What is the wattage of the LEDs in the UVBeast? I took a quick glance at the website, and it looks like they’re just 5mm leaded package LEDs. White LEDs that size/shape are usually 20mA each or 2A per 100. The max current for 5mm white is 100mA, which would be 10A per 100 emitters. The LEDs I recommended that were tested by djozz, were capable of 2A EACH @ 4.2V and they continued getting brighter past that.
I don’t know the rated wattage of the leds in the uv beast but judging by the runtime the light pulls 1 amp or less (for all 100 leds). Also 5mm uv leds might be generally lower power than 5mm white leds just like smd leds, djozz might know??
I was aware that UV leds ‘can’ be overdriven (with dtp) but I was under the impression they cannot go far over specs before POOF. You linked leds that are rated at 0.5 amp so I’m surprised they handle over 2 amps. That’s some of the reason why I figured the Q8 wasn’t such a good idea. What amps does the Q8 driver output? 3 amps per led? How reliable would that be for OP’s use?
But if what you’re saying is true then 4 uv’s in a Q8 might easily out shine the 100led uv beast. Is the light output of 4 overdriven smd’s going to be that much greater than 100* 5mm leds? Probably but I have my doubts and more to the point the OP wants something that’s going to blow away the uv beast not just be a little bit brighter. I guess a real world comparison is what we need since uv is a little out of the main focus for most of us here. Has Djozz done any comparisons like that?
Of course, I’m following this thread closely because I hoping someone will take up the challenge 
and then tell us all about it 
Maybe E-bike battery packs could be suitable for this application, compact, rugged aluminium enclosure, high capacity (600 Wh each), easily swappable, waterproof, built in cell management, built in battery level indicator, easy to charge.
Well, the stock driver is FET driven on the high end. But, the UV emitters actually have a Vf of 4.2V at 2 amps, so there’s no going above that, since that’s a full charge cell. In the chart, djozz shows going a good bit above that safely though, but with a higher Vf as well. I think the emitters might actually be okay with a FET driver, because of their high Vf limiting the current draw. If the whole UVBeast would draw 1A, then just one of those UV emitters from Convoy would already double that. So, if you put four of those into a Q8, you would be drawing up to 8x the input power of the UVBeast (if the UVBeast is, in fact, drawing only 1A current). Even better would be to convert the Q8 to 2S and use a buck driver to deliver a regulated current source to the emitters.
I have been following this too from my interest in UV lights. The 5mm emitters in the UV beast are almost certainly puny in comparison to the modern UV leds. Moreover they are likely to be 385nm or maybe 405nm, where the powerful new ones are 365nm. The tests djozz did 4 more 365nm UV-leds tested show that the LG leds can be overdriven to nearly 3A so a Q8 with these should singe the hair off your arms in comparison to the UV “Beast”. I put three SST-10s in a C8F here and was really happy with the output relative to a single led light.
Curious to see what will come out of this discussion 
.
Wellp, must they have UV, or is Angry Blue™ good enough to lure ’em in?
I suspect most commercial bug zappers are monochromatic blue or violet, not UV, for safety reasons. But, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have UV in the spectrum if it might draw a few more bugs in.
Okay I stand corrected. A simple emitter swap on the Q8 would be reliable and blow away the UV beast.
My brain has a hard time imagining that a convoy S2 UV has more light output than the UV beast 
Edit: I was just thinking bear in mind the UV beast runs 6* aa cells so that’s near double the voltage of lithium (assuming they’re all in series).
not all UV light is dangerous, but also depends on the brightness.
Powerful UV LEDs are available from 1 Watt to 10 Watts, from below 365nm to 420nm wavelength.
(Yes, 420nm is still considered to be UV)
The shorter the wavelength, the higher the Voltage they need.
The shorter the wavelength, the more expensive they are.
The shorter the wavelength, the more dangerous they are.
