Long Lasting Luminosity

For anyone interested in "self-powered" lighted items that are easily seen in darkness (hereafter called G.I.T.D.), here is a relatively easy and economical way to achieve a pro-quality, long-lasting glow for use on almost anything.
Materials needed:
1. Use a pro-grade pigment-the best and brightest I've ever seen/used is the blue/green mix from www.extremeglow.com -($20-75gms). That's a LOTTA mix
2. 1/2 oz. clear polyurethane arcylic paint. NOT WATER BASED! Testors appx.$3.
3. 1/4-1/2 oz. flat white acrylic paint (for highly reflective under/base coat. white gunsite enamel is also OK.
4. 1oz. mixing jar ($1.50)
5. 3 or 4 cheap artist brushes -fairly small size.-99¢ (items 2,3,4,&5 easily avail. at local hobby shops).

The mixing procedure is simple:
A. 1/2 oz polyurethane needs about 2-3 grams of the glow pigment powder. -No gram scale?? -no problem--1/2 teasp.=3.5gm. The viscosity should be only a little thicker than the urethane. Mix well and often! -You now have G.I.T.D. paint
---------Application-------------------------------------------B. apply base (white) coat to the clean surface.
C. After that dries (about 20min.), re-stir and brush on 1 thin coat of the GITD glow-paint that you've made to the surface.
D. Follow by applying 3-4 more thin coats, allowing each one to dry thoroughly (10-15min.).
HEY..that's IT-you've done it!

p.s.-practicing painting luminous strips on a white business card helps a lot to establish your confidence and skill.
BTW-the pigment that you bought would almost make up a PINT of high-grade glow paint!
If you are willing to mix your own, you'll never need to get "trimmed" by other people's high prices for superior glow stuff.
The glow material that you have made (charged up by fluor.light>3-5min. or incand. for 10min.) should glow for 20 to 40 hours-depending on # of coats applied and charging time.

I'd like to thank Mark Moore CPF#262-and other CPF members for helping to perfect this satisfying DIY procedure.

Thanks for the great instructions Doug. Can't wait to get started... (I think I'll skip the Alien Skin now, and go straight to the hard stuff!)

- Darell

Wow!

I've never seen any "glow in the dark" item that lasted more than an hour or so.

Can you really get a useable glow for 20-40 hours???

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ikendu:
Wow!

I've never seen any "glow in the dark" item that lasted more than an hour or so.

Can you really get a useable glow for 20-40 hours???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Several CPF people have been using their own mixes for about 8 months, on clock dials, flashlight cases, etc.
still can be charged up as good as ever.....kinda like Madam Curie's laboratory, -only without the Radium:O

Hope everyone had a happy new year

For those of us in the UK or greater Europe one place have found that stocks Strontium Aluminate based GID pigments is:
http://www.luminoustech.com/

based in Greenock, Scotland.

100g sample is £25 or 1Kg at £180

also stock Zinc Sulphide powders at a bit less.Not cheap but a UK based supply for those looking...

As for mixing it in base for paint,yup, water based is no good for stront based pigments OK for ZS based though.

Good source for solvent based poly/acrylic clear laquer is car spray shop supplier, clear car laquer is good base at reasonable price.

SA based pigments will also mix well with poyester glassfibre resins as well...

For extra brightness would reccomend coating over a reflective surface,either the micro prism reflective materials like those used for safety strips on clothing etc. or the intriguing Radiant Mirror Film made by 3M, this stuff is 98% reflective, more refelctive than a glass mirror!
Non metallic,non conducting and in a thin plastic film:
http://www.3m.com/about3M/technologies/lightmgmt/products_solutions/tech/visible_mirror_tech/visible_mirror_tech.jhtml

Either solutions will increase apparent brightness,its what safety signs use.

Adam

LED-FX, excellent stuff !

And the supplier a Brit, too !!! :wow:
Well, Scottish, anyway.

I'll look into that one.

Since you have researched this kind of stuff, do you or anyone have a source for:
"a fabric that looks black in *normal* conditions, but is very reflective (white/silver) when a light is shone upon it ?"

