UV projects in need of Help

I’m building two different 365nm UV lights and could really use some input.
First off, I will be using the flashlights to search for rocks with sodalite in them that fluoresces under UV light. The rocks may be under Ice, Other rock, Snow and in water. So I need the lights to be plenty powerful.
The two hosts I’m starting off with are a Convoy M21A and a Convoy S12.
I am going with the Seoul Z5-CUN66A1G LED because thats what Simon from Convoy recommended.
What I’m really struggling with is figuring out what the best driver is going to be for them.
I am going to be using these unprotected 21700 Tesla batteries.

For the S12 Simon from Convoy recommended this 22mm 3-4.2v driver.
For the M21A I ordered this 17mm 3-8.4v driver, But now I’m thinking that is not going to work very well with my unprotected batteries :weary:
Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

The filters i’m using are 30.8mm*2.5mm ZWB2 filter for S12, And a 42*1.8mm ZWB2 filter for the M21A.

Looking for yooperlites?

The SP31UV has a pretty powerful spot-beam, but has an eerie greenish glow that really needs a zwb2 filter to filter out the visible light.

Simon’s S2+ UV is pretty nice, too, with a floodier beam.

I transplanted mine into a purple host to make it easy to find in a pile of other lights.

Whatever you end up using, you gotta be really careful as to not overdrive the UVLED. At. All.

White LEDs are rather forgiving, but UVLEDs aren’t, and throw a snit and pop if hit too hard.

UV is kinda tricky. They have a high Vf so if you direct them, they will start dimming part way through the battery’s capacity. You need a buck or a boost driver to keep them at 100% and nothing ideal exists on the market

Yep, Looking for Yooperlites and there are some Petoskey stones that glow green for a few seconds under UV light that I just found out about.
I have the 3w Nichia S2+ that I like, But it’s just not really all that bright (UV wise that is).
I didn’t know Sofirn made a UV light. I am definitely going to order one and try it out. I sent Sofirn a message asking what size lens the SP31 uses so I can get a ZWB2 filter for it as well.

I already ordered a while back from Simon four M21A hosts and the seoul Z5-CUN66A1G led’s, Filters and some other stuff for the builds. I come from a big family and they all want to go rock hunting now. So the more UV lights the better.

Can anyone recommend a driver that might be suitable? Maybe something from Mountain Electronics would work?

For the people who know more than me: Would a AA/14500 boost driver like the one from the Convoy T2 work or will they go into direct drive when the battery is fully charged and damage the LED?

You can get 20mm zwb2 filters all day, but the ’31 takes a 19.99999mm one, ie, you gotta sand down the edges for it to fit. Or get a 19mm one if you can find one.

That’s why I didn’t swap mine yet. Ain’t in the mood for tedium.

I don’t know what rock I have been hiding under but, I just found out Lumintop makes a IPY 2AAA 365nm penlight. It uses a SST-10, whatever that is. Probably not bright enough for what you need. Might make a nice little back up though.

……………

Sofirn seams to make one that is 19mm now. It showed up when I was looking at there uv lights. “(Toughened glass lens)”:Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

This is what I did. Just went out to my back patio and rubbed the edge of the disc against the concrete a bit, rotated, repeated, until it fit. Didn’t take long

I got a big honkin’ 3600rpm grinding wheel that’d likely take just seconds, but I don’t want zwb2 shards embedded in my eyeballs.

Anyone have any suggestions for specific drivers?

For… what?

You mentioned multiple hosts, etc., so narrow ’em down.

Still looking for the best drivers for the two that I was asking about in the first post. The Convoy M21A and the S12 using the 5W Seoul Z5-CUN66A1G. Can’t really narrow that down to far :laughing: