To everyone playing around with UV lights (including flashlights like these). Be careful and don't look at them thinking "they aren't bright". Your eyes can't see the "brightness" (as the eyes can't see UV) and all your usual reflexes, like pupils narrowing, squinting, looking away, don't work. A pretty good hint that there's coming a lot more out of the lamp than you can see is that something fluoresces so brightly that you almost can't look at it. That "visible light power" isn't coming from thin air.
"It is just clicking".... the best kind of flash light: On and Off, nothing more. Nothing "smart". And no flashing. On-Off switches are soooo underrated.
Problem with these switches is they tend to be quite poor quality and suffer switch bounce noise or even just intermittent contact. Especially when switching the current of high powered LED from an 18650, or even 3 AAA's in series. At least that's what I have observed.
I found a UV torch useful when I ordered a bunch of T10 LEDs in warm white, cool white and ice blue all mixed in one bag. Rather than testing each one, I used the uv torch and the different phosphors lit up different colors. Made sorting them faster.
These are also great for finding scorpions at night (they fluoresce nicely). And if you like to think your bathroom is clean, Do Not shine one of these around in there in the dark.
I just got one of these myself. Was included as a promotion with a glow in the dark tech product skin. Has the visible filter and 1AA booster like yours. Has an amusing warning on the side. "Point at: Glow in the dark skin. 45-60 secs for full charge. Do not point at: Your eyeballs. Prolonged exposure will blind you."
I work in HVAC, we have some very expensive branded UV lights for fluorescing tracing dyes. About 8 months ago a college bought one very similar to this except it has an 18650 cell in it and is labelled as 2 watts, dual wavelength and it is honestly one of if not the best UV light i've ever used for tracing dye. Since then I think everyone has one. Might want to be careful shining it in your eyes.
You can find those in 10W, 20W, 50W, and 100W. Over in the AAS department they're using the 10-watt version to light up fluorescent dye particles in a wind tunnel. 365nM ultraviolet, 12V at 900mA, with nine LEDs packed onto a little ceramic plate on a heatsink. No flashlight, just a Chanzon/Cree bare LED and 12V wall transformer. (Me, I wouldn't want to mess with the hundred-watt version, same idea but a 10 x 10 array mounted on a huge CPU-cooler. Ultraviolet death-ray!)
I have 2 UV lights to look for my golf balls in my bamboo forest at my house. Wonderful devices! I even find my golf balls stuck in the top branches. Found out that bird droppings glow, imagine that. Thank you for taking everything apart. ❤ I always take apart/open up everything I buy now a days. I look for soldier joins and wiring. I opened up a instant hot water heater for under the sink in my kitchen, before I installed it obscure; the intake copper tube had been wrenched off inside and was broken. If I had installed this thing, it would have shorted out, blown the breaker and put a few gallons of water on my kitchen floor. wow. Keep up the good work. 💋
@@webfreezy "Ficklampa" in Swedish, also literally "pocket lamp" we do however still sometimes talk about burn time on electric lamps, is that a thing in German?
I recently purchased a 365nm torch off eBay after my old one died a terrible death - I hunt minerals. Long story short, the new torch is a massive change in power and filtration when compared the the outgoing UV torch. I'm mighty impressed! Walking around at home in the dark with the new UV torch is like a horror film. You think your house is clean but it really isn't...
365 nm is also the preferred wavelength for use in foraging or identifying mushrooms; Many of the varieties that fluoresce strongly are either quite toxic or not edible but instead used to dye fabrics such as wool or silk.
@@vinnysworkshop Yeah the mystical smoke was released. The circuit fried. The minerals I hunt can be inside old mines and with that comes the hazards of water containing dissolved minerals - ie conductive. Despite all of my attemps to waterproof that old torch, it was only a matter of time until conductive water reached the circuits inside :(
> > Walking around at home in the dark - Find cat-pee on rugs. Never be tempted to inspect motel room surfaces. Also, see if your kids bedroom has a "Bobby Hill booger-wall." Now turn off the lights, and use the UV button to flash it like a 60s strobe on a Jackson Pollock!
These lights are great fun for seeing security features on passports and drivers licenses too. And also mailed cheques and concert tickets can also have fluro security threads in them.
I've tried replying and it keeps disappearing. Ali store "15W UV 365nm High power Blacklight USB Flashlight Invisible Ink Marker Cat Dog Urine Tinea Ore Money Scorpion Fluorescence Light". Make sure you choose the correct one as there is also a 395nm in the selection choices.
@@semidemiurge, Helios sells a UV-curing "Surehold" cyanocrylate glue kit that includes a UV flashlight, but I don't know what wavelength it is. The UV flashlight seems to work well on Rapid-Fix resin glue as well.
