Where to find violet (410 nm) LEDs?

[Ash_Williams]

Hi all. Been lurking around this place ever since I saw the MAGLed at the hardware store and wondered what the deal was.

Anyways, I'm looking to find some approx 410 nm LEDs for a project. They don't need to be super bright - I can just use a lot of them if needed. I'd like to bath an area of about 2 sq feet in 405 nm light for experiments in disinfection, so the ideal LEDs would be cheap and easy to hook up (no heatsinking, etc.)

Anyone know where I could order a few of these things? I looked around and suppliers seem to have trouble putting a search function on their pages or actually bothering to give a price...

 

[JohnR66]

405nm is within the visible spectrum and is of no use for disinfection. You need UV-C in the 250 nm range and you can get that using low pressure mercury germicidal tubes.

 

[Hugo2x]

There is also florescent tubes that are in UV sterilization rang. I use one in my aquarium to kill free floating algae blooms.

 

[Ash_Williams]

Yep, I know about UV for disinfection but there's the claim that the 405-420nm can also some kill bacteria (H. pylori and Acne being two examples) without any of the danger of UV exposure. That's why the LEDs are for experiments!

 

[JohnR66]

Radio Shack has a two pack for $1.70. RS's prices are high, but the LEDs they sell are usually of high quality. The die cup/lead frame shape/stamping patterns seems to indicate that they are Cree (a quality LED producer), but I can't find any info on Cree's site. I don't recall the dominate wavelength, but I think they are in the range you need.

You could buy several UV LEDs off ebay, but from four major LED sellers there, I have had poor experience with the product quality.

 

[bstrickler]

How soon do you need them? I could have my dad ship you some 5mm for a few $ + shipping (I'm out of state for a month, so I can't get to them myself until then). I have like 25 left, plus a board of like 20 UV LED's pre-assembled, in case you want that, instead. It has no resistors on it, so you'd have to figure out a housing/assembly for it. Shouldn't bee too hard, though.

~Brian

 

[blasterman]

SuperbrightLeds has 395nm 1-watt Prolights on stars for $8.00. If you do the math they're 10-20x as powerful as typical 5mm at the same wavelength.

Just superglue them to a spare computer heatinskink.

Personally I don't think you'll hit high enough energy levels to do much, but at least the 1-watt versions will prove it.