2017 top 10 professional UV flashlight

LOL, a discussion of the possible use of a Woods glass (link) and later the actual testing in a 365nm flashlight (link) here on BLF in 2015 was possibly the first ZWB2-filter/UVled-flashlight combination that was ever made (edit: nope, see pirateo’s post below), and was ultimately the reason that (much later) Convoy started building ZWB2 filters into their UV-lights. Further, in the mineral collection hobby, Wood’s glass and similar filters have been used in combination with mercury lamps for ages.

We (the fluorescent mineral hobby) have been using LW LED flashlights filtered by Wood’ glass and Hoya since the mid 2000’s. I built my first high power light many years ago using Hoya U325c and LED Engin parts. Lights based on mercury fluorescent bulbs have been around since the 40’s. (even earlier if you consider carbon arc). What I find interesting is that this fellow claims his patent covers any filter/glass used in a UV flashlight (and his claim is so broad, it even encompasses the simple clear glass lens). He has so far convinced Simon that he (Simon) is infringing on his patent with the Convoy and Simon no longer ships filtered flashlights to the USA.
The claim, to put it simply, is that the colored glass filter “transforms” the UV LED’s output to IR (the patent covers wave transformation) - basically saying because the lens gets hot it is “transforming” the output of the LED to IR, same thing that happens on all glass lenses in all flashlights. Silly…. (Link to his discussion on the patent: http://www.fluorescents.com/articles-patent-info.html)

Look at that, thanks for the contribution pirateo40 :slight_smile:

I had a look at that document, and the story of how the guy constructed the patent. If selling a UV flashlight with a UV-pass filter is really infringing that patent there’s two thoughts that are crossing my mind:

1) how dollar-minded must one be to use a long existing method with long existing materials, a method so obvious even that it can be and has been figured out by anyone who wants to use UV light to makes stuff fluorescence, and twist and bend your wording to get a patent on that and by doing it obstructing many many people, including those who are already using the method for years/decades. This is not what patents are meant for, to even figure this patent out is pretty sick IMO.

2) the patent office must have been sleeping, there must be a thing about patenting the obvious.

LOL - couldn’t have said it better myself (but have said the same thing many times)

Djozz - Did not mean to correct you on the timing of the “invention” of filters with UV LEDs. The fluorescent mineral hobby is a VERY small niche which doesn’t get a lot of attention/notice. We tend to stay in our own world and folks outside usually don’t have a clue what it is we collect. Developments in the hobby tend to stay there. I have done my best to spread the word on the Convoy and why we consider a UV bandpass filter critical - seems to have helped as we’ve seen a tremendous influx of new hobbyists in the past couple of years.
You guys here have been invaluable in our exploration of this (relatively) new facet for our hobby….

Other practical uses of UV is for germidical purposes. I have 2 x 55W, useful for disinfecting the house when folks are sick (in addition to HEPA filters, hands washing etc). Technically it’s been proven to help, but practically it depends. 2 x 55W x 15 min is more than enough for a 300 sq ft room, just need to move it around so that all the usual places that your hands would touch and your saliva/snort would fly when you cough/sneeze would land. There are also tubes that are treated so that they don’t absorb 185nm peak, so that after hitting wall surfaces and the tubes would emit ionise small amounts of ozone from oxygen, i’d avoid those stuff as i’m afraid those might leach some surfaces.

After a 15 min session, you’d get that fresh sunshine on your clothes kinda of smell. But still, better don’t breathe too much of those in, it’s not supposed to be ozone.
So far, the 253.7nm UV-C has not damaged my home furnishings but try not to put it too near your designer plastic pieces or those with dyes etc.
The basic ones have timer controls, there are also RF remote controlled versions.

Only usd 40 for 2 x 55W PLC base lights. Very affordable. Most of the china ones already have a special quartz based glass so that it does not cut out a lot of the UV-C. If in doubt, choose those Philips tubes for a little more money which confirm is high quality quartz that transmits 90+% of UV-C. Soft glass is only 30%.

https://s.taobao.com/search?sourceId=tb.item&search_type=item&ssid=s5-e&s_from=newHeader&q=紫外线消毒灯&suggest=0_1&\_input_charset=utf-8&wq=ziwaixian&suggest_query=ziwaixian&source=suggest

Portable versions, which i think is more relevant for us flashaholics and maybe even Doomsday SHTF preppers. Run off 4 x AA or USB powerbank, or car cigarette plug. 5W nominally. From only usd 7 and up.

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.182.7f1229cbmqM3FR&id=563264931438&ns=1&abbucket=12&skuId=3588968989912

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.32.72aa71c30zWRme&id=7526831722&ns=1&abbucket=12#detail

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.39.72aa71c30zWRme&id=548496185006&ns=1&abbucket=12#detail

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.271.72aa71c30zWRme&id=553467051662&ns=1&abbucket=12#detail

Is the jade hobby common over there in the US? It’s a big thing in China/HK/Taiwan and to a certain extent SEA countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia etc, and they use UV lights. Not sure about the details though, and if the UV type of lights they use (both budget lights and the more pro ones with specialised emitters) matter much.