These Alonefire flashlights are legit. Bought a cheap 365nm "60w" from them a while ago expecting to get something like 1w of actual power. Not only did it come with a whole dang 18650, I am inclined to believe the power rating. I tried shining it at a couple pillowcases once and the fluorescence from it was enough to illuminate the entire room. The scariest thing about it? You can FEEL the heat. This thing outputs so much light that it literally heats up anything it's pointed at, and very quickly. Thankfully, 365nm is quite easily blocked by a lot of materials, so a cheap set of safety glasses is enough to protect my eyes.
Forgot to mention, they sent a custom branded 18650, so that's neat, gives a little more credibility that it's an original product. Since it seems I am doing a product review anyways, might as well finish it. The model I bought comes with a water resistant usb-c recharging port, and that seems to work pretty well. The build quality feels quite solid. Sometimes there is a bit of squeaking when screwing on the battery compartment cap, but after that, there seems to be no slop or play between the parts at all.
I picked up an alonefire 365nm UV torch from Amazon a couple years ago. Also came with their branded battery, but it is a 26650 cell. Fantastic build quality and performance for the £30 I paid for it 👍
@bragapedro I disagree on private branded batteries. They do this in order to buy whatever is cheapest at the moment and you never know of what to expect. For anything important like a tire inflator or flashlight I demand samsung low self discharge cells or name brand equivalent. I do suppose that some private labeled cells could be carefully selected and high quality provided but hoe do you tell? Most 18650 cells sold with fire or ultra in their name are almost always very disappointing. Good cells cheap can be harvested from certain tool batteries when on sale cheap.
@@bragapedro anytime I see "custom branded" li-ion cells, I know I'm in danger. I still remember the days of Ultrafire 18650s exploding. Stick with known names like LG, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung.... I don't want any colorful brands on the wrapping, not on those.
I think the driver IC is a Microne ME2206. The wave logo on the IC matches their datasheet and it has the same footprint/pin out. The datasheet for the UM1663S lists a low end supply voltage of 2.8v.
Nice touch to put in the actual link of purchase in your description! 🙂 I have bought one just ago to inspect money bills on the go. Looks like it is going to work great with that light. Please keep putting in those links.
High-quality UV lights like these make common things like peanut butter and plain sugar temporarily glow when exposed to the light for a few seconds. There are other substances that will glow too, such as some candies...it's fun to experiment with 'em.
I ordered one of these and it was slightly different to Clive's. Mine actually has a UV led rather than a filter! It's fantastic! £0.96p including delivery. It was my first purchase with aliexpress.
Purchased this one a couple of weeks ago. There's also a larger version that takes two AAA batteries with even brighter light! I can highly recommend them.
These (and their shorter wavelength cousins) are really handy for quickly setting the water - clear transparent UV resin adhesives. You get a good, hard bond in about 10 seconds illumination, even with "difficult to glue" materials.
I used a similar light to check for leaks in an auto a/c system. A naked eye look at the problem spots revealed oil seepage. Using an UV torch revealed fractures in the alloy pipework. Even tiny leaks that had not leaked any oil.
I encountered and bought the Alonefire SV57 from AliExpress a few weeks ago, which has the same 365nm emitter, bandpass filter and reflector. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised by the intensity and quality of the illumination. Being value-engineered, it only has a 1mm thick "ZWB2 UG1" filter to block visible light, but that seems enough to do the trick. Out of curiosity, I put a 3mm thick filter in front of it and didn't notice any difference in either visible or UV output, but maybe my eyes fooled me. I don't think these cheap little flashlights thermally couple the emitter to the body very well and the beam has a very narrow angle, but I paid $10 for three and am delighted.
I ought to have mentioned that there is a small but excellent RUclips channel called Project 326 that has a number of videos about dirt-cheap but surprisingly useful Chinese spectrophotometers. These little boxes have a range that extends up into UVA. Good videos about budget geiger counters and other things too.
Clive! I have TONS of 365nm flashlights, as I am an avid hunter of fluorescent rocks. . . and collect uranium glass. A couple months ago I found my first ever real 254nm quad LED flashlight. I love it to bits! I donated my lab mercury vapour 254nm lamp to the local Rock Museum. And really, you should get some fluorescent mineral samples to show off with the lights. Franklinite and Wilamite are better short wave tests than most of the professional tests are. Anywhoo, love your vids and reviews. Greetings from Oregon!
Clive, you should have had a Gin & Tonic at hand. The Quinine fluoresces in UV and the gin accentuates the effect. Perhaps next time. Why do I suddenly feel thirsty?
