It has been my experence that the 9 volt batteries don't ever give good long term performance on anything needing higher output. I have the 8AAA 12 volt setup in a MHS EL saber and it has been used on and off for at least 4-5 hours. I also have a 8AA sink tube EL and I loaded up batteries when I built it and haven't changed them yet, by contrast, my kids sink tube EL's have been eating up 9 volts left and right like they were candy. They are all going to be switched to 8AAA since 1- they last longer and 2- I can get the mega 48 pack AA or AAA for what I pay for 8 9 volts. I know that it's six switch outs instead of 8 but for the longer life and significant brightness diff I 'll go that route.

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