What if you expect more rigorous or extended use? You may want to consider a rechargeable option. This is often the lowest-cost and practical approach for occasional, light use - if, for example, you only use it for several minutes at a time to check for pet urine. How is it powered? Many UV flashlights can be powered via disposable AA or AAA batteries. It isn't easy to determine UV LED efficiency, but generally, look out for lower-priced UV flashlights, as the LED chip is typically the most expensive component in a flashlight, and low efficiency values are typically the result of low-cost or over-driven LED chips. A low efficiency LED can mean that even a high power UV flashlight is not actually producing much useful UV light output. Not all LEDs convert the same ratio of electrical energy to UV light energy, and this can play an important role in determining the amount of UV light energy is ultimately emitted. What matters is the total power - 1 LED running at 3 watts is more power than 3 LEDs running at 0.5 watts each. Don't be fooled by the LED quantity - just because there are more LEDs does not necessarily mean that there is more power. Most smaller flashlights will run at 1W or so, while larger flashlights may run at 3W or more.
The first is the power consumption, usually rated in watts. Generally, two aspects of a UV flashlight's design will dictate how much UV light it can pump out. Although there are ways to measure UV light, this may not be too practical when shopping for UV flashlights, as most manufacturers will not provide much information. Unlike white flashlights that use the lumens metric to describe brightness, because UV is invisible, this measure does not apply. In other words, you need to make sure you have both quality (good wavelength) and quantity.īut how do you know how much UV light is being emitted? Unfortunately, this is a tricky specification that most products do not list.
Does it provide enough power? Even the correct wavelength of UV light can be useless if there simply isn't enough of it. As a result, many objects will be illuminated in a dull violet color, without providing enough lower-wavelength UV light to induce fluorescence. But because these LEDs are so close to the 400 nm cut-off, they still emit much of their energy as violet light. Strictly speaking, these are considered to be ultraviolet LEDs when we use the definition of < 400 nm to define UV. If a seller or manufacturer does not list the wavelength used - be careful - as they could very well be using a violet or purple LED that is not a true UV light source.Ī common wavelength option is 395 nm. As a result, 415 nm (visible, violet light) LEDs and 405 nm (borderline visible violet light) are often used as "ultraviolet" LEDs. pets) or other body fluidsīecause of the trends in LED manufacturing, higher wavelength LEDs are easier and more cost effective to manufacture. curing) but provide enough UV light to observe fluorescence effects.īelow are some use example cases of UV flashlights: UV flashlights are generally not strong enough to induce any chemical or physical reactions (e.g. UV lighting has a wide variety of applications, but UV flashlights can be most useful in situations where portability and ease of use is important. Should I get a UV flashlight for my application? Virtually all UV flashlights use LED technology. Many objects and substances such as paints, dyes, minerals, animals and body fluids exhibit fluorescence, which means that the presence of these things can be detected only when a UV light source shines on them.Ī UV flashlight takes the same shape and format as a standard white light flashlight, but instead of emitting white light, emits ultraviolet light. When ultraviolet light hits certain objects, they can fluoresce - a phenomenon similar to a bright glow. A UV flashlight emits ultraviolet radiation - a type of light energy - that is not visible to the human eye.
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