I worked in Non-destructive Inspection (NDI) in US Air Force. We used 365nm lights with Fluorescent Magnetic Particle (aka magnaflux) and Fluorescent Dye Penetrant (aka Zyglo) to detect microscopic cracks and discontinuities in parts. In-shop we usually used lamps between 100 to 300 Watts. You can easily see defects at arms length.
I used to have a 1954 Riley Pathfinder in which the instrument lights were luminous; the light source was a conventional 12v tungsten bulb but with a heavy glass filter which provided the uv excitement for the numerals and needles.
This will also be helpful if you are camping in regions where scorpions are prevalent, for checking your bedding as the UV will make the little buggers fluoresce!!
I believe we even have small local populations around south coast ports in the UK Google says "Isle of Sheppey".. A bit far from where Clive is though...
I just bought a 395nm one to check some of my grandmothers' glassware to see if there is any uranium glass. I already found three pieces! Very exciting.
Not even a quarter of the way into the video and I've ordered both the 365nm and 395nm versions (and some 5x5mm LED spacers to drop the £1.99 shipping!), because why not, that looks like a pretty neat little light, and will be handy for charging up glow-in-the-dark things too... :D
Late to the party but i wanted to share some secrets. I have one thats similiar although it does not have that dark lens on, just transparent one but it still emitts deep UV. It shows bodiky fluids especially dried ones so I used it on my floor when I had puppy in my apartment and found some spots where he left a couple invisible secret stains as a present😅 another use is to check if money is legit, as you've said, but I also found out a lot of official documents like drivers license, IDs and even credit cards have some cool hidden designs only showing under deep UV. If you have greasy face, you can see that fresh sebum glows pinkish-orange under it but be carefull not to shine in your eyes for too long. Some plants shine deep dark red color under it instead of green - also interesting but its not very noticeable. I only wish i had more powerfull flashlight because some effects are realy barely visible.
I actually prefer using clear UV resin for conformal coating PCBs these days. I found that a lot of the lacquer being sold on amazon et al tends to "lift up" from the PCB after some years. So having a reasonably powerful UV flashlight is really useful.
I have found the UV cure adhesives cure much faster specifically at 365nm. I did a bunch of testing while working on a curing fixture. I'm currently running 4 groups of 4 365nm leds and each bank of 4 is running at 750mA. It's working great.
I did some experiments with Luminol and UV once. If you ever want to sleep at night, do NOT do this in your kitchen. It's like the scene of a 1,000 murders.
i bought the Alonefire SV13 and was impressed how quickly it cures UV resin. Alonefires reputation on regular cheap led flashlights is mediocre at best but i was so impressed that i bought the SV74 too. The absobtion filter is really doing a great job and the output power is intense. No matter if i cure resin, charge glow in the dark stuff or been summoned by my parents who search for spots the cat peed on, it's very effective. Just don't use it in your kitchen, the fat residue glows and even in a cleaned kitchen you'll always find traces of grease -_-" by the way the SV74 has USB-C charging but the port is very poor, meaning you have to put pressure on some cables to let it charge and the USB-A out is just 3.9V at roughly 1 Amp. It also does not like flat nose 18650 cells...
I've bought several 365nm UV flashlights from Amazon over the past year or so. I was shocked to see the advertised wavelength on these flashlights, but my spectrometer confirmed them. And as you mentioned with this one, it's pretty obviously not just a 395nm diode when you see it in person, no spectrometer needed.
I recently bought a Convoy S2 from AliExpress, and had a very similar amount of shock at it actually being 365nm. When I turned it on and shone it against a matt painted wall and didn't see any visible light I thought it was broken! It also feels really warm on skin, even from a decent distance. Makes me cautious about where I point it.
I have a flashlight that is supposed to be 365 nm. It also has a dark filter. I have no instruments for actually measuring the wavelength. It runs on a built-in lithium ion cell, probably a bit smaller than an 18650. It gets very warm when running. I can see quite a lot of visible light from it. I need to dig out one of my old BLB (black light blue - the type with a dark purple envelope) fluorescent lamps for comparison. Perhaps I see further into the UV spectrum than most people, perhaps it produces more in the visible spectrum than it should. The meat lenses of my eyes were sucked out (very literally, after being chopped into waffles with a laser then further broken up with ultrasonic energy) and replaced with plastic ones some years back. That made a huge difference in my ability to see pale blues and purples and restored the appearance of my Kodak neutral grey test card to what I remembered it as instead of brownish. I discovered that ordinary safety glasses with clear (i.e. untinted) polycarbonate lenses made an *enormous* difference. They cut out almost all of what I was seeing as visible purple. Again, I have no clear explanation, since polycarb cuts quite sharply at about 400 nm, well within the range most people can see.
