Even though the Tron movies have been out for a while, electroluminescence is still the coolest thing since sliced bread. The only downer is carrying around a battery pack and bulky external inverter. Good news, we’ve found a slim battery-powered inverter for your next small EL project! This little black box takes two AA batteries and has two JST connectors for your EL wire/panel/tape. There are two modes: continuous on and flashing and it even has a belt clip!

We got a chance to play with these inverters and you can easily hack these to work with our Li-Po batteries (yep, at the fully charged 4.2V). To get inside, you’ll need to remove a pair of screws (one is hiding under the CE sticker) and afterwards you’ll want to wrap things up with electrical tape to avoid getting shocked (it just tingles a little).

The following current readings were taken while the pack was connected to one or more of our 3m EL wire:

• Single strand always on: 190 to 260mA
• Single strand blinking: 90 to 120mA
• Two strands always on: ~300mA
• Two strands blinking: ~150mA

Different color strands were used but the lengths were identical. Your mileage may vary. If you need to pick up some Li-Po batteries, electrical tape or EL wire to hack your own battery pack, check the related items below!