It was marketed for child safety wear during night-time cycling, etc.

lightlover

Hey Scotland is still part of Britain last time I looked

Haven`t personally encountered black reflective tapes though quick glance around on google shows:
http://www.identi-tape.com/safety.htm

offering a black reflective.

Reflexite:
http://www.reflexite.com

and Scotchlite:
http://www.3m.com/market/safety/scotch/psp/index.jhtml

are the ones I usually remember for reflective products.

Both are prismatic reflectors which mean they reflect light directly back fom the direction form which it came,unlike a mirror where angle on incidence=angle of reflection.

Either this sort of material or previous mentioned Radiant Mirror Film will enhance
GID,also known as photoluminescent in industry, effectivness.

Adam

OK, I'm finally going do this. Somebody brought up the excellent idea of coating the reflector of an Arc AAA with the stuff so it will be self-charging. I think that is an awesome idea, and want to give it a try.

Let me ask the guys who know: What's the deal with multiple light coats? Why is it better than thick coats? Does the powder settle out too much in a thick coat?

Any new news on the glow paint process?
This is gonna be fun!

You could use that glowpaint to partially coat (maybe one half of the clamshell) the inside of an XRay/Elite too! So you've got the blinking LED *AND* the glow. Extremeglow sells the powder in blue too, so it'll match the XRay/Elite p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y

Now, just waiting for my Elite to arrive ...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ikendu:
Wow!
I've never seen any "glow in the dark" item that lasted more than an hour or so.
Can you really get a useable glow for 20-40 hours???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
We've easily noticed the luminous glow (in a very dark area-eyes adjusted) -for as long as 72 hours from last charge-up

Coupla final notes: for absolute strongest luminosity, be patient and apply 4-5 THIN coats-thick coats don't work nearly as well, and let each coat dry thoroughly, and make sure the base coat is as reflective as possible. Don't forget to stir the mix FREQUENTLY as the pigment has tendency to settle to the bottom of the mix

I used white gunsight paint in combination with the blue-green pigment, and am still amazed at it's glow persistence. The blue-green glow does not look as bright as the straight green color initially, and takes longer to charge up, but IMO-it's worth it, if you have to have a glow that lasts for 3 days+.

Hi, Vcal. Do you know how long that pigment lasts? A pint of "paint" is a lot, so I was wondering how long I could store it? I've been interested in the Alien Skin since I read about it on this forum, but just haven't gotten around to ordering it. After reading this topic though, am thinking that this is a better way to go. Thanks for any input.

flashfan

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flashfan:
Hi, Vcal. Do you know how long that pigment lasts? A pint of "paint" is a lot, so I was wondering how long I could store it? I've been interested in the Alien Skin since I read about it on this forum, but just haven't gotten around to ordering it. After reading this topic though, am thinking that this is a better way to go. Thanks for any input.

flashfan<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If I were you, I'd only mix up a 1/2 oz. batch at a time....-that's still probably more than you'll need for any given project. Just save the remainder of the powder you've bought, in an airtight Zip-loc bag, and it will stay good indefinitely....

P.S: flashfan-p.m. me for a nice additional idea for you...

Just a note to keep others from the same fate - you must call the glow folks to order the powder - they will not sell it online. I looked all over the frigging place until I realized the problem. All kinds of neat cheap-o gadgets on that site too!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Just a note to keep others from the same fate - you must call the glow folks to order the powder - they will not sell it online.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A word of warning when mixing/applying this compound is in order....

Make certain to place a piece of newspaper or appropriate covering over your work area! If you don't, it's almost a
certainty that you'll accidentally get some of this substance on your immediate surroundings where you don't want things to glow from now on So be careful, or you could be SORRY you ever discovered this stuff.

-I KNOW, because even after 8 months, I can, after dark, see bits of things around the house that definitely should not be glowing, and it lasts a looong time

Have you checked out Ultra Glow manufactured by Nichia. I actually used some of this in my dome light of my car. Just by opening the door so the light comes on for 5 seconds or so the powder glows for about 10 mins. And it is very bright. If you charge it for ten minutes it should glow for about 15 hours. There is some infomation on Nichia's website. www.nichia.com

The pigment I use is made by Nichia-according to my supplier.