dc power circuit for EL nightlight?

[Flotsam]

Anyone know of a circuit I could build to run an EL nightlight off of a 9v (or a couple of AA's) battery?

Sam

 

[B@rt]

There are acouple of solutions here.
I've been using a converter from Conrad, a German company, but I'm sure there are simular companies in the States...

 

[Brock]

Well the Krill light is exactly that, a 2 AA EL light, but the EL is wrapped in a tube around the 2 batteries. Maybe you could get one of them and reverse engineer it?

 

[Flotsam]

Unfortunately, I'm not much of an engineer

I could probably follow a simple schematic (my only electronics background is basic circuitry as a part of my college physics courses), but I really wouldn't be able to identify very many components. I thought about the krill, but I figure the circuit is probably pretty small, and was hoping someone might have a (relatively) simple schematic I could use.

 

[Doug S]

Originally posted by Flotsam:
Unfortunately, I'm not much of an engineer

I could probably follow a simple schematic (my only electronics background is basic circuitry as a part of my college physics courses), but I really wouldn't be able to identify very many components. I thought about the krill, but I figure the circuit is probably pretty small, and was hoping someone might have a (relatively) simple schematic I could use.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You will find it cheaper and less hassle to just buy one. Here's one for $5:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=213&item=INV-8&type=store

 

[Evan]

An odd thing about ELs, some don't work so good on higher frequency AC. I have that EL driver from All Electronics. It didn't work at all driving an Intermatic "Good Nite Lite"., but drives EL tubing brighter than any other driver I've got and works fine on a small EL backlight I picked up at a ham fest.

One caviat, though: The harder you drive EL and the brighter it shines, the sooner it wears out, particularly that 2mm plastic tubing that comes in a number of colors, often sold to customize vans. You can buy a kit at Target that includes 6 or 15 feet of the tubing and a driver that plugs into a lighter socket. That driver won't drive the nightlight either, and when I tried it on the backlight from the hamfest, it destroyed it.

 

[e=mc²]

If you want, I have some surplus EL panels with driver circuitry mounted right below it. I bought these at an electronics auction several years ago and they have never been used except the one I use for experimenting. They take 6-9V in and power a 1.8" white EL panel, originally intended for micro sized lcd TV backlights. They are manufactured by Seiko. I'll send you one just for the asking. Just email me as it the fastest way to get my attention.

e-