# Advice needed regarding effective UV luminescence



## Praet0r87 (Jul 27, 2014)

Hello From Scotland! Well, technically, it's hello from a Seismic Ship in the middle of the North Sea, but that's not particularly important.  I've been recommended by a member on the Radio Control MSUK forum to post my question on here, as I need a bit of specialist advice from all you light experts! Basically, I am looking to build another PC sometime soon. I'm fitting lots of tasty UV-reactive components that look dull in normal light, but give off a lovely green luminescent glow when in the presence of UV light. Obviously, an ultra-violet fluorescent tube would be the most effective option, but they are not appropriate for PCs, due to their large power-draw and the heat they give off. So the only option are PC-specific UV cold-cathode tubes. Unfortunately, these cold-cathodes are poor; they give off far too much visible light, that somewhat masks the glow of the UV-reactive components, ruining the effect. I want people to look into the PC case and see lovely green glowing parts, not a purple back-lit effect. So my question is- are there PC case cold-cathodes on the market that are more effective and give off little visible light, while flooding the case with UV light? Otherwise, is there a product (plastic wrap, gel, soft material, polycarbonate, whatever) that I can use to wrap or block the cold-cathodes, which stops (or, at least, reduces) visible light, while allowing UV light to pass? Thank you. Mike


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## mercrazy (Jul 29, 2014)

why not use uv leds? use less power and you can get them in lower wavelengths with no visible light.


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## 3Cylinders (Aug 1, 2014)

When I did my son's computer back in 2008, I used cold cathode tubes set near the plexiglass window with everything facing the viewing window masked off. That way they still emitted the light, but only in the direction of the UV reactive materials. Since we used an all-plexiglass case, I had to position the tubes carefully so that they weren't very visible from any of the other sides of the case. Usually that meant hiding them behind wire bundles or components. LEDs may also be an option as mentioned, but I never used them so I can't say how well they work. You can also get a number of components like power supplies and heatsink fans with UV leds already in them which might help a bit.


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## Praet0r87 (Aug 2, 2014)

Thank you, gentlemen, for your help.

Mercrazy, do you have any brands/models etc in mind?

3Cylinders, that's a decent suggestion. The case I'm getting is this:






As you can see, the right-hand corners on the side panel block the observer's view. Would you suggest mounting cathodes/LEDs there, facing inward?
Any other positioning suggestions?

Thanks.


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## TEEJ (Aug 2, 2014)

Praet0r87 said:


> Thank you, gentlemen, for your help.
> 
> Mercrazy, do you have any brands/models etc in mind?
> 
> ...



Do you know the wavelength that the UV reactive components glow fluoresce at?

If you use a 365 nm UV source for example, there would be ~ no visible light, but items would tend to fluoresce very strongly...whereas the less expensive/more common 390 nm UV sources tend to give off much more visible light along with the UV.


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