Thread: inverter for electroluminescent backlight

Originally Posted by furio

I have an LCD display with an electroluminescent backlight, it needs a inverting power supply providing 70-100VAC at 500Hz to 1000 Hz (draws <5mA).

I have 12V DC from a molex connector. Does anyone know how to make an inverter to provide the power supply the backlight needs?

Or does anyone know the output of inverters sold with el wire? I was thinking I could use one of them...

any help appreciated.

What's the brand of LCD? From what I've seen (using the Search button), a lot of LCD's work on 4.5 to 5 volts DC.

I would think the 5v supplied by the computer's power supply would do the job. And if the LCD needs 12v, the connector should do the job. Oh yeah, multimeter, multimeter, multimeter...it's your best friend.

Originally Posted by furio

I have an LCD display with an electroluminescent backlight, it needs a inverting power supply providing 70-100VAC at 500Hz to 1000 Hz (draws <5mA).

I have 12V DC from a molex connector. Does anyone know how to make an inverter to provide the power supply the backlight needs?

Or does anyone know the output of inverters sold with el wire? I was thinking I could use one of them...

any help appreciated.

I'd like to have a little more info about your backlight. It sounds like a good idea to use EL wire, but I've never seen or heard of a backlight like that. From what I know of EL wire, there are quite a few inverters out there that run from 12V. Try www.elwirecheap.com for EL wire stuff. I'm not sure if those 12V inverters they have there are quite strong enough for what you need. The 12V inverter there gives you a frequency that is quite a bit higher than you want and there is nothing said about the voltage, but it should be ok. I'd appreciate any info on your backlight in return (where you got it, how much it costs, etc etc).

Link: 12V Inverter @ ELWireCheap.com