The glass filter is probably Wood's glass - same as used for fluorescent blacklight tubes and stage lights. I've been using a broken tube to filter 395nm LEDs for years (after removing the phosphor powder) to reduce the visible light.
It's usually ZWB2 glass on LED lamps these days, you can buy the circular filters or have pieces of the glass cut to your own dimensions on the usual sites.
This would be ideal for hunting down uranium glass out in the wild at stores and such. Strong, actual uv, but small enough to carry around and not look like a weirdo.
be aware that 365 will make all kinds of things glow not just uranium glass. Manganese glass looks similar to uranium glass and is also pretty collectable.
I've got one looking exact the same but it's way more visible, I think mine doesn't have a (good) UV filter. But I'm still impressed by mine, so yours is off the charts.
I bought a few cheapo rechargeable 365nm lights recently and amazingly all of them were real! It’s really interesting looking at their beams on non-fluorescent materials with and without glasses, because it looks like a creepy grey with glasses and it looks like what I can only describe as unhealthy without glasses. And then if you point the beam at something fluorescent like a sheet of paper, you realize just how much light is coming out when it illuminates the entire room
Your glasses probably block the UV or violet. A lot of plastic lenses do that. I even notice a difference looking at a violet "blue ray" laser pointer with and without glasses on, though it's been years since I knew where my home made bluray laser pointer is
You should get the Big Brother version of these 365nm lights. Go out at night in your garden/parks etc and see all the plants, trees and wee beasties that fluoresce in crazy technicolour!!
I have the 10 watt version of this from the same brand which is powered by an 18650 lithium ion. It works great for finding UV dye while leak searching HVAC equipment. The only thing missing is a charger built into it with a USB-C port.
The woods glass they use for the filter lens is also worth having on its own as you can convert the cheapie 395 nm ones or a standard “BLB” black light to a UVA light source since it will block the longer wavelengths, but cheap surplus samples might be hard to find.
Bought a 50 watt chip off amazon. Seller had the whole range of uv down to 365, but the price went up pretty quick too. There is such a soothing difference between 395 and 365 nm though. I had found out that my enamel pin collections glows real well under 365 but is saturated with the purple from 395.
I got a distressingly cheap UV laser for curing resin a few years ago that just runs off an 18650, and it works wildly well. Useful as a more typical UV light with the beam diffused as much as possible
OOh I like this, I might have to buy one. I have a lot of UV reactive Gemstones and mineral samples, that I have a few different wavelengths of UV light for but this is just a handy thing to have. Interesting video 2x👍 (I do follow safety rules of UV light stuff I like my eyes working and not having skin cancer👍 )
Picked up a similar one from Amazon last year. It's fun to look at things like bank notes, IDs, passport, etc. I was surprised to find that they printed the same photo that's on the front of my DL on the back in UV ink making it invisible under normal light.
the aliexpress bundle! i was wondering how good those uv torches where too! thanks for providing the answer! the moving dog toy for £1.5 was too tempting and very cute XD
I bought 2 of these but a different style and i found a moss around my yard that fluoresces a red colour and doesn't with my older uv lights. They're pretty neat. Also clicky switches are better i think because all my other push button flashlights have a parasitic drain when off and need the base unscrewed a bit when not using them.
on switches: My current favorite flashlight is sold by Duracell under its own brand. I bought them in Canada at Costco. The switch is a clicky type on the side, which is a lot more convenient than the end. If the flashlight is on and you push the switch til it clicks, it turns off. If you click it again within about 2 seconds it turns on to the next mode in the sequence. After 2 seconds of being off it turns on at high brightness. These flashlights do have a flashing mode, which I find useful when walking at night to help keep idiots from running over me with their cars. I was glad I had my flashlight with me (which I always do when walking at night) back in late August. If I'd turned it on just a few seconds later than I did I'd have walked smack into the side of a cow moose who was standing across the path. She wouldn't have liked that. An annoyed moose is quite capable of kicking a human into next week.
To everyone playing around with UV lights (including flashlights like these). Be careful and don't look at them thinking "they aren't bright". Your eyes can't see the "brightness" (as the eyes can't see UV) and all your usual reflexes, like pupils narrowing, squinting, looking away, don't work. A pretty good hint that there's coming a lot more out of the lamp than you can see is that something fluoresces so brightly that you almost can't look at it. That "visible light power" isn't coming from thin air.
Mine doesn't have a filter, so it's visibly bright enough to avoid.
Refreshing to see a on/off switch. Clicking through modes has become one of my pet peeves.
They should make lights like that again.
