I was considering getting a UV light just for fun, but when I thought about the eye risk, I decided against it. It’s the same reason I don’t mess around with lasers. The eyes are too precious and too sensitive.
I have worked a lot with UV light sources in the past, and UV-radiation on the retina gives a very distinct unpleasant feeling, a bit longer and it hurts! So it is not an unnoticable danger and all of a sudden you are blind. So if you keep in mind to always wear safety glasses when using UV light, do not look directly in the source or point at others, and the times that you still forget the glasses will not directly be fatal to the eyes.
(as you can read, I'm pretty pragmatic about this, not a safety-at-all-costs type of person)
When using my UV lights to cure NOA61, I cup my hand around the trit and the end of the light, keeping the light very close to the trit that I’m curing adhesive around. I also then close my eyes while waiting for the 3 minutes or whatever. My glasses are the lenses that change, so if any UV is leaking my glasses will get darker…. so far they’ve not intercepted any stray UV.
And yes, both my Nichia 233A and the LZ-1 will darken my glasses nearly instantly, very dark, so I know they’re both quite powerful!
Does the UV light that is being shined on an object affect your eyes as well? I use it sometimes when outside. I shine it on the ground and trees, and never directly in the eyes of anyone. Should I still be wearing glasses?
I wouldn't worry about that. When I shine around my LZ1 zoomie around in the kitchen (don't do that when you suffer from fear of stains 
) I directly feel it on the retina because of all the shiny surfaces (and the considerable output of the LZ1). Outside not much will be reflected back.
The Lowdown on Blue Light:
Good vs. Bad, and Its Connection to AMD
Avoid looking directly at a UV source or its’ reflections.
Polycarbonate safety glasses provide all the UVA and UVB protection needed. Sometimes rated 99.9% and sometimes rated 100%, it’s all the same, and no coatings are necessary.
Clear lenses work well, but they also pass some annoying blue glare or ‘bloom’.
Amber (yellow tint) lenses are arguably best, because they filter out deep blue glare, and visually brighten the fluorescing things you’re looking for.
Called ‘safety glasses’ or ‘driving glasses’ or ‘shooting glasses’, you can buy them for $2 - $20 or more. You may already have a pair lying around the house. Near their BB guns, WalMart sells Z-LENS brand for $5.97.
Most of the cheap UV flashlights have LEDs around 410nm (mostly blue light).
I’ve seen a dozen or so of the Solarforce UV dropins. Most seem to be centered around 390nm (with moderate levels of blue light).
I have one Intl-outdoor 365nm on Noctigon which seems accurately spec’d (with slight blue light).
I am going to get a pair just to be safe. Thanks for the information.
Just sent in a P.O. for the new Nichia NVSU333A, about 3+ times more powerful than the LZ-1 or NVSU233A. Supposed to be the singly most powerful UV emitter available and in 365nm output.
Will be posting on how that goes when it arrives. I intend to drive it at 3A or slightly more. It’s rated for 3.5A if I remember correctly, will be scrutinizing the datasheets over the next week you can be sure of that! lol
What host are you going to use? If your host uses a 16mm MCPCB, you’ll have to get one of those trimmed down MKR/XHP70 Sinkpads from RMM.
Sinkpad XHP70 6V 16mm Copper MCPCB
EDIT:
Just in case you need these. They might work with a XHP70 too.
13.9x1.2mm UV LED plastic insulation fixed position positioner for NICHIA 365 6.8x6.8mm UV led
lol, too funny! Thank you though, but I will do any trimming needed if that arises. In this case, I will probably be putting it in a 32mm area and using an aspheric. Not completely sure yet. I will be working on proper focal length to establish if a spacer is needed, which will be pure copper if so, and the host will also be pure copper. Figuring to use one of Wights PZL drivers.
For some things, I like to prepare in advance. For other’s, especially new items that are not proven or tried, I like to wait and see what exactly is needed. I’ve got time, not in a hurry.
Edit: Jubeldum, a reminder… (I have to remind myself sometimes) I have a lathe now! 
