# UV light bulb



## jgeck90 (Oct 1, 2008)

Basically i am trying to find something that will do the same thing as a Mark 440 Stencil developer. I cant justify spending so much on just a metal box and a UV light bulb!! Here is what i am talking about:
http://www.glass-etching-kits.com/mark_440.htm
As you can see it takes a UV bulb. I looked for a UV light bulb for a regular house light socket but found nothing. 
Do you guys think i can construct something that will do the same thing?

*Basically all in all i am looking for a UV light bulb that will work in a standard home socket:twothumbs. If nobody can find that, my last choice is shown below, do you guys think this will work?*
http://cgi.ebay.com/Protek-9-watt-G...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
*Yes, i see that it is only 9V...i can just leave the stencil in longer right??*
*Keep in mind my only payment method would be PayPal.*

Thanks so much for any help!:thumbsup:


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## Ken_McE (Oct 1, 2008)

All UV is not alike. you might want to check with the manufacturer and see what wavelengths their product needs to work. My experience with the screw-in incandescent "UV" bulbs is that they are doG awfull.


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## jgeck90 (Oct 1, 2008)

Ok. What if i get a replacement bulb that goes in it? could you guys help me rig it up to work?


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## Oznog (Oct 1, 2008)

Those incandescent blacklight bulbs are no good.
There's 2 options: spiral CFL blacklight "bulb" and the blacklight fluorescent tubes. You'd want the shorter tube like you'd find in a counter light not the full-length that would go in a ceiling light.

The CFL "bulb" is not really a great source because the light originates from a point, put it over the work and it gets much more illumination in the center.

No, get 2 or more of the short blacklight tubes and mount them side by side. Makes an even plane of light. For PCBs, the exposure time is like 3 min or so IIRC.


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## jgeck90 (Oct 1, 2008)

Sounds good. Can you show me a link to exactly what bulb you are talking about?


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## LED-FX (Oct 2, 2008)

http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/Lighting/bltgen_BlackLightGeneration.html

should point you in right direction, if you find a lamp that your not sure about come back and ask.

HTH
Adam


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## jgeck90 (Oct 2, 2008)

So a black light will work for developing the stencil's? 
Jeff


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## LED-FX (Oct 2, 2008)

Blacklight Blue to be acurate, peak emmision of 369nm cures most of the UV curing epoxies and stencil and pcb resist. 

Would think the 120W example supplied is a mecury blended tungsten, lots of UV buts lots of heat.

Adam


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## PhotonWrangler (Oct 2, 2008)

I'm guessing they're using this type of 160w self-ballasted UVC-B lamp. It's the type of lamp that they used to call a "suntan lamp" before fluorescent-driven tanning beds became popular.

I really don't think that a regular longwave blacklight will work for this use. A longwave lamp will work for curing uv-responsive adhesives though.


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## jgeck90 (Oct 3, 2008)

hmm... i was looking for a cheap alternative.
Any more idea's guys?


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## PhotonWrangler (Oct 3, 2008)

Fluorescent germicidal bulbs are cheaper, but then you've got to buy the ballast and fixture, or you could retrofit an existing fluorescent desk lamp with a germicidal bulb. You're probably looking at $20-$35 at the least for a germicidal tube.

The next cheapest alternative is direct sunlight. It also contains UVB rays, although at lower levels.

BTW, forget about doing it with UV LEDs. Shortwave UV LEDs are extremely rare, extremely weak and unbelievably expensive. It would cost you many thousands to do it that way, and it wouldn't work nearly as well as the other lamp technologies.


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## RetiredFireCaptain (Apr 30, 2013)

Anyone know of a GU10 base bulb (LED) in UV to light my wife's collection of vaseline glass?


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## alpg88 (Apr 30, 2013)

your link says it is glue curing uv, so it is betwen 320-380nm that uv sensetive glue takes to dry, usually 365nm in case of norland -common optical glue.


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## Norm (Apr 30, 2013)

RetiredFireCaptain said:


> Anyone know of a GU10 base bulb (LED) in UV to light my wife's collection of vaseline glass?



Some hits on ebay for "Gu10 UV bulb"

Norm


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## PhotonWrangler (Apr 30, 2013)

There are self-ballasted germicidal CFL lamps available like this one. It probably puts out at least as much UVC as the incandescent reflector flood shown in the kit.


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## Anders Hoveland (May 13, 2013)

Ken_McE said:


> All UV is not alike.


Completely true. There are all different types of UV, with different properties. 



Ken_McE said:


> My experience with the screw-in incandescent "UV" bulbs is that they are doG awfull.


Incandescent "black light" bulbs do not really give off UV. 


It is much too complicated to describe in detail, but a quick summary:

CFL bulbs leak out UV radiation that can cause damage and skin discomfort or inflammation in sensitive individuals, fading of fabric colors over time, and even cause plastic lampshades to become brittle and eventually crack.

Ulraviolet fluorescent tubes use a special phosphor to convert the UV radiation from the mercury vapor into lower frequency UV light. They also contain a thin coating of "wood's glass" on the inside of the tube to filter out the vissible light, though some violet light still gets through the filter.

"Short wave" UV lamps use a fused quartz tube to specifically let the higher frequency UV radiation go through. This is useful for germicidal purposes or producing ozone from air. There a hazard to humans with continued exposure. Sometimes these "short wave" tubes are used in minerology to stimulate certain fluorescent minerals that do not glow under regular UV tubes.

Regular glass absorbs most of the higher frequency UV radiation, while fused quartz allows it to pass through. This is also one of the reasons that halogen bulbs have outer glass coverings, because the inner halogen capsule is made of fused quartz and the hot filament emitts some UV that passes through the inner quartz capsule. This UV could potentially cause eye damage, but fortunately it is mostly "soft" UV so the regular glass covering almost entirely absorbs it all. 

In contrast, the UV produced by mercury vapor in a fluorescent tube is a higher frequency, so more of it is able to leak through the glass (even when it is not designed to give off UV).

A so-called UV LED lamp usually just gives off 400-405nm violet light. This is barely vissible to the human eye, and the eye has difficulty focusing on it, so the light source will tend to appear blurry. Unfortunately, this low frequency is not very good at stimulating many fluorescent phosphors.


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## Sigurthr (Jul 13, 2013)

If you really need a strong wideband UV source you can take a Mercury Vapor (high pressure mercury) or Metal Halide bulb and cut off the outer glass envelope with a glass cutter. This allows the maximum amount of UV to escape. Beware though, this is incredibly dangerous for many reasons (including inner bulb explosions!) and should only be attempted with the proper safety precautions and adequate personal protection gear. I had to do this for some UV cure resin, I tried a 20W germicidal low pressure Hg fluorescent but it just would not get the job done. The de-bulbed HP Hg worked like a charm. Just remember these bulbs are arc tubes and need suitable ballasts to run on, you can NOT just plug them in to the wall.


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## PhotonWrangler (Jul 14, 2013)

I saw a 100w self-ballasted UVC/UVB floodlight in a pet store that was being marketed as a reptile light. I'm guessing it's a re-badged "sunlamp" based on a mercury vapor lamp with a quartz envelope. I didn't see much in the way of specifications on the package and it was a little pricey at $50 but I wonder if that would work also.


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