Having mentioned and used this product in another video I thought it would be a good idea to take it to bits. These are very common on eBay and can be found at this eBay search link for about £5 ($6).
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=sun+mini+uv+led&_sop=15
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=sun+mini+uv+led&_sop=15
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
what is NM of this uv light
Would this be any good for erasing EPROMs?
Here’s some interesting info about genuine UVC LEDs. This is a copy/paste of a conversation I had with some fellow electronics/photonics nerds regarding this technology. A lot of us hobbyists and professionals online, in places like the laser pointer forum LPF and budget light forum BLF, and others.
Clive, I think a cheap Spectrometer would be a cool DIY build. Like the one shown on “les’s lab YouTube channel” Not really necessary, but it would be a fun build, and I’ve seen several instances where you’ve wanted to measure the wavelength of light. Once you have a spectrometer…,you can’t imagine all of the incredible uses!
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Here is the copied info…Maybe it’ll help some folks….. and it’s just interesting stuff regardless!
All genuine UVC LEDs have a quartz/sapphire glass window and/or ceramic Gold plated body. This is necessary because UVC easily damages Plastics and other materials used in UVB and all other LEDs. Therefore if the window wasn’t quartz, it would quickly degrade and discolor.
I’ve Bought and tested close to 100 different UV LEDs over the past few years… Including deep UV (UVC) i’ve tested everything from the dirt cheap Chinese knock off‘s, to the highest end chips costing $100 or more from Nichia and other quality manufacturers. (usually as a sample or with a big discount because I can’t afford $100 for a single LED 😂)
I’m not a professional optics engineer, but I have an industrial electronics servicing business and lab… so already had the equipment. I was interested in this stuff for my own hobby and professional uses. And it was fun as hell!! UV photonics technology is super interesting, even to regular folks Who aren’t nerds.
I’ve always dabbled in optics and lasers. I spent several years putting together a professional optical “breadboard” and test bench. All dirt cheap from government and Academic auctions. It really is the golden age of science and electronics! Over $20,000 worth of optical equipment, and decommissioned military/medical/industrial lasers. Photonics and laser stuff is about the most expensive hobby there is. Besides burning money 😁 A simple mirror, lens, or optical mount can be hundreds of dollars new. no way I could’ve afforded it. But I paid pennies on the dollar! Or less. Government auctions are awesome.
There are genuine deep UV LEDs being made in China that are pretty darn cheap. $1-$2 each! Pretty low power but decent quality.
But UVC LED technology is still so new, that the output powers are exceptionally low when compared to UVB. So you need an array of about 25 LEDs to approach timely “sanitizing“ power. Which is not going to be cheap, especially if you get Nichia or other high end chips. For a 25 LED array of decent power UVC nichia LEDs… You’d be looking at over $1000 easy. And if you went with their most powerful chip, a array of 25 would be about $2500 😂
But power density will increase slowly just like it did with 365nm UV LEDs. Cost per milliwatt of “radiant flux” will go down with time.
Currently, decent cheap quality UVC LEDs average 5-15mw (Milliwatt) of optical output power. So when they sell UVC LEDs labeled as “1 watt“…. that means 1 watt of input power. You have to look closer to find the optical output power rating.
If you got 1 watt of REAL UVC optical output… That shit could fry your skin and eyeballs really fast. Even worse is that real UVC leds can be almost invisible. Which is Dangerous shit!!😂
thankfully many chips include a visible LED inside the same package. Usually 365 nm or higher UVB. As an indication light, so people don’t accidentally leave it on without knowing it… Easily burning their eyes. Or the board it’s eventually mounted on….in a finished product…. has a tiny colored LED next to the UVC led. To indicate when it’s on.
Although 100 mV is pretty much the limit for current UVC led technology…… its possible to get 1000MW (1 watt) of optical power out of 365nm UVB leds… or even more. It will be incredible if UVC LEDs reach this level of radiant flux in the next few years.
Sorry to ramble on. Hope this helps someone or you find it interesting.
When I expose a circuit board I put the board and the mask in a picture frame. That presses the glass, mask and copper tightly together.
I just got one of these, as I was looking for a UV light that I could modify into a EPROM eraser and remembered watching this video. Now that it's arrived, it's very different to what's shown in the video. They've economised the extra PCB out and built it all onto the aluminium backed PCB. Interestingly, they're not using a current limiting resistor, so it's not clear how they're limiting the current. Anyway, I'm thinking I'll just use a 555 in monostable mode to trigger the little MOSFET for the extended time required to erase the EPROMs. Might need some active cooling on the back of the PCB too as it did get a bit warm when running just for a minute.
My wife has one for over a year now to cure nail polish, but she claims that the LED's are now degraded. Is that a thing???
I might just get a few of these and remove them from the cases…that way I can mount them in a large array to expose larger boards.
Glass blocks UV doesn't it?
Clive, I have acute GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), you make it worse! I now have potassium permanganate and boric acid for no good reason, and now I want one of these! You are a danger to the hard of thinking. Thank you, keep it up.
Bought this unit and a syringe of Mechanic UV curable solder mask, it hardens after 2 minutes if the layer is real thin, if you make a glob the outside will cure but the inside will still be gooey and takes about 5 minutes give or take to finish.
Hope that helps someone.
You sound like the main actor (the white guy) in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy
How difficult would it be to decap chips like that and take a stab at reverse engineering them?
It would be quite interesting to see what kind of circuitry simple little chips like those have.
Very interesting! I was just about to order one of the CCFL versions per an older video of yours when this one appeared. Two of these LED versions would cover more PC board area and still be cheaper, collapsible, more durable and take up less space than the older CCFL type or even the newer cordless type. Probably also distribute UV light more evenly as well. Can't wait to try it!