The 502B is also sold as a host, so you don't have to buy the complete flashlight if you don't need/want it. The KD 365nm drop-in works just fine with the 502B and is actually the setup I went with for infrequent use. IMHO, if you plan on using it with any regularity, you'll want to spend a little more on a better quality host--the 502B works but feels really cheap. FWIW, the KD drop-in works well for detecting bodily fluids.
Heh, I just did, and managed to get the drop-in stuck on the first try.
The hardest part on this particular item is that the outer spring doesn’t quite fit between the outside of the pill and the inside of the body, so I end up having to either leave out that spring or twist it in really hard. I’ve already dented the aluminum inside the body and caused a little bit to shear off. But now that I’ve got foil packed in as tight as it can go, I think I’ll just leave it.
It’s hard to measure objectively, but it does seem to heat up the body faster now. Could be my imagination.
ToyKeeper wrote:
ImA4Wheelr wrote:Speaking of which, I got these glasses for my laser, but they really make UV light pleasant on the eye and you really see fluorescing objects so much better. I have several pair of yellow glasses, for some reason these work better. Haven’t really compared side by side though. So caveat emptor.
I picked up a pair of those. They really, really cut out the blue and purple light. Probably some green, too. It cuts out so much, actually, that I have a harder time seeing UV fluorescence with them than I do with cheap yellow dollar-store glasses. Even under a UV light, everything looks orange. So, that was a bit disappointing. However, they might also be rather useful for a test I’ve been meaning to run for a few years… getting myself to be sleepy earlier by wearing blue-blocking glasses at night.
ToyKeeper,
Thank you for reporting that and I'm very sorry for that. I'll find my post above and update it. I just learned yesterday in that 5mW laser thread that there have been issues with the newer batches of those glasses. I don't know if it is that or if I just am bad judge of colors and such.
They definitely cut UV and blue significantly (I used them for an almost 2watt 445nm laser). They are not effective for a green 532nm laser, but that doesn't mean they don't cut green wavelengths to some extent. I still really like them. For some reason UV light bothers me and I find these make using UV much less irritating.
I did warn that I could be wrong, but if you are in CONUS, I'd be more than happy to purchase them from you for your cost plus shipping.
I personally would go with a Solarforce host rather than the 502B host. They fit most p60 sized drop ins.
No, no need for that. Not every purchase is a win. 
I just wanted to let people know the glasses might be a bit stronger than necessary. They also fluoresce under UV, so they tend to make everything a bit hazy. They’ll be awesome if I ever get that purple laser I’ve been wanting though.
I have the 365 nm KD drop in and a 385 nm dropin that came in a Sky Ray S-R5 host. The 385 nm seems brighter but that is likely due to the fact that in puts out more visible violet light.
365 nm seems to work much better on US bank notes but they are about equal in fluorescing pet stains. Many plastic items, mostly red, orange or yellow, fluoresce brightly but some better at 365 and others more at 385.
So, do what I did, buy both.
Edit: The KD 365 nm does need a higher voltage to get good output. I have it in a Solar Force L2P with an extension tube running two 18650s.
Am I the only one who's KD drop in gets extremely hot on two cells?
Hot to the point where I half expect something to pop.
Mine gets hot, but not so hot that I thought there was a problem. I did replace the spring with an aluminum tube that makes a solid thermal path from the bottom of the reflector to the ledge in the battery tube. I also wrapped the reflector with aluminum foil.
365nm Ultrafire 501Bs are available at Newestrend for about $20
(non aff link)
There’s an old review here: Ultrafire 501B UV 365nm Flashlight (1*18650/2*16340) Quick review
I’ve been looking for one since my $10 Uniquefire (!) from Fasttech is 395-410nm .
I’m hoping the lower wavelength is better for finding critters.
I have this Nitecore CU6, what would you like to know about it?
Fyi, I’m not convinced it really is 365nm. Fwiw, I can’t remember where but I gather this CU6 uses HPL H44LV1C0 UV LED
The only one I can personally compare it to is the Nichia-LED MTE U301 - this is brighter and shows fluorescence that the CU6 torch doesn’t.
It does seem most of the spectral power is around 380nm if it is that LED
I’d love to see fluoresced beam shots compared to other UV lights.
(actually, would really love to see it compared to the KD UV drop-in people have discussed here, on two cells, but you don’t have one of those… but the drop-in runs at up to 5W or so, while the CU6 is spec’d at 3W… also, the drop-in fluoresces many things which don’t really show up at all under my other UV light, and its visible light is dim enough I don’t need tinted glasses to see the result clearly)
I’m new to the world of dropins and hosts, but do I have it right that basically rather than buying a complete torch people buy the case (host) and light (dropin), and the two screw together by default? Can someone recceomend me a webpage on torchmaking for newbies like me?
Fwiw the CU6 shows the 20 on the £20 notes very well, on par with nichia, better than a BLB-T5 and much much clearer than all the 395nm LED torches from ebay
Here you go, my little contribution to this discussion. The torches are all those referred to at my site http://extreme-macro.co.uk/uv-macro-lighting/
The KD UV would be nice to try
Did this series as well, because mfm, the starter of the thread, also did a 20 Euro note so this should give some common ground to compare. What’s interesting is the way that the cover of the BLB-T5 ‘bank note checker’ actually does itself a disservice. The clear plastic cover over the tube is itself excited by UV and gives off blue light, which then swamps the already quite thin UV fluorescent green/yellow panel. Link: http://extreme-macro.co.uk/uv-macro-lighting/
If you send me that 20 I’ll test it with the 365nm Ultrafire 501B and the Fasttech 395-410nm
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:bigsmile:
Awesome. I’ll have to post some currency pics… though I don’t have nearly as many UV lights to compare.
About all I can say so far is that my cheapo UV light looks about like the “41-LED” pics above, and the KD UV drop-in looks a lot like the CU6. However, it doesn’t do well at fluorescing the red stars and circles on the 20 euro note.
The problem is though that some of the colours might be due to the camera rather than the lights. As in each camera interprets UV signal somewhat differently, so it’s hard to standardise. And to really see just the visible fluorescence you have to filter away any UV or IR signal, ie prevent it reaching the camera. Otherwise there is spillover. Trust me, I’m a camera geek Here’s another thing I did tonight. the UV/IR cut from Baader I’m using on the centre column is about the most expensive “prevent UV and IR reaching the camera” filter around:
Definitely. I’ve tried and mostly failed to capture accurate UV-lit images. But then, I don’t have the proper filters and I have a cheap camera. I especially haven’t been able to get accurate white-ish tints to show in beam shots, no matter what I do with the white balance.
So, any shots I post will be … a bit lacking. But maybe it’ll still be useful to someone.
I’m also trying to figure out how to accurately show the output of my wide-spectrum light compared to a high-CRI light and common medium-CRI tints, but I think I’d need a far better camera. An elph 110 HS is great for snapshots, but it simply doesn’t cut it when you want accurate representation of subtle color differences. At least it was able to show the not-subtle difference in how my eyes perceive the wide-spectrum light versus incandescent overheads:
Wide-spectrum BST (looks almost identical to a Nichia 219, only with slightly more vivid colors):
How I see with overhead incandescent bulbs (my eyes never adjust to the tint):
There is a new Tank007 365nm UV light on HKE. It uses an 18650. 3W version so 2x1.5W UV emitters under the dome I think like the 3W AA one. Same Japan UV as the other Tanks. Asking price is a bit high