You can hardly surprise anyone today with a simple flashlight. This is quite a common thing. And from a simple, nevertheless, it is not difficult to make an ultraviolet flashlight. How? We will tell and show you based on simple instructions.
Why do I need a UV flashlight?
Of course, such homemade products can first of all surprise friends and acquaintances. Use at party, quest and outdoor dark games. But the invention also has a number of useful practical applications:
- Easily detects blood, fat stains.
- Using an ultraviolet flashlight to check money - the UV light illuminates special symbols of authenticity not visible to the naked eye.
- Diagnosis of freon leakage from refrigeration equipment, air conditioners.
- UV-glow is also applicable in the field of beauty - for quick drying of gel polishes during manicure procedures.
Flashlight Base
To assemble an ultraviolet flashlight with your own hands, you first need to stock up on the necessary components for crafts. Let's start with the main one. It's manualled flashlight. It can be equipped with both one high-power LED and several low-current ones. Such a product consists of the following elements:
- Body (usually aluminum).
- Reflector with protective glass.
- LED module.
- End module with switch button.
- Compartment for batteries - batteries.
UV diodes
The next important component is UV diodes. For an ultraviolet flashlight, Chinese-made samples are suitable, whose cost ranges from 150-300 rubles apiece. Their characteristics: wavelength - 370-395 nm, current - 500-700 mA. If you need a brand name, then it will be several times more expensive. So, for example, LITEON samples cost about 700-800 rubles per piece.
The UV diode is purchased strictly according to the parameters of the LED pre-installed in the flashlight. But dimensions are not the only selection criterion. If it is important for you to get exactly UV radiation, and not purple light, then you need to purchase elements that work in the UV-A range (300-400 nm).
Method 1: flashlight with UV diodes
First of all, you need to buy a regular flashlight, for example, with standard 8 LEDs. The same amount must be purchased and ultraviolet diodes. You can find them in the radio equipment store in your city. Before buying UV diodes, be sure to disassemble the purchased flashlight. You need such ultraviolet elements,which were similar in size to the pre-installed LEDs.
An important aspect - get a flashlight that can be disassembled and reassembled without any problems. It is especially important that the protective glass is inserted into place.
A flashlight with ultraviolet light is made according to the following instructions:
- Remove the protective glass.
- Then you need to carefully remove ordinary LEDs from the network. To do this, their interconnected contacts are soldered in the standard sequence.
- If there is one powerful LED in the lantern, then we carry out the desoldering operation with it individually.
- In place of the removed one, insert the purchased UV diodes into the circuit. They, on the contrary, must be soldered.
- If you want to go beyond an ultraviolet flashlight, you can make a dual-mode one. To do this, UV elements are inserted between conventional LEDs. The circuit is reconfigured to two modes of operation.
- Do not forget to put the protective glass in place, assemble the whole structure. And then test your UV flashlight in action!
Method 2: A semblance of ultraviolet radiation
To make a real flashlight with UV diodes, you need to have a number of relevant skills. For example, be able to handle a soldering iron. But how to make an ultraviolet flashlight in a simpler way? You can create a kind of UV glow.
For this you will need the following:
- Regular LED flashlight.
- Purple marker or felt pen.
- Blue marker or felt pen.
- Scissors.
- Transparent wide adhesive tape.
The whole procedure will take no more than a few minutes. Let's get started:
- A piece of adhesive tape needs to be cut out according to the diameter of the protective glass of the lantern.
- Gently stick it to the glass surface.
- Carefully paint over the part of the adhesive tape through which the light from the flashlight will pass through with a blue marker.
- Done? Now cut out another piece of adhesive tape according to the diameter of the protective glass.
- Gently glue it on top of the blue area.
- We paint over this layer already with purple color.
- Then we need to stick two more layers of duct tape. The first is painted over with a blue marker, and the second is again purple. Do not confuse this alternation of colors.
- The final layer of adhesive tape is transparent. It is needed so that the upper purple does not wear off during operation.
By the way, instead of adhesive tape, which will then be difficult to peel off from the glass of the flashlight without traces, you can use cling film. It should also be painted over in layers with a blue and purple felt-tip pen. And you can fix the pieces of film on the lantern with an ordinary narrow hair band.
Thus, we recreated a light filter that will help to get a glow similar to ultraviolet. And even a child can cope with such a procedure! It remains to test the invention in a dark place.
Method 3: Smartphone or tablet flashlight
From the LED flashlight you have on your smartphone ortablet, really do ultraviolet! More precisely, her likeness. As in the method above. Moreover, in this case, you will not only be able to shine with magical purple light. If you install a similar home-made light filter on the camera lens of the device, then you can really shoot truly fantastic shots!
How to make a UV filter? The way described above. By sticking pieces of adhesive tape on the lens, which are alternately stained with a blue and purple marker. Only 4 layers. Blue, purple, blue, purple. The final, fifth, is transparent. It is glued so that the top drawn with a marker does not erase.
So you can make your own UV flashlight out of an ordinary one. The semblance of UV radiation can really be obtained using a light filter, which is created from ordinary adhesive tape or cling film. You can also experiment with the lens or gadget flash. Do not forget about the safety of yourself and those around you - do not shine a UV flashlight in your eyes!