"It is just clicking".... the best kind of flash light: On and Off, nothing more. Nothing "smart". And no flashing.
On-Off switches are soooo underrated.
i do like off-on-high though
Problem with these switches is they tend to be quite poor quality and suffer switch bounce noise or even just intermittent contact. Especially when switching the current of high powered LED from an 18650, or even 3 AAA's in series. At least that's what I have observed.
Laughs in anduril 2....
Not in the last 40nyeats they've not, no @@_BangDroid_
@@kitsunekaze93 that's the best combo. Low for endurance and high when you need to look for something.
Oh, torches and UV light emitters, and ionizers deserve their own playlists on this channel, I think.
I´m glad you did not break the light. I prefer when you repair/reassemble what you show at the end of the video and it still works.
Almost everything gets rebuilt afterwards.
I found a UV torch useful when I ordered a bunch of T10 LEDs in warm white, cool white and ice blue all mixed in one bag. Rather than testing each one, I used the uv torch and the different phosphors lit up different colors. Made sorting them faster.
Smart! Wish I'd thought of that!
A very fine example of "It's a REALLY good little light... let's take it to bits!"
And that's why we are here lol gotta love it
These are also great for finding scorpions at night (they fluoresce nicely). And if you like to think your bathroom is clean, Do Not shine one of these around in there in the dark.
My bed has a nice healthy glow :P
Or into a teenager's room
Since my bedroom & bathroom have a history of housing scorpions, I'm conflicted.
Dont ever use an UV light in a hotel room 😭
@@Oheng75 also, the comforter is not routinely washed., neither the curtain.
That thumbnail. Man you're really upping your algorithm game.
Hah, I'd missed that.. and now am sad.
I always enjoy this art on his side.
@@nightcatartswhat you doing here!?
@@Halokon Oh hai. Just hanging around, having good taste in content.
Is it the youthful face or the glowing eyes that impress you ?
I just got one of these myself. Was included as a promotion with a glow in the dark tech product skin. Has the visible filter and 1AA booster like yours.
Has an amusing warning on the side.
"Point at: Glow in the dark skin. 45-60 secs for full charge.
Do not point at: Your eyeballs. Prolonged exposure will blind you."
Ali express is an entertaining grab bag tbh. I love ordering off there.
Love lights that have only on and off, no fancy modes.
I work in HVAC, we have some very expensive branded UV lights for fluorescing tracing dyes. About 8 months ago a college bought one very similar to this except it has an 18650 cell in it and is labelled as 2 watts, dual wavelength and it is honestly one of if not the best UV light i've ever used for tracing dye. Since then I think everyone has one.
Might want to be careful shining it in your eyes.
I'm interested to get the reference. Could you share the link please? Thank you
I'm also interested if you could share the make and model of it that would be most appreciated
Same
Yes
You can find those in 10W, 20W, 50W, and 100W. Over in the AAS department they're using the 10-watt version to light up fluorescent dye particles in a wind tunnel. 365nM ultraviolet, 12V at 900mA, with nine LEDs packed onto a little ceramic plate on a heatsink. No flashlight, just a Chanzon/Cree bare LED and 12V wall transformer. (Me, I wouldn't want to mess with the hundred-watt version, same idea but a 10 x 10 array mounted on a huge CPU-cooler. Ultraviolet death-ray!)
An on / off switch is so 1990s and I like it. No stupid strobe. 😀
It also saves energy as it physically disconnects the batteries!
I have 2 UV lights to look for my golf balls in my bamboo forest at my house. Wonderful devices! I even find my golf balls stuck in the top branches. Found out that bird droppings glow, imagine that. Thank you for taking everything apart. ❤ I always take apart/open up everything I buy now a days. I look for soldier joins and wiring. I opened up a instant hot water heater for under the sink in my kitchen, before I installed it obscure; the intake copper tube had been wrenched off inside and was broken. If I had installed this thing, it would have shorted out, blown the breaker and put a few gallons of water on my kitchen floor. wow. Keep up the good work. 💋
A ‘flashlight’ with no annoying flashing modes? Must be a torch 😀👍
In Germany we literally call it a pocket lamp - because a flashlight doesn't flash and an electric torch shouldn't be on fire, eh? 😂
@@webfreezy "Ficklampa" in Swedish, also literally "pocket lamp" we do however still sometimes talk about burn time on electric lamps, is that a thing in German?
I recently purchased a 365nm torch off eBay after my old one died a terrible death - I hunt minerals. Long story short, the new torch is a massive change in power and filtration when compared the the outgoing UV torch. I'm mighty impressed!
Walking around at home in the dark with the new UV torch is like a horror film. You think your house is clean but it really isn't...
