The light source looks like it’s ultraviolet which lights up the florescent orange strip. I’m not sure if there is an LED or something else as light source and it’s using fiber optics. The cap on the end is just a cap. There are no wires inside. The black box emits a high pitched noise and interferes with radio reception.
EL wire?
It looks like EL wire but I don’t think there is wire inside. The whole strip is plastic with a cap on the end that emits a bluish light on the end. I imagine it’s ultraviolet the way the plastic lights up.
**edit - but if this is fiber optic, I don’t think the whole thing would light up, just the end - or does it? I don’t remember if fiber optic emits light the whole length of fiber. I think it’s just the end. I measured the voltage and it’s 12 volts DC.
**edit. I think you are right: https://www.instructables.com/EL-Wire/ - oddly I measure 12 volts DC where it should be AC.
There are side glow
fiber optics
I didn’t know that. I looked at amazon and it does look similar but so does the EL wire. The question is would the EL or SG fiber optics have a blue glow on the end?
Not sure
If I understand EL wire correctly it emits white light and the colours available are just different coloured plastic sleeves. This might explain the white light at the end but not your electrical measurements. EL wire runs on 120vac
Yeah, it’s el wire for sure as others have said, but it’s more specific. This sort is meant for things like car dash boards and alike, that’s why it isn’t just round, the fin bit pushes in tight gaps like around a car dashboard etc.
I can’t see that being legal as it’s pretty bright at night for a dashboard.
EL wires runs on 120vac but i’m seeing 12vdc. Perhaps it switches to AC when there is a load because when I unplug just the light to measure the power , supply the high pitched sound stops. I guess this emits some RF as it can be heard over a radio getting louder as it gets closer eventually drowning out the radio station. Not good for a dashboard and car audio. If it’s for a car then why run it off a usb rather than 12 volts?
**edit - suddenly it stopped interfering with radio
EL wire does not require 120V AC. I bought some a couple years ago that ran on 12V DC. It was used for Halloween costumes and I even came across a jacket with an EL wire embedded in the fabric at the zipper. It has a battery pack using three alkaline batteries.
In my experience EL wire has a tiny inverter 3vdc > 120vac