UV light picked up at a Gem Show

A buddy of mine picked this up a while back. Seems to work pretty good. Cost him around $100 and as soon as I saw the batteries I knew something was fishy. I'm guessing the person selling these just got the host and soldered a UV light on the board. I haven't been messing with flashlights much these last couple years and don't know much at all about UV lights. Are there better brands available for a more reasonable price? I also have I believe the second generation tk75 it's about 4 years old. Could I just soldier the correct amperage and voltage UV led to the board and use that as a UV searchlight? I also have a Fenix headlamp a HL55 I think. Could I do the same with this light? Just soldier the right UV LED and have myself a nice high quality gem and mineral search light? The link is a picture of the light. Thank you for any help.



[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://i.imgur.com/SpJgGTY.jpg[/FONT]

Modifying lights is the part of the hobby that is the most fun...until you make magic smoke appear. Yes, you could just solder in a UV LED that had the current rating of the existing LED and get yourself a UV flashlight. The specs might even be closer than you expect as white LEDs are in fact actually Blue LEDs with a phosphor coating over them. Just remember to be safe about it once it is done. If you do a little looking around you may even find UV P60 drop-ins for hosts. Turn a Surefire or similar into a scorpion hunting light.

lightfooted said:

If you do a little looking around you may even find UV P60 drop-ins for hosts. Turn a Surefire or similar into a scorpion hunting light.

Click to expand...

I just did exactly this. Bought a UV drop in for a 6P to go searching for scorpions in the desert. Cheap way to add UV to your collection without having to buy a whole new light.

Most minerals that react to UV are in the shorter UV frequencies, but unfortunately most of the UV LEDs are longwave. So it depends on your application as well. But, yes, you can swap out LEDs if the voltage is correct.

I just picked up the EagTac P200LC2 UV a few weeks back and have to say this is a great tool! Has 3 levels and runs on 18650 cells - and only cost me about $50 (it is brand new - not used).

If you are looking to buy a UV light give this one a look.

Cheers,
Tim