Jaxman S1 365nm and some jade and stones identification etc.

As far as I know jade is not fluorescent. But the glues they use to repair pieces, etc are - often UV lights are used to reveal repairs on supposedly unbroken items. UV might also reveal if the jade has been dyed maybe?

Yeah, just found this on Google, UV used to detect fakes basically: “Polymer-treated jadeite jade (known as ‘B’ jade) is first bleached to remove unwanted brown, yellow, and black stains and then polymer-impregnated to improve transparency. Structural damage occurs with this treatment, making the jadeite brittle. A chalky blue reaction under long-wave UV light is a good indication that jadeite has been polymer-impregnated, but the definitive test is infrared spectroscopy, which shows polymer peaks around 2900 cm –1 (wavenumbers).

Dyed jadeite jade is known as ‘C’ jade. It has additional amounts of chromium when dyed green, so the absorption band at 670 nm will be wide and strong, while natural-coloured jadeite has fine absorption lines of about 690 nm (Figure 7). The colour is unstable and fades under high heat and over time. The dye can be added to the polymer during the impregnation process, and the result is a chemically bleached, dyed, and polymer-impregnated jade (‘B+C’ jade). Dyed cracks may be visible with the use of a microscope (Figure 8, page 4). In addition, dyed jade fluoresces medium to strong greenish yellow, while natural-coloured jade usually does not exhibit any fluorescence.”

Jade special crystal structure basically makes it unbreakable, you cant split or crack jade, and if 2 different parts are glued together you can see it when looking on it closely

Normally only sawing, grinding and sanding can be used to bring jade into shape, splitting it as other mineraly is not possible

UV can be used to detect fake jade

Jaxman U1 365nm and some jade and stones identification etc.
Pictures inside, for those who are interested.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.64.51af49faNxQhXE&id=40385473100&ns=1&abbucket=12#detail

Holy , is this for home use? And i thought my 2 x 55W is powerful. :smiley:

Hm, the best surprise is yet to come. I filed a patent for mobilising contraptions added to carriages, so you don’t need a horse anymore. Also applicable to carts for donkeys, goats an dogs. $1 per pop ain’t that bad?
The patent covers the transforming of any form of external energy into a forward (and/or backward) motion. For that I have identified and described nano sized worm holes. To say it in layman terms: there is no fluent motion, but the carriage jumps from hole to hole.
Ever freeze framed a movie with a speeding car(t)? QED. A car(t) can jump many feet before it re-appears.

Here a picture of my more than 25years old 125W UV Bulp. The choke coil is still somewhere in my not opend moving boxes in the basement.
I got this light from a electrician while i did a traineeship during my school time. They used it to delete old EPROMs. It puts out a lot of UV light.

Is there a low-pressure mercury CFL type in there? Without the phosphor of coz. Then the typical blackbulb coating for the external glass?

Nowadays it’d be like this for BLBs that are not long tube T12, T8 or T5.

Left or right?

Its like the HSW (left Bulp at the beginning of the clip). Takes a few minutes to get to full brightness.
The bulp still workes and we used it for years when we get back from party for long afterhours :sunglasses:
A few years back i put some new solder on the bottom contact because the original was getting thin.

I’m trying to get my head around this and am looking for feedback.

Looking at Simon’s Convoy store I see:

  • Convoy S2+, w/ Nichia 365UV, w/o ZWB2 filter
  • Convoy S2, w/ LG UV 365nm LED, w/ ZWB2 filter - not shipping to US

You could of course add your own ZWB2 filter later. (I won’t tell anyone.)

Now my questions -

  • Looking at djozz’s 365nm LED comparison chart, it looks like the LG UV 365nm produces more output at 1A than the Nichia (1300 vs 750). Am I reading things correctly.
  • A number of people have commented about the S2+ w/ Nichia being a little over driven, and perhaps damaging the LED after extended use. Is the LG UV 365nm any better with regards to 1amp and heat?

I also see that Simon sells the LG UV 365nm on a 16mm DTP board. I’m pondering buying the LG, plus an S2+ host, driver, and ZWB2 filter.

Would this be any better/worse than the off-the-shelf S2+?

(I am of course thinking why not buy both.)

Mr. Scott - the problem is that the Convoy S2 simply cannot efficiently handle the heat produced by either LED. The LG part is even worse than the overdriven Nichia, higher current, more heat. But from a performance viewpoint, depends on what you are looking for. The smaller Nichia die seems to produce a tighter, more intense spot. The LG part results in a larger, less intense spot even though it is higher power. With the different spot sizes they are about equal in intensity (measured with a UVA meter).
The Convoy S3 host seems to be better at heat handling I think - if you’re into rolling your own with a copper board.
Of course the ZWB2 filter is a must for serious use (i.e. - fluorescent minerals, the only thing serious to me :wink: )
Some offer LG Convoys @ 5watts (but really under 4W); they get hot, quick. But I haven’t had one go bad on me yet - (have probably up to 8 different flavors by now). I did build an LG light at true 5 watts (1050ma drive) - gets real hot, but so far ok (Convoy S3 host).