Black light flashlights.

One of my customers recently asked for a black light flashlight to search for scorpions.

I assume a UV light would work best, what is the best light for this?

Bill

As far as I know, "black light" is just the non-scientific term for UV-light. So yes, a UV-flashlight would be OK. However, I have no idea what wavelength you need for scorpion searching. So I don't know if the standard near UV LEDs e.g. are enough.

Any of the multiple-UV-LED flashlights will work. I have this one from Briughtguy and it has a reasonable throw for a small lamp.

One favorite seems to be the UV version of the 5-LED Inova X5MT-UVT pocket-size light. There's a review of it here on the LED Museum. Scroll down to the bottom to see the UV version.

Fluorescent blacklights are OK for close-up work, but because the light is spread out in a long linear fashion, they don't have a lot of throw, and you want throw for hunting down nasty critters. Fluorescent blacklights also don't fare well when they're dropped, which can happen pretty easily outdoors at night.

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elgarak said:
As far as I know, "black light" is just the non-scientific term for UV-light. So yes, a UV-flashlight would be OK. However, I have no idea what wavelength you need for scorpion searching. So I don't know if the standard near UV LEDs e.g. are enough.

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Fluorescent blacklights emit at around 365nm; UV-LEDs emit between 395-400nm (a few types have shorter wavelengths). Both sources will light up a scorpion at night. While the fluorescent blacklights are deeper into the UV spectrum (blacker?), the NUV LEDs still provide enough contrast to differentiate most common fluorescent materials from non-florescent targets.

Thanks Guys!!

Inova X5T UV here we come unless someone has a better idea. I will check out the one from BrightGuy

I've got both the Brilliant Creations UV light featured on the Brightguy site, and the Inova X5T UV. The Inova is significantly brighter (in the sense that objects it illuminates flouresce more brightly. . . neither puts out much visible light), no surprise given that it is driven at 6 Volts, plus it's built like a tank. Highly recommended for goofing around with flourescing stuff (though I haven't found any scorpions around Seattle yet!)

Aloft,

Lots of them on the dry side of the mountains!

Thanks for the input, that was my next question.

Bill

Check out the UV lights from Peak LED. I like mine better than my Inova.

I bought some UV LEDs (Cree 395nm) off the web and installed them in a Dorcy AAA lights. I added a resistor to limit the current. It's pretty powerful and has a good spread to the beam. It's got a littlke hot spot, so it will floresce things from quite a distance (over 5 feet).


Daniel

How about some photos, Daniel? I'd like to see your Dorcy UV mod.

I'd post pictures, but it looks just like a stock one. The change is to just the LED (and resistor in series). I did put a copper band (circuit board repair tape) around the head of the light to remind me that it's been modifird.

Now if you want beam shots I can do that this evening after it gets a bit darker.


Daniel

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gadget_lover said:
I'd post pictures, but it looks just like a stock one. The change is to just the LED (and resistor in series). I did put a copper band (circuit board repair tape) around the head of the light to remind me that it's been modifird.

Now if you want beam shots I can do that this evening after it gets a bit darker.


Daniel

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This is CPF... of course we want beamshots! Looking forward to seeing them.

Well, you asked for it.

These pictures look nothing like what you see with the naked eye. The first picture is just to show the general clutter. The second is a beam shot of the clutter. The third is from 6 foot away from the coffee-pot.

The camera used a 4 second exposure for the UV shots. Thge little blue light in the middle of the first photo is the modified Dorcy. Notice that the white knife sharpener dos not glow like the cutting board in the background or the labels on the bottles. The white beam on the paper was acually a very deep and pale purple.






Daniel

Another fun thing to do with UV is to find things that do floresce. I was not aware that postage machine's use an ultra violet ink until I started looking around.

Daniel

If you want to scare yourself, go and look around the kitchen and bathroom.

I think this is the best uv flashlight for the money
it uses 385nm led's instead of the cheaper 400nm led's
it blows the uv inova x5t out of the water

it emits a lot lot less visible light than 400nm

385nm rules

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3101&item=8122674927&rd=1

Neat photos, Daniel. Thanks!

Have you explored the rest of the house or the outdoors at night with your UV lamp?

markdi,

Do you have one of these or are you going on specs alone?

Bill

I own one
1 400nm uv led in a dorcy aaa puts out 4x more visible light
than all 7 of the leds in that 3aa 385nm flashlight
visible light gets in the way
the 7 led 385nm flashlight works really good
craig of led museum fame has one and reviewed it

I gave my uv inova x5t away

I put a uv led in a dorcy aaa a long time ago
I never added or changed a resistor
it never burned out the uv led
I used quite a bit

now it has a green led in it