UV light bulb

[jgeck90]

Basically i am trying to find something that will do the same thing as a Mark 440 Stencil developer. I cant justify spending so much on just a metal box and a UV light bulb!! Here is what i am talking about:
http://www.glass-etching-kits.com/mark_440.htm
As you can see it takes a UV bulb. I looked for a UV light bulb for a regular house light socket but found nothing.
Do you guys think i can construct something that will do the same thing?

Basically all in all i am looking for a UV light bulb that will work in a standard home socket. If nobody can find that, my last choice is shown below, do you guys think this will work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Protek-9-watt-GE...d=p3286.c0.m14
Yes, i see that it is only 9V...i can just leave the stencil in longer right??
Keep in mind my only payment method would be PayPal.

Thanks so much for any help!

[Ken_McE]

All UV is not alike. you might want to check with the manufacturer and see what wavelengths their product needs to work. My experience with the screw-in incandescent "UV" bulbs is that they are doG awfull.

[jgeck90]

Ok. What if i get a replacement bulb that goes in it? could you guys help me rig it up to work?

[Oznog]

Those incandescent blacklight bulbs are no good.
There's 2 options: spiral CFL blacklight "bulb" and the blacklight fluorescent tubes. You'd want the shorter tube like you'd find in a counter light not the full-length that would go in a ceiling light.

The CFL "bulb" is not really a great source because the light originates from a point, put it over the work and it gets much more illumination in the center.

No, get 2 or more of the short blacklight tubes and mount them side by side. Makes an even plane of light. For PCBs, the exposure time is like 3 min or so IIRC.

[jgeck90]

Sounds good. Can you show me a link to exactly what bulb you are talking about?

[LED-FX]

http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/L...eneration.html

should point you in right direction, if you find a lamp that your not sure about come back and ask.

HTH
Adam

[jgeck90]

So a black light will work for developing the stencil's?
Jeff

[LED-FX]

Blacklight Blue to be acurate, peak emmision of 369nm cures most of the UV curing epoxies and stencil and pcb resist.

Would think the 120W example supplied is a mecury blended tungsten, lots of UV buts lots of heat.

Adam

[PhotonWrangler]

I'm guessing they're using this type of 160w self-ballasted UVC-B lamp. It's the type of lamp that they used to call a "suntan lamp" before fluorescent-driven tanning beds became popular.

I really don't think that a regular longwave blacklight will work for this use. A longwave lamp will work for curing uv-responsive adhesives though.

[jgeck90]

hmm... i was looking for a cheap alternative.
Any more idea's guys?

[PhotonWrangler]

Fluorescent germicidal bulbs are cheaper, but then you've got to buy the ballast and fixture, or you could retrofit an existing fluorescent desk lamp with a germicidal bulb. You're probably looking at $20-$35 at the least for a germicidal tube.

The next cheapest alternative is direct sunlight. It also contains UVB rays, although at lower levels.

BTW, forget about doing it with UV LEDs. Shortwave UV LEDs are extremely rare, extremely weak and unbelievably expensive. It would cost you many thousands to do it that way, and it wouldn't work nearly as well as the other lamp technologies.