What is the best UV LED Light?

What is the best economical UV LED light on the market nowadays? I want to get one of these but I haven't seen any discussion on CPF about them lately.

I am looking in the sub $50 range, and preferrably one that uses AA batteries.

Is it feasible to mod a production White LED light with a UV LED if one is not available? If so can anyone suggest a good host?

I modded a Nuwai Q3 with a CREE UV led and I can't be happier, in a nutshel purchase any inxpensive current regulated flashlight that uses a luxeon star, replace it with a UV cree mounted and you are good to go.


Pablo

I have built a couple of different UV lights.

The first one uses a Cree UV 3 watt with a plano-convex lens and a rechargable lithium #18650 cell. Run time is three hours. Here's a photo of one:


The second one I just finished uses 48 of a 380nm LED and has a #26650 cell. I think it is the first one I've heard of with that higher capacity lithium-ion battery.

Larry Cobb

LEDite,

Where did you buy the 380nm leds, Im guessing they are 5mm. I've been looking for some to mod a 3 D host with, I need about 50 pcs.

EngineeringGuy, what kinds of things do you hope to fluoresce? If it's stuff like Day-Glo paints, any of the 395nm UV LEDs will work well. If this is the case, go for the Terralux Cree=based UV drop-in for the MiniMag. It's got plenty of throw and the module is $30-$35 depending on where you buy it. I got mine from BrightGuy.com

If you need a shorter wavelength, you're going to trade off some power and throw for it. There are 365nm UV LEDs available from Xenopus here in CPF. That's the classic "blacklight" wavelength of fluorescent blacklight bulbs. Works well for Day-Glo, some fluorescent minerals, locating urine stains and the like.

If you need shortwave UV (mostly for fluorescent mineral identification and sterilization use) then stick with fluorescent lamps. There are several handheld shortwave lamps available from manufacturers like UVP.

I am interested in the mineral identification properties (as well as the novelty)... therefore I think the 365nm variety would suit me best. So far most of the suggestions have been mods. Are there any other off the shelf lights which are suited for this application?
- AA powered
- 365nm wavelength
- $60 or less

You may find UV leds with that low of wavelength a bit tough to come by. Xenopus would probably be the guy to talk to if that is needed. It'll probably break your budget though.

If the Cree UV Xlamp 7090 series will fluouresce the things you're looking for, I'd recommend that as a simple way to get a lot of UV.

The sandwhich shoppe sells the UV Aleph, which uses the cree (and seems like a very good light), but is like 200 USD.

I was looking for a little AA light with a deep reflector to use with a Cree UV, and I just recently modded a 2AA Minimaglite led with one. It turned out very good in terms of throw. Check out a little writeup I did in the mod section:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/144003

This will squeak through your budget and use AA also.

I've got just the thing for ya.

First of all, you want one in the 375-380nm range, as this gives you the most 'bang for the buck' so to speak. The really cheap ones are in the 395-400nm range, and though they do work, they throw out a LOT of visible light, which is undesirable. If the nm range is not mentioned in an ad, it's no doubt in the undesirable (cheap) range.

I bought a 21-led 380nm from this guy and it works great. He doesn't seem to have any more of those but now has the 49-led models. Apparently he's saturated the market because you won't have much, if any, bidding competition. If the bidding does increase, look in his store and find the next one in line for bidding. I managed to be the only one bidding when I got mine at the low price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Most-Poweful-UV-Flashlight-49-LED-380-385-NM-3-AA_W0QQitemZ220062469248QQihZ012QQcategoryZ66951QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

EDIT: This place has the 'professional' versions, but they are way more expensive. While you're there, look at the menu on the left side of the page, and the last item is 'Application Matrix.' This show you what wavelength you need for each application.
http://www.xenopuselectronix.com/xeled/index.html

Hey if you are going to mod a Cree UV LED into a light, you might consider the Elly, it is a 1 x AA light that is regulated, 2.4 hours, probably as much or more on a Cree UV LED. Sounds like a good candidate to me, you can drop a Cree star in there and go!