow to a project, not as bright as LEDs but uses a lot less power!

EL Tape

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.