Powering the EL wire pocket inverter

[MaxQ]

I am planning a project that uses the Arduino and EL wire.
I was wondering if I could use one of the Arduino's 5V digital pins to power the pocket inverter, instead of 2 AA batteries.

Ideally I'd run a wire from the pin to the hot contact of the inverter, and a wire from the other contact to Arduino's gnd.
This way I will be able to directly control flashing speed and sequences with the Arduino.

[adafruit_support_bill]

The Arduino pins won't supply enough current to drive the inverter directly. But they could drive a transistor to switch current to the inverter.

[MaxQ]

So I would still need the AA batteries?

[adafruit_support_bill]

AA's or some other 3v supply. (don't try to use the 3.3v pin on the Arduino. That is only good for a few milliamps!)

[MaxQ]

Yes, I realized that that was the problem.
How much current does the inverter require?
So I know which transistor to get...

[adafruit_support_bill]

It depends on the load. With a couple meters of EL wire, it will draw about 250mA.

The inverter in the store is not really a good candidate for switching. It has a single push-button control that cycles through the three modes: steady/blink/off.

[adafruit]

we'll have a 12V inverter for the EL wire in the shop shortly, which at least is easier to wire to

[MaxQ]

What's the logic behind the push button? Will I be able to directly access that and send it bits?

[adafruit]

there is a driver chip in the inverter that uses the button. not sure what the 'interface' is

you should use a triac like every other EL control project uses. don't mess with the inverter

[MaxQ]

Alright, thanks.