Back in 2009, I purchased a couple of UV lights. The small one is the 51 LED UV version powered by 3 x “AA” cells and 395nm. The large one is 128 LED UV powered by 4 x “D” cells and 385nm.
I find the smaller 395nm version better due to better contrast than the larger one. But both are not commercial duty so I wouldn’t recommend either for your line of work. However, the large one would be great to impress clients, but once they walk away, use something better. Not to mention the large one is priced up into the sky and not worth it.
I can assure you that fresh urine does glow under the drop-in I'm using. Any sort of stain shows up really well as well (but don't fluoresce). The best thing I found to help improve usability was a pair of cheap $5 Shooting/Safety glasses with the yellow lenses from Wal Mart. These filter out the UV making it more comfortable on your eyes, while filtering out the blue visible light making any fluorescence really stand out. Once I started using these glasses, I was able to spot a lot more, including some plants with leaves that fluoresced a very deep red, and some tiny mushrooms that would faintly glow blue/green under the UV light.
[quote=Richie086]
The large one is 128 LED UV powered by 4 x “D” cells and 385nm. I find the smaller 395nm version better due to better contrast than the larger one. But both are not commercial duty so I wouldn’t recommend either for your line of work. However, the large one would be great to impress clients, but once they walk away, use something better. Not to mention the large one is priced up into the sky and not worth it.
[quote]
5mm UV LEDS are cheap; If you are patient and are good with a soldering iron, you might could buy the Harbor Freight 95 LED flashlight for $20 (use a coupon to cut that price) and a bag of ebay UV 5mm LEDs ($5/100) and swap them yourself...
Of course, I wouldn't expect cheap eBay 5mm LEDs to have the best wavelength, probably mostly purple and less UV.
^ +1 This is basically what I have, but in a UltraFire WF-502B body. I’ll bet this setup is every bit as effective as that $240 rip-off deal. In fact, I’m even suspecting that expensive kit only cost the seller $40 or less to assemble, given that torch comes from the same manufacturer as my 502B. Sure a Solarforce body and you’ve got a high quality UV torch indeed.
I recommend this: instead of spending $240 on one expensive setup, spend $15 to $20 on one of the excellent P60 hosts out there, then experiment with budget UV drop-ins until you find one that works as well as you need it to. I’ll bet you end up spending $50-$60 tops.
Welp, I just ordered the stuff based on your recommendation. When it all comes in I’ll compare it to another clunker I just bought off ebay. I also ordered the generic 395nm drop-in. Are those pretty easy to swap out? There’s no soldering or anything, right?
I noticed you recommended the textured looking reflector instead of the smooth one. Is there an advantage there? Just curious.
Been looking for a UV light for mineral specimens and no idea where to start. You’d be amazed how well people can repair crystals…but the glue shows up under UV. :nerd_face:
Very easy to swap. Just unscrew the head and drop the new module in.
The textured (orange peel) reflector will give you a smoother beam with less rings/mess, but at the expense of throw. These UV lights aren't designed for throw thow anyway, so I think OP will be your best option.
I tried using my UV drop-in in an aspheric-thrower P60 host I've built and the results were less than overwhelming.
My build was inspired by the Scorpion thread from a while back. I read the thread about UV lights and ordered the drop-in within 5 minutes of reading that thread.
I started out with a need for a light to see UV dye for refrigeration systems. Then started using the lights to clean up pet spills. You won’t be disappointed with your new drop-in…. It’s worth every penny. You shouldn’t need to mess with the reflector at all, it’s fine the way it is. Happy hunting!
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Lithium-Ion battery safety or not. If you aren’t familiar with the technology, you should really read up on it. There are quite a few threads on here about it. Improper use of Lithium-Ion batteries can cause fire, injuries, or even death. Please read up if this is your first time using them.
I just got in two 501B hosts from Tmart. One was marked as Ultrafire and the other was unmarked.
The unmarked one was a bit odd… the drop-in did not drop in! It was threaded into the front bezel. The drop-in has a threaded ring fixed to the front rim. You had to unscrew it to get it out. Regular drop-ins still worked fine in it, though.
Also it was defective… the V+ spring was not soldered to the base of the drop-in anymore and the positive battery terminal button in the host was sunk down into that plastic retainer disk. No way for the battery to make contact. I pushed out the disk and ground the plastic down so that the battery could make contact.
I was at someone's house with a UV light and they asked me to check an antique sofa that had been passed down in the family from someone who was known to be incontinent. The stains showed up very obviously, decades later...
The problem with LED UVs is that they arent very efficient. The 5mm ones (that look like shower heads) are only maybe 50 milliwatts. Even the really good CREE ones that arent made anymore are only 1 or 3 Watts.
Even then, their spectrum output isn’t generally all that great.
Instead, consider a tube light. They arent as sexy as a directional LED, but for like 12 bucks I bought a 8 Watt UV light and it works very well. Not as directional as a LED, but it has wayyy more power.
Also, flourescent ones naturally have a very good spectrum distribution.
Make darned sure to NOT get the short wave ones (240nm) as they will damage your eyes!!
My tube light works very well to find Cat Urine, even in the daytime with lights on. Of course, the darker it is, the better off you are and further away you can be.
You could even get a Compact Flourescent bulb, thought powering it would be problematic.