What do you mean by "died a terrible death?" Did it release the magic smoke, did it suddenly stop working, or did it do something else?
365 nm is also the preferred wavelength for use in foraging or identifying mushrooms; Many of the varieties that fluoresce strongly are either quite toxic or not edible but instead used to dye fabrics such as wool or silk.
@@goodun2974 That's a very good point!
@@vinnysworkshop Yeah the mystical smoke was released. The circuit fried. The minerals I hunt can be inside old mines and with that comes the hazards of water containing dissolved minerals - ie conductive. Despite all of my attemps to waterproof that old torch, it was only a matter of time until conductive water reached the circuits inside :(
> > Walking around at home in the dark -
Find cat-pee on rugs. Never be tempted to inspect motel room surfaces. Also, see if your kids bedroom has a "Bobby Hill booger-wall." Now turn off the lights, and use the UV button to flash it like a 60s strobe on a Jackson Pollock!
These lights are great fun for seeing security features on passports and drivers licenses too. And also mailed cheques and concert tickets can also have fluro security threads in them.
Finally! A good light that i don't end up ordering after watching your review!
(... because I'd already purchased one...)
I picked up a selection of 365nm uv lights for resin curing. Some were as sold, others were likely 395. Glad you managed a real one!
I'm looking for a good resin curing light, do you have recommendations?
@semidemiurge search 3256806851953118 should get you there. If not let me know. If this is double post sorry, first one looks like it disappeared
I've tried replying and it keeps disappearing. Ali store "15W UV 365nm High power Blacklight USB Flashlight Invisible Ink Marker Cat Dog Urine Tinea Ore Money Scorpion Fluorescence Light". Make sure you choose the correct one as there is also a 395nm in the selection choices.
What works best can vary. Formlabs for example use 405nm for their resins.
@@semidemiurge, Helios sells a UV-curing "Surehold" cyanocrylate glue kit that includes a UV flashlight, but I don't know what wavelength it is. The UV flashlight seems to work well on Rapid-Fix resin glue as well.
These Alonefire flashlights are legit. Bought a cheap 365nm "60w" from them a while ago expecting to get something like 1w of actual power.
Not only did it come with a whole dang 18650, I am inclined to believe the power rating. I tried shining it at a couple pillowcases once and the fluorescence from it was enough to illuminate the entire room. The scariest thing about it? You can FEEL the heat. This thing outputs so much light that it literally heats up anything it's pointed at, and very quickly. Thankfully, 365nm is quite easily blocked by a lot of materials, so a cheap set of safety glasses is enough to protect my eyes.
Forgot to mention, they sent a custom branded 18650, so that's neat, gives a little more credibility that it's an original product.
Since it seems I am doing a product review anyways, might as well finish it. The model I bought comes with a water resistant usb-c recharging port, and that seems to work pretty well.
The build quality feels quite solid. Sometimes there is a bit of squeaking when screwing on the battery compartment cap, but after that, there seems to be no slop or play between the parts at all.
I picked up an alonefire 365nm UV torch from Amazon a couple years ago. Also came with their branded battery, but it is a 26650 cell. Fantastic build quality and performance for the £30 I paid for it 👍
Yup, you can even notice a weird smell if you aim it at dirty surfaces.
@bragapedro I disagree on private branded batteries. They do this in order to buy whatever is cheapest at the moment and you never know of what to expect. For anything important like a tire inflator or flashlight I demand samsung low self discharge cells or name brand equivalent.
I do suppose that some private labeled cells could be carefully selected and high quality provided but hoe do you tell?
Most 18650 cells sold with fire or ultra in their name are almost always very disappointing.
Good cells cheap can be harvested from certain tool batteries when on sale cheap.
@@bragapedro anytime I see "custom branded" li-ion cells, I know I'm in danger. I still remember the days of Ultrafire 18650s exploding. Stick with known names like LG, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung.... I don't want any colorful brands on the wrapping, not on those.
I think the driver IC is a Microne ME2206. The wave logo on the IC matches their datasheet and it has the same footprint/pin out. The datasheet for the UM1663S lists a low end supply voltage of 2.8v.
Me2206 has a 1 cell version but it looks for 95mV sense and 5v shut down open output.
@@anullhandleThat would make it about 300mA through the LED, roughly 1W. It might last a bit longer!
Nice touch to put in the actual link of purchase in your description! 🙂 I have bought one just ago to inspect money bills on the go. Looks like it is going to work great with that light. Please keep putting in those links.
High-quality UV lights like these make common things like peanut butter and plain sugar temporarily glow when exposed to the light for a few seconds. There are other substances that will glow too, such as some candies...it's fun to experiment with 'em.
