This “how to” video shows how I created a custom battery powered lighting setup for a Uranium Glass display cabinet. This setup used eight Convoy T3 365nm ultra-violet (UV) flashlights/torches with ZWB2 filters to minimise visible light and optimise the green fluorescence glow. This produces a much better glow than typical UV/blacklight display lighting.
There is quite a lot of uranium glass for sale at the flea markets in Florida. I’ve not seen any radium glass yet.
That’s pretty cool. I think if I had that setup, the next step would be to get rid of the flashlight bodies, and figure out how I could wire them all to a single switch/ battery pack so I could operate them all at once and swap batteries without having to open each light.
I’ve always found uranium glass fascinating, that’s a pretty neat display.
Interesting setup, did you notice a visible difference when you applied the DC fix Vs the stock light?
I ask as I wonder if the diffusion film is “transparent” to the UV and therefore not very effective.
I am wondering this as well, since I would like my S12 UV with ZWB2 filter to be more diffuse. IIRC it has a triple smooth reflector.
This does look much better than the typical lighted glass cabinet. I don’t have much florescent glass, but know others that do, and I think they would love something like this.
The D-C-Fix doesn’t seem to attenuate UV light. I did and with a without test and there wasn’t much difference.
Thank you. There is a US based company (waveform lighting) that sells a strip light that might work, but it is mains powered, which would’t help this situation as the cabinet is well away from power points. Multiple small downlights with 365nm and ZWB would be optimal.
It looks very nice with what you have now. Though I can see that something with a central switch for all of the lights would be nice.
As to mains powered lights. Would there be any way to hide a battery/inverter unit in or around the cabinet. Some of the small units would probably run some strip LED lights for a long time between charges.
There is some space underneath the cabinet for a battery/inverter. That might be a longer term solution.
“Back in the day” there used to be a technique to use hair spray to convert smooth reflectors to light orange peel texture to even the beam out, I’m not sure if this would work with UV though.
You could start with DC-Fix as it’s easily reversible.
Does the S12 have screws holding down the MCPCB? Could you just remove the reflector and use the light as a “mule”?
I have tried that with spray clear coat but did not achieve decent results. Could have been due to the clear itself, it dried kinda yellow. Maybe a 2K clear or actual hairspray would work better?
ETA not sure about if there are MCPCB screws, I haven’t done anything to it but swap the glass. If I remember I will check tonight.
late to this but the cabinet looks great. two things from the comments above:
on wiring them all to one switch — each T3 head carries its own driver and pulls around an amp on high, so 8 heads in parallel off a single 14500 won’t hold full output for long. a small 3.7v pack with fat enough wires and one inline switch works if you respect the total current. that’s also why most cabinet people eventually move to rigid 365nm bar/strip style lights with a single constant current driver — even spread across the shelf, one switch, no battery juggling.
on diffusion — be careful with plastic films at 365. a lot of them (pvc based stuff, many adhesive films) fluoresce or straight up absorb UVA, so you pay output and add visible haze. quick test: hold the film over the ZWB2 and look for a blue glow — that’s fluorescence stealing your 365. etched glass or ptfe sheet transmits far better, or just an air gap plus a second ZWB2. every extra optical layer costs you, so sometimes a wider optic from the start beats diffusing after.