For luring insects i dont think you need 365 nm
Maybe a good idea to build a cool to neutral white light with UV based LEDs, like Nichia Optisolis 5000K.
They’re not high power LEDs though, so you would need many…
But they’re the best LEDs around at the moment, regarding colour rendition and tint.
They use a (400nm?) UV pump in stead of a normal 450nm blue pump chip under the phosphor.
Vf is not that high, so should be usable with linear drivers on single cell.
I don’t know of any real power LEDs with a UV pump.
Djozz probably knows.
I skimmed the thread, but if nobody’s mentioned this yet, you might want to ask forum mainstay contributor MtnElectronics about customizing a vehicle light bar for you.
Anyone ever consider UV tubelights?
Like, you can get “germicidal bulbs” that’re fluorescent tubes but without the phosphor coating on the glass, or phosphor-coated to slightly longer-wavelength UV, more like conventional “black lights”.
Inverters for fluorescent tubes can be had that are meant to run on 12V (mobile-homes, RVs, etc.), so a few car-batteries could probably keep ’em running a while. Tow ’em on a small kid’s wagon. Small wagon from a kid or a wagon from a small kid, either one’d work.
Dunno why everyone’s all fixated on LEDs…
Because it’s easier to give led at least a little throw. OP wants to light up a white sheet or something not use the light itself as the lure.
If I understand correctly that is 
So… a flat piece of shiny Al foil can easily be bent into a parabolic reflector. Did that with my own germicidal bulb.
How compact and portable is that compared to led?
Unno. Mine was/is something like a 12” bulb, but is mains-powered. I also got old-timey fluorescent-tube “flashlights” (more like lanterns) that run off alkies or 12V-in. 4” or 6” tube, iirr.
Ancient history. Inverters today are likely to be way more efficient and compact.
Fluorescent tubes are rather efficient, which is why they’re still used in factories and offices and the like.
Is it a Malaise trap you want to illuminate?
I’ve done that with a simple UV flashlight that ran overnight.
Hi all. Been away all day, usually at the computer many hours. Anyway, I just skimmed the last few posts and I am impressed and certain that I came to the right place- you guys know so much!
Just to answer a few things, I do want to use the light to light up a large (like king size bed) white sheet- it gives the light a landing place where it is very effective and attractive to bugs, and it gives the bugs a landing place where they can be easily seen.
I know fluorescent light is great, but those long glass tubes just aren’t practical for carrying around in the woods, muddy stream beds, etc. Actually, since we do have a nice chunk of land here, I may use your ideas about car batteries in wagons for collecting sites close to the house, within hauling distance. But I am fixated on LEDs because they’re lightweight and powerful, and portability is a big part of what I’m looking for here.
So, I think I’m ready to go pester DB Custom now…but I will stay here, also.
I think that, before spending a lot of money on an an un-proven theoretical “mega build” based on well meant but generally uninformed advice, you should try out some small scale experiments first.
E.g you could buy a powerful Convoy 365nm torch for perhaps $20 and see what it attracts.
Perhaps even do a few controlled experiments with different wavelengths, even publish the results in a specialist journal or website, for critique and comment.
By the way, shining UV onto a white bedsheet does nothing for the UV. The brighteners in the washing powder just convert the UV illumination into visible light, so you, and the insects, will not see the benefit of the attractant powers of un-converted UV.
And don’t disregard the years of experience and development that other entomologists have put into this, and refined their insect traps far beyond what just shining a torch onto a bedsheet can do, and have generally chosen different technology than LED.
If you are just fixated on huge amounts of power, crudely delivered, maybe buy a Maxa Beam short-arc, and take the UV filter off the front. Only $2000, but meets your specification.
Is this just for personal amusement (nothing wrong with that, actually it’s commendable), or are you serious about this, ie. are studying the subject and contributing to the science ?
Yeh. That’s why I suggested a lantern approach.
What big bright light doesn’t attract bugs 