I ordered one of these and it was slightly different to Clive's. Mine actually has a UV led rather than a filter! It's fantastic! £0.96p including delivery. It was my first purchase with aliexpress.
I ordered one of these just based on the video title alone. It arrived a couple of days ago and I'm similarly pleased with it
Purchased this one a couple of weeks ago. There's also a larger version that takes two AAA batteries with even brighter light! I can highly recommend them.
These (and their shorter wavelength cousins) are really handy for quickly setting the water - clear transparent UV resin adhesives. You get a good, hard bond in about 10 seconds illumination, even with "difficult to glue" materials.
I used a similar light to check for leaks in an auto a/c system.
A naked eye look at the problem spots revealed oil seepage.
Using an UV torch revealed fractures in the alloy pipework.
Even tiny leaks that had not leaked any oil.
I just ordered one, and for less than 1 USD with free shipping it seems like a no-brainer!
Wow... This is a really instructional video on how a boost can be constant current or constant voltage!!!!!
I encountered and bought the Alonefire SV57 from AliExpress a few weeks ago, which has the same 365nm emitter, bandpass filter and reflector. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised by the intensity and quality of the illumination. Being value-engineered, it only has a 1mm thick "ZWB2 UG1" filter to block visible light, but that seems enough to do the trick. Out of curiosity, I put a 3mm thick filter in front of it and didn't notice any difference in either visible or UV output, but maybe my eyes fooled me. I don't think these cheap little flashlights thermally couple the emitter to the body very well and the beam has a very narrow angle, but I paid $10 for three and am delighted.
I ought to have mentioned that there is a small but excellent RUclips channel called Project 326 that has a number of videos about dirt-cheap but surprisingly useful Chinese spectrophotometers. These little boxes have a range that extends up into UVA. Good videos about budget geiger counters and other things too.
Believe the pebbles are called Yooperlite, though you're more likely to find a novelty condom or baby toy on most UK beaches, rather than fun rocks😅
Clive! I have TONS of 365nm flashlights, as I am an avid hunter of fluorescent rocks. . . and collect uranium glass. A couple months ago I found my first ever real 254nm quad LED flashlight. I love it to bits! I donated my lab mercury vapour 254nm lamp to the local Rock Museum. And really, you should get some fluorescent mineral samples to show off with the lights. Franklinite and Wilamite are better short wave tests than most of the professional tests are. Anywhoo, love your vids and reviews. Greetings from Oregon!
Super cool! Thanks Big Clive.
Clive, you should have had a Gin & Tonic at hand. The Quinine fluoresces in UV and the gin accentuates the effect. Perhaps next time.
Why do I suddenly feel thirsty?
I worked in Non-destructive Inspection (NDI) in US Air Force. We used 365nm lights with Fluorescent Magnetic Particle (aka magnaflux) and Fluorescent Dye Penetrant (aka Zyglo) to detect microscopic cracks and discontinuities in parts. In-shop we usually used lamps between 100 to 300 Watts. You can easily see defects at arms length.
I used to have a 1954 Riley Pathfinder in which the instrument lights were luminous; the light source was a conventional 12v tungsten bulb but with a heavy glass filter which provided the uv excitement for the numerals and needles.
This will also be helpful if you are camping in regions where scorpions are prevalent, for checking your bedding as the UV will make the little buggers fluoresce!!
Thank you Clive 👌👏👏
And scorpions! They really pop!
I believe we even have small local populations around south coast ports in the UK Google says "Isle of Sheppey".. A bit far from where Clive is though...
@@yangtse55
I can't turn over a rock in my yard without finding one! 😁
I just bought a 395nm one to check some of my grandmothers' glassware to see if there is any uranium glass. I already found three pieces! Very exciting.
395nm ist the standard UV, this is 365nm which makes it less visible for the human eye
Ive had one of these for a few months im quite pleased with it
Not even a quarter of the way into the video and I've ordered both the 365nm and 395nm versions (and some 5x5mm LED spacers to drop the £1.99 shipping!), because why not, that looks like a pretty neat little light, and will be handy for charging up glow-in-the-dark things too... :D
Late to the party but i wanted to share some secrets. I have one thats similiar although it does not have that dark lens on, just transparent one but it still emitts deep UV. It shows bodiky fluids especially dried ones so I used it on my floor when I had puppy in my apartment and found some spots where he left a couple invisible secret stains as a present😅 another use is to check if money is legit, as you've said, but I also found out a lot of official documents like drivers license, IDs and even credit cards have some cool hidden designs only showing under deep UV. If you have greasy face, you can see that fresh sebum glows pinkish-orange under it but be carefull not to shine in your eyes for too long. Some plants shine deep dark red color under it instead of green - also interesting but its not very noticeable. I only wish i had more powerfull flashlight because some effects are realy barely visible.
