allright i will soon have my hands on some UV leds, and i need to know abit about them first, so that i can know if my mod will work im going to use an example instead of actually telling u what it is im doing (if possible) because the end result for my project log is a surprise now, lets say i have some clear UV paint, now, i want to paint this on some plexiglass, just about 2 square inches or so, and shine one of the uvleds onto it to make it glow, now i know that will work, but, does a ccfl interfere in some way so that perhaps the uvpaint will be diffused or barely visible? or will it glow just as if the ccfl was off? secondly, how will UV paint counter-react with water if i pour some uv paint, or perhaps a UV reactive liquid into my reservour, and light up the tubes, will the UV light be diffused by the acrylic tubing, or in anyway not work? ive seen people use UV ccfls, but those are obviously alot more powerfull than an led? and im sure that there was another question, oh yes, is the UV light emitted from an LED visible? and how long do you have to stare at it before its blinds j00? -lol stupid me
okay, a ton of questions. Maybe I can help out with some of them. UV LEDS aren't much like blacklights. They put out a good deal of visible light as well. At least some of them do. I think you can buy ones that don't, but they are arguably quite a bit more dangerous, since they are still wailing on your eyes, you just can't perceive it. Staring at a UV LEDfor a few seconds can cause you some serious discomfort. Will a UV LED make UV reactive items glow? Yes. But the visible light effect is quite detracting (IMO). This extends to using additional CCFL lights. Anything that reflects UV will also reflect visible light, but the visible reflected light will overwhelm the UV glow pretty easily. Last, LEDs are usually highly directional (but you can sand the case and make them more diffuse). So LEDs make good accent lights, while CCFLs make good ambient lights. Each in it's place I suppose. HTH.
ok let me rephrase this i will give away 1 little part ive got an etch on my side panel, and 4 UV leds, if i center 1 led on the edge of the plexi on each side facing the etch, will the etch glow with or without the aid of some UV reactive dye?
here's my project log which contains both UV leds and cathodes... http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14668&pagenumber=3 the thing is that, like linear said, uv leds emits purple light as well since they don't have the black coating... they may be brither but it emits purple light so you wont get the desired effect... but any uv reactive element will light up. I've painted my clear fan with clear uv reactive blue paint (maxx paint) and with the leds, I didn't got the effect I was expecting.. cathodes are THE way to go in uv projects... looks inside my case, my rounded ide cables and my sleeves... they all light up with the uv cathodes... but to make them work great, you have to remove the plexi tubing.... one cathode without the plexi makes all the white in my room flash, just to give you an idea.... for water, use uv dye... don't put paint in you water!!! it would be like putting sand in you motor oil I saw many water cooling system with clear tubing that had uv dye in the water and looks really great!!! hope that helps
Hi, I love UV LED's! I like the purple, and I would NOT ruin that with any paint that would react with it. That paint usually looks green or yellow, and I don't like that. This is just my opinion though... As for the UV LED's emmiting UV light as well as the purple, my camera picks up the purple, but it also picks up the UV. the UV ends up being interpreted as blue in the digital photos. See here: http://www.xtrememods.com/articles/?id=6&part=9
