Need help choosing the right UV LED

Hi, I need some help choosing the right UV LED flashlight for my application. I am a carpet cleaner and I need a light to pick up urine on carpet and upholstery. Everyone tells me that a 365nm light is the best for this application but I see some lights online that are above 365nm at about 370, 390nm and the specs say that they will pick up urine also. I also heard that some UV LED loose their efficiency if they stay on for too long and that it changes the output or nm. So what would be the best nm for this application? Also some lights have 2,4,9, and 64 lights in it. Does it matter how many LED's it has?

Anything with a Cree 7090 UV (I think they are often listed as 7090 xl or 7090 xr) power led should have a lot of oomph, and will likely have a longer life than a regular 5mm. The wavelength is high on these (395-405nm I think) but the output is very good, I've used this in the past and it works very well for pet urine detection. But even with a powerfull UV led like the Cree it still needs to be quite dark to have good visibility. I think there's a light Deal Extreme that uses this led, also Nailbender has made dropins for the 6p series of lights (clones will work too) in the past. I think Surefire also makes a ready to go light with this led (based off of the Kroma), but I think it is expensive and it doesn't seem like something they sell too often as it isn't listed on the site (perhaps they don't want to). There could be a reason for that though, UV light can be harmful to the eyes. So be carefull.

EDIT: I think Terralux makes a dropin for Mini-maglights using this led.

Thanks for the info on the Cree UV RyanA -
thought you needed a lower nm for cat pee detection!

Welcome to CPF apk.
Check out these lights and reviews as well
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/eleventh/365.htm

http://www.powerledlighting.com/SlimUV365.html

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=272

Any using the 5mm will be less powerful as Ryan said.
I'll be getting that $119 2W soon as i need it for curing as well as cat pee detection.

Cheers
Dom

You may want to consider the LRI Proton Pro UV as well.

375nm, 120mW - coming in less than 1 week - about $80.

MattK said:

You may want to consider the LRI Proton Pro UV as well.

375nm, 120mW - coming in less than 1 week - about $80.

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is that uv led a cree or 5mm

Not 5mm and not Cree - I'm looking into it. Cree stopped making UV LED's more than a year ago

I had this delema too, a while back. I needed a lower frequency to detect watermarks in licenses and bills. The lower the frequency, the dimmer the light, but the better it "lights up" stuff that phosphoreses (I think I spelled that right). ANyway, I found the Streamlight Twin Task light which has 3 of the 390 something LEDs and three 340-50ish LEDs. You can cycle between them or all on too.

Dealer inquiry removed

i received one of the cheaper ($15) 14 led uv lights from battery junction today, to try and find dog urine on my carpet, i know there is a lot there because my dogs are old and pee a lot, and have over the last year.

the uv light was essentially useless didnt identify anything at all (close and long range), a nice blue light is emitted (might be good for kids in a nightclub/party), but not any use at all as a urine finder.

i even closely inspected 2 toilets, nothing identified with the uv inside or around them?

maybe the yellow plastic glasses i got with my air conditioning tune up kit for the car would help? but i didnt have them with me tonight.

after a 10 minute search for urine with this light i have some weird sensations in my eyes

perhaps its not so good for finding urine but ok for damaging retinas?

uv filter glasses should be worn while using these lights for extended periods. It's like looking at the sun, but without the brightness... BTW, if you see the light as "blue", it's a high frequency UV led. The 350 wavelength are hardly visible to the eye and look relatively dim. The UV light is still there, though, and stuff glows.

Check this one out. It has 2 wavelength UV LEDs plus a regular incan all in one package:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009JVQE6/?tag=cpf0b6-20

375nm should be enough to spot urine stains. I can see them with a cheap 395mm Inova X1 at night with lights off in my apartment. :sick2: Though if you're looking to do it in day light you're going to need something better than a 5mm LED or showerhead 5mm LED clusters.

The 365nm power LEDs from Nichia are rather expensive but I had Nailbener make me a custom P60 dropin with one and I love it. Nailbender's standard UV dropin should be fine with goggles though for pet stains. Yellow or orange goggles block out any blue/ purple light and therefore make the fluorescence of the stains stand out. With any higher power UV source you should be wearing some sort of eye protection anyway.

bkumanski said:

brightness... BTW, if you see the light as "blue", it's a high frequency UV led. The 350 wavelength are hardly visible to the eye

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Blue would be a relatively low frequency for a light claiming to be UV.
-Winston

apk;

I have been building UV lights for several years. Many are used for detecting urine and other biologicals.

I started with 5mm UV LED's, but soon discovered the Cree 1 watt and then the Cree 3 watt 395nm LED's.

They work great for your application. The higher power brings out the fluorescence.

There is a link to a hard-anodized 3 watt build in my signature.

LEDite

winston said:

Blue would be a relatively low frequency for a light claiming to be UV.
-Winston

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Maybe I got them backwards. I know the lower nm leds are dimmer, but light up stuff like xmas. The 390s work too, but it is interesting the led looks brighter, but illuminates worse. I'm really no expert with the UV stuff, but I know my taskforce with both 390 and 360nm leds light up mostly everything. It seems the 360s are more useful, though. I just use mine for ids and stuff, but I have found it works on scorpions, urine, and other biological fluids ...

this $15 light produces a kind of blue- ish/purple- ish light.

The shorter the wavelength the higher the contrast ratio. Longer wavelength UV LEDs put out a lot of visible violet light. They work less efficiently for two reasons -
1) Poor contrast between visible purple and fluorescing specimen.

2) Longer wavelength excitation produces weaker fluorescent response in specimen.

To some extent you can compensate with higher power long wavelength UV LEDs, but you're still dealing with a lot of visible purple light. Go for the shorter wavelength LEDs in the 360-375nm range and you'll find that they work on a wider range of specimens.

PhotonWrangler said:

The shorter the wavelength the higher the contrast ratio. Longer wavelength UV LEDs put out a lot of visible violet light. They work less efficiently for two reasons -
1) Poor contrast between visible purple and fluorescing specimen.

2) Longer wavelength excitation produces weaker fluorescent response in specimen.

To some extent you can compensate with higher power long wavelength UV LEDs, but you're still dealing with a lot of visible purple light. Go for the shorter wavelength LEDs in the 360-375nm range and you'll find that they work on a wider range of specimens.

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all the shorter wave lights i could find were much more expensive $50 +, an i can get a used d10 for that and live with the pee smell :twothumbs

waddup said:

all the shorter wave lights i could find were much more expensive $50 +, an i can get a used d10 for that and live with the pee smell :twothumbs

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You can always buy a cheaper flashlight and upgrade the LEDs to a shorter wavelength yourself. There have been a couple of group buys for 375nm LEDs here lately, and the price was quite reasonable.

Sale link removed. DEALER SALE LINKS PROHIBITED

qip said:

is that uv led a cree or 5mm

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I talked to LRI today; the Proton Pro UV uses a Seoul Semicondutor UV LED - I couldn't find/get a model number though. 375nm, 1.2mW. It's possible it has a Cree die inside but we were unable to get confirmation.