I can make whatever fit whatever whenever I choose. And THAT is a REALLY cool thing! :bigsmile:
Got the NVSU333A and put it in a full copper light. I built Wights PZL driver for it, stacking 2 chips for a total of 10 7135’s in the 380mA output range each. Then I made a quasi-reflector for it, not to focus it but more to keep it from picking up the copper color as a mule. Ended up with a square hot spot that’s not a lot brighter than the full coverage spill, no artifacts, and an amazing difference to the previous best 2 UV emitters on the market.
Here are 3 pics, camera settings the same with the camera held against the door jamb for stability. F/5.6, ISO 1250, 1 sec exposure. Dark room at 11 last night. In order, Nichia NVSU233A, LEDEngin LZ1, Nichia NVSU333A
Key here is not just the tremendous leap in output, but look at how the two Nichia emitters output a more pure UV light. The LZ1 has visible light showing the sunshine yellow trim on the sky blue walls (daughter’s room) The zebra print bedspread is a light purple with black stripes, for the record. None of these were what one might call budget, but the 333A took it to a new level. It appears to deliver on the price premium…
Here’s the same room lit by daylight and a bright new Nichia 219C flashlight….
Dale, I think you can now see every scorpion in your yard.
Did the Nichia fit the XHP70/ MKR Sinkpad perfectly? Inquiring minds want to know. :bigsmile:
Pictures if you have any please.
Perfectly? No, the pad spacings were not the same and I was somewhat concerned, given the cost of this emitter. But it worked, so all is well in the end.
In this picture I’ve got thermal paste under the star and the emitter isn’t perfectly located on the pads, I fixed that later when I pulled it and cleanup up the mess then re-flowed it into the copper pill.
I made the aluminum “quasi reflector” in hopes of keeping it mule like in output but it gave a bit of a hot spot so I pulled it, I’ll get a proper diameter piece of Cu rod an make a riser for it and have it closer to the lens with even more copper present. As it is, the entire host being Cu gives adequate heat sinking.
Now a good zoomie host would be nice with that. It will smooth things out real nice. Now if someone made a ZWB2 convex/plano lens, that would be awesome. You could use a regular flashlight to navigate in the dark and the UV on flood to light up every last scorpion in your yard. :bigsmile: Our EU friends that hunt for amber would find that useful too.
The Convoy UV disappeared from Simons store. I wonder what’s up with that. :~
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/convoy-UV-365nm-flashlight-nichia-led-inside/330416_32405584869.html
Interesting, normally these little Gecko’s run as soon as you get near but with this Nichia 333A blasting em with UV’s they just sit and wait patiently for you to give em a break, THEN they flee for their lives! lol
Neat how their little claws seem visible right up under the skin, and the mortar between bricks on our house built in ’72 has some interesting anomalies as well. Glad I put the big UV in a full copper light, out and about looking for lil critturs it’s run pretty long at a time and the full copper host is heating up pretty well, any less and it might have been getting hot.
Not sure what I was thinking, but I took my cheapest DSLR and macro lens out with me, while I have much better equipment, next time…
Cool pics :)
At groupgets the NVSU233 is offered for $24 at $44 shipping. For two or more it's cheap(er).
http://store.groupgets.com/#!/p/54532261
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392236-Interest-Thread-Nichia-365nm-high-Power-UV-P60-Dropin-Custon-made
It’s back again since some time
About buying the 233: it is great that the led is getting cheaper (similar to the 276A that halved in price a few months ago) and this is probably a good deal, but I think the reason that Nichia is lowering the prices of 365nm leds is that the competition is getting better and better, there’s a lot going on at the moment. I just last week tested a Liteon 365nm led very well (post will follow) and am trying to get my hands on the latest LG Innotek 365nm leds that should be very impressive.
The convex lens in my Trustfire SK68 clone is held in place by the bezel on one side and the sliding part of the tube on the other side. Right behind the lens is a black flat rubber ring that acts as a seal. I have replaced this black flast rubber ring with a rather thick silicone O-ring. So when I tighten the bezel, the “aperture” of the compressed O-ring gets smaller. It even “shrinks” to the size that it can hold a 20mm ZWB2 lens in place against the convex lens. As for the plastic convex lens itself, I looked against a white piece of paper which of my S68 clones had the convex lens with the best UV transmission. It turned out to be the lens from my camo Gearbest SK68 clone I bought for 10c. in a flash sale.