Help with Mystery Light

I was given this mystery light by a friend who got it from EBay for pretty cheap. I can see why. It is very dim, in fact it can bareley be seen in regular room lighting. But, it is a UV light so i guess it is possible that it is "brighter" on the invisible part of the spectrum. I have no equipment to test this theory with. The light is very unreliable, and I never know whether or not it will light up when i push the button. I was wondering if it might be possible to transfer this uv LED to another case or if it is a bad LED and mabey a different LED work work well in this case. Basically I want to know if it is possible to salvage any part of this light, or if it is just a piece of junk. If possible, I would be glad for any help in just how to go about salvaging part of the light. Thanks for any help.

Here are a few pictures.







BTW, the battery is 3 "A63 Button Cell"s in a blue plastic wrapping. I don't know if that makes any difference.

Any ideas at all would be appreciated, or even links to webpages that might give suggestions.

i have one also, but it is a red led.

i purchased it at radioshack from $4.99.

i don't think it has a name...

I have something like this as well, but I haven't taken it apart (just now, I unscrewed the two halves and found it empty, so I don't even know what kind of batteries or how many batteries to feed it!)

I'm guessing it needs three "A63" button cells, possibly insulated by a paper or plastic sleeve.

I'm also guessing this has a Uniroyal violet LED in it.

(Edit) I also have a white model, and that still has batteries in it. Three tiny watch batteries enclosed in a white plastic insulator, just like your light has except the insulator is a different color. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The LED could be a Uniroyal or other manufacturer who makes violet LEDs with artificial sapphire instead of silicon carbide.

Hello,
I bought exactly the same light from Conrad Electronics. On their web you will find information. My company co-operate with Conrad in Poland and on order we sell.
This is light for banknote check, they describe for Euro check. On the manual or on the box they put description were to find specific unique marks to check original or false. This is really UV light and as such can be dangerous to light up in anybody eyes direction. I do not have now more time to find exact Conrad catalog number. I hope that this help.
I just find:
Ultra-violet money detector, powered by 4 watch bateries.

[ QUOTE ]
The LED Museum said:
The LED could be a Uniroyal or other manufacturer who makes violet LEDs with artificial sapphire instead of silicon carbide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Forgive me for me ignorance, but what in the heck does that mean? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

If the LED is off (never look at one these while on for heaven sakes!), the UV LED used in this flashlight has two bond wires on top, which would indicate artificial sapphire, because sapphire is an insulator. Nichia makes green, blue-green, blue, white, and metal-case low powered 375nm UV LEDs with it. Uniroyal makes 305-405nm LEDs out of this stuff. I'm also guessing that ISP Korea makes similar LEDs out of sapphire.

A single bond wire on top of a UV LED would normally indicate silicon carbide (SiC) because that stuff is usually conductive, so current can flow directly through the chip and into the little metal cup that makes up the LED's cathode or (-) connection. Cree Corp. uses SiC to make their green, blue-green, blue, white, and UV LEDs out of.

Thanks for the interpretaion. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

I wonder if i could put the led into a photon. I have no idea if that would work, I'll have to read into it...