can i make my own cyalume light sticks

napalm-2002

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 27, 2001
Messages
403
Location
youngstown ohio the land of the mafia
can any one help me to make my own cyalume sticks.
cool.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
Well, you'd need some pretty strong hydrogen peroxide in sealed glass vials, and a fluorescent dye that has luciferin and luciferase added to it, and some polymer ester crap too.
This slightly viscious compound fills the majority of the stick.

Or you could just use a transluscent plastic rod and an LED or two.
grin.gif
 

cybersoga

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
183
Location
UK
Omniglow http://www.omniglow.com make/sell glowsticks of all shapes and sizes, the largest ones they do are 15 inches long and 1 inch wide (down girls!) They also come in types - Industrial which are guaranteed for 12hrs, the normal sort that lasts for 8-12hrs, High Intensity that lasts for 2-4hrs and Oh My God that's Bright (flare) that lasts for 5 mins. You can get them from anywhere that sells Omniglow products - online you can try http://www.circuittoys.com and http://www.ravertoys.com but there are many others.
world.jpg
 

RonM

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 10, 2000
Messages
1,164
Location
NJ, USA
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Well, you'd need some pretty strong hydrogen peroxide in sealed glass vials, and a fluorescent dye that has luciferin and luciferase added to it, and some polymer ester crap too. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds kind of nasty. How is it that the packages always say the stick contains non-toxic material? I always wanted to drain one and coat my hair with it for halloween. Glad I didn't do that, the peroxide might have bleached my hair!
 

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RonM:
Sounds kind of nasty. How is it that the packages always say the stick contains non-toxic material? I always wanted to drain one and coat my hair with it for halloween. Glad I didn't do that, the peroxide might have bleached my hair!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not only that, but the fluorescent dye would fairly permanently dye your newly bleach-blond hair a bright yellowish-green. :-O

If I remember from the 1970s (the last time I bought a lightstick) the package warned that the liquid would permanently stain anything it touched; though ingesting some of the fluid would do no real harm except maybe give you a bit of a tummyache.
 

K Horn

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 19, 2000
Messages
198
Location
J-ville NC
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stingmon:
If I remember from the 1970s (the last time I bought a lightstick) the package warned that the liquid would permanently stain anything it touched; though ingesting some of the fluid would do no real harm except maybe give you a bit of a tummyache.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've known places that will empty a lightstick into a mug of beer for ingestion.
Not too bad tasting. It looks like a lava lamp.
REMEMBER THOUGH TO KEEP THE GLASS CHIPS OUT OF THE MUG
Of course this warning is only for those morons who would also balance on top of a step ladder on one foot.
NO I don't remember if it made your pee glow or not....
 

Steelwolf

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
1,208
Location
Perth, Western Australia
I thought it would burn when you shat
tongue.gif


Anyways...back on topic, can you re-activate a spent lightstick by providing fresh hydrogen peroxide? Is there something else that the hydrogen peroxide has to react against, or does it merely decompose to provide the required energy? Does this have something to do with the 1-year shelf life of chemical lights?
 

OrBy

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Messages
155
Location
Winnipeg,MB,Canada
lol this reminds me of a very sketchy night i had last summer... went to a party (rave) and some one busted out a few of thoes massive yellow ones (like a foot long) looked like a bonfire was going on inside this big crowd of poeple around him. only lasted a short time but man i was just plain stunned on how bright they can go.

and on a side note - the insides dont taste good :p i can say from personal exp... never put a glowstick in your mouth when you have to move really big monitors and computer cases around... grunt POP, eeeewwwwwwww. i was spitting glowing blue stuff for 10 min...

edit - pic http://home.tbp.mb.ca/~julez/pics/rave/00/23/glosticks.jpg
 
Top