Hey All
I’m a carpet cleaner and currently looking for a good UV light for finding urine and pet mess.
There is a light that is kinda considered the best in the carpet cleaning community. I’ll post the link for it below. I believe there has to be a better light or one with similar performance for a better price.
Wouldn’t mind doing a mod to a current light out there but figured I’d pick your brains.
Convoy S12 UV is just about the best UV light you can get
Convoy S12 UV is probably the best budget flashlight currently. Its power seems not as high as the one you linked, but I think it is far more than enough for indoor use.
I am not sure whether 365nm or 395nm is more needed for pet urine detection. But generally speaking, 365nm is suitable for almost all purposes.
In addition, considering patent issues in the US, that black UV filter lens may not be included or require users to install it themselves.
Looks like 365 nm may work:
Sofirn has an UV entry as well, that was well reviewed. It has a ZBW2 filter which will make the fluorescing object stand out more, and can be coupled with an optional 18350 tube to make the light more portable.
Actually, I may be wrong: I just looked at the graph and it seems that the excitation wavelength is longer than that - so I don’t know anymore. From experience, 365 nm does make pee glow, so I don’t know anymore what the story is.
Once seen, it can not be unseen…
Looks like ~360nm is a good wavelength, so stay away from 395. Get a 365 with a ZWB2 filter. The S12UV is the most cost effective approach IMO. Alonefire makes higher powered filtered UV lights. Don’t get the one you linked. It’s overpriced.
Lesson to be learned: just sling it over the rim and pee in the sink.
Looks like I’m officially vindicated.
IIRC Hank at intl outdoor has pretty powerful Emisar D4V2 365nm units with the ZWB filter.
I have one, once you see stuff with it, it cannot be unseen…
I can verify that 365nm is what you need to see pet urine. It’s how I found out that at night my dog was pissing all over my basement.
This one is on my wishlist
Mules are only good for extremely close distances, and would have trouble picking up weak fluorescence even a meter away. The S12 has a much better balance of intensity and spread for the purpose of looking around.
They really need to hydrate better. That color ain’t healthy.
I have emisar d4k 40w. does not light up dried up cat urine spots in my cats litterbox, it does light up dry soap residue, and dried up water droplets on tiles.
Thanks for all the replies!
I went with the convoy. Still thinking about ordering the sofirn one as well just to do a side by side and have a back up
Just got Sofirn SF16 UV. Awesome light, I will convert it to 18350 I think. I shined it around the house and I started regretting I got one… :-)
Lol, you can’t unsee that !@#$. I disgusted myself for days after getting my first UV light.
There are lots of non-gross things that also glow under UV: List of Things That Glow Under Black Light
A good article on UV lights technicalities.