I actually prefer using clear UV resin for conformal coating PCBs these days. I found that a lot of the lacquer being sold on amazon et al tends to "lift up" from the PCB after some years. So having a reasonably powerful UV flashlight is really useful.
I've had a TK-566 365nm 1 watt for years. Very useful for checking banknotes.
Recently got a rechargeable 365nm one. Good toy.👍
I don’t know why but that squiggle burn on your desk BUGS ME LIKE BILLIO!! 😂
So Exciting.!
Thanks Clive, nice find.👍
These are also very good for curing UV adhesives
Oh hi Mike! Does 395nm also work for curing UV resin?
I have found the UV cure adhesives cure much faster specifically at 365nm. I did a bunch of testing while working on a curing fixture. I'm currently running 4 groups of 4 365nm leds and each bank of 4 is running at 750mA. It's working great.
These are perfect for camping in the desert. The UV exposes any scorpions that might be nearby ❤
I did some experiments with Luminol and UV once.
If you ever want to sleep at night, do NOT do this in your kitchen.
It's like the scene of a 1,000 murders.
i bought the Alonefire SV13 and was impressed how quickly it cures UV resin. Alonefires reputation on regular cheap led flashlights is mediocre at best but i was so impressed that i bought the SV74 too. The absobtion filter is really doing a great job and the output power is intense. No matter if i cure resin, charge glow in the dark stuff or been summoned by my parents who search for spots the cat peed on, it's very effective. Just don't use it in your kitchen, the fat residue glows and even in a cleaned kitchen you'll always find traces of grease -_-" by the way the SV74 has USB-C charging but the port is very poor, meaning you have to put pressure on some cables to let it charge and the USB-A out is just 3.9V at roughly 1 Amp. It also does not like flat nose 18650 cells...
I got one of these, be careful where you point it, I shined it in the bathroom and ended up cleaning for the rest of the afternoon Lol
The ZWB2 filter really makes a huge difference in what you can detect with 365nm UV
UV is really cool. Max Planck would be proud. Actually all light is really cool. 🙂👍
*WOW* 🤯
What you can see with this lil’ light is just… *NUTS…*
hi-vis and UV makes for great party clothing
i sometimes wear green and orange hi-vis because i like the style
I've bought several 365nm UV flashlights from Amazon over the past year or so. I was shocked to see the advertised wavelength on these flashlights, but my spectrometer confirmed them. And as you mentioned with this one, it's pretty obviously not just a 395nm diode when you see it in person, no spectrometer needed.
Ive found a few of those florescent rocks on the shores of Lake Erie in Angola N.Y. Really cool little rocks they are.
I recently bought a Convoy S2 from AliExpress, and had a very similar amount of shock at it actually being 365nm. When I turned it on and shone it against a matt painted wall and didn't see any visible light I thought it was broken! It also feels really warm on skin, even from a decent distance. Makes me cautious about where I point it.
Ali-express has bought out quite a few real UV/Black light torches/flash-lights in the last past months, loving them.
Good old devils miliamps ay. Thanx again, learned me well master.
I have a flashlight that is supposed to be 365 nm. It also has a dark filter. I have no instruments for actually measuring the wavelength. It runs on a built-in lithium ion cell, probably a bit smaller than an 18650. It gets very warm when running.
I can see quite a lot of visible light from it. I need to dig out one of my old BLB (black light blue - the type with a dark purple envelope) fluorescent lamps for comparison. Perhaps I see further into the UV spectrum than most people, perhaps it produces more in the visible spectrum than it should. The meat lenses of my eyes were sucked out (very literally, after being chopped into waffles with a laser then further broken up with ultrasonic energy) and replaced with plastic ones some years back. That made a huge difference in my ability to see pale blues and purples and restored the appearance of my Kodak neutral grey test card to what I remembered it as instead of brownish.
I discovered that ordinary safety glasses with clear (i.e. untinted) polycarbonate lenses made an *enormous* difference. They cut out almost all of what I was seeing as visible purple. Again, I have no clear explanation, since polycarb cuts quite sharply at about 400 nm, well within the range most people can see.
The glass filter is probably Wood's glass - same as used for fluorescent blacklight tubes and stage lights. I've been using a broken tube to filter 395nm LEDs for years (after removing the phosphor powder) to reduce the visible light.
It's usually ZWB2 glass on LED lamps these days, you can buy the circular filters or have pieces of the glass cut to your own dimensions on the usual sites.
This would be ideal for hunting down uranium glass out in the wild at stