Inexpensive UV LED light - suggestions wanted

Nosamk

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Sep 28, 2004
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I'm looking for an inexpensive UV light and was hoping for suggestions. Would like to get something more substaintial than a photon-type light, but not spend as much as an X5T UV.

Opinions?
 

WildRice

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I have made 1 so for for a guy I work with, and I will be making another 1 or 2. Mabye putting it on ebay. it was a 4xAA flashlight base and had 24 UV LEDs running at about 32mA each. If I did the math right, it was pulling just over 3Watts. And man it was INTENSE. I sold the first one for $20. What are you looking to spend and how bright do you want?
 

Aloft

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I've got a couple UV versions of Inova's X1 on the way from Meridian. Since I don't have 'em yet, I can't vouch for their performance, but the price is right. . . about $25.
 

Fat_Tony

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King of Prussia, PA
What material is the base of your light made of, WildRice? If it is aluminum, I would certainly be interested in purchasing one for $ 20.00 to $ 25.00.
 

WildRice

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no, mine are plastic. But a nice small mod mould be a dorcy single AA, pull the white leds and put in 3 UV. small compact and cheat. BTW the UV leds I have are 395-405nm.
Jeff
 

Raybo

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I'll have to agree with markdi.
I have the Inova and the Ebay light here,the Ebay light may not be as bright but it makes things look more pronounced and the light is less visible ( as he says /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif)
 

WildRice

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That one on ebay looks good. you can only take their word at the wavelength tho. If the 385nm are 11x more than the 400nm, their profet margens must be razor thin. anyhow, I had a white one similar to that one, A word of advice, The one I had was DIRECT DRIVE, and on 3x Alky batts, the LEDs lasted only a week before they started burning out. if you can, put a meter across the case and the (-) side of the batt and measure current, divide by 7 and it should be no more than 35mA(25-30mA would be ideal), If with Ni-MH's you are getting 30ish mA, DONT use alky batts. I would hate to see anyone pay that much for any light, then have the LED's die because the maker wanted them to run as bright as possible.

Jeff
 

The_LED_Museum

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The 385nm UVA LED flashlight from Ebay has a total current draw of 171mA on alkaline cells (24.43mA per LED).
Although this is overdriven, it's not horribly so.

The cost was $21.00 as of 04-12-04.
 

mapson

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Jul 25, 2004
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I got the one from Ebay, based on Craig's review. Pretty happy, definitely the light I use least out of all my lights.
 

WildRice

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cool, just wanted ya'll to be sure. Like I said, the one I got would have been OK running DD off of 3 Ni-MH's, but 4.5v was just too much for it. UV is fun to play with, Just watch your eyes, damage will NOT be immediate. and DEFINATELY NOT for children... well, younins.
Jeff
 

MY

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I saw a UV light that takes 2xAA for sale at auto parts chain store (Auto Zone I think). It was part of a kit to determine leaks in auto AC systems. The kit had some type of dye applied to the freon lines. The UV light with included special glasses allowed one to see where a potential leak is in the system. The entire kit I believe was about $12. The UV light itself seemed pretty substantial.

Regards.
 

NikolaTesla

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Illinois
I ordered a Peak 7 LED with UV LED's. Hmmm I am wondering which wave length they use. Its supposed to be high output.
They have various models for 25 to $60 range.

Anyone seen a Peak UV yet?

NikolaTesla /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

An Arc lamp is the Spark that takes away the Dark--HID Forever!

My Lights
 

The_LED_Museum

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[ QUOTE ]
NikolaTesla said:
I ordered a Peak 7 LED with UV LED's. Hmmm I am wondering which wave length they use...

[/ QUOTE ]
The one I evaluated has a peak wavelength of approximately 408nm. I'm guessing they use 405nm LEDs, which can have a peak wavelength range of 400nm to 410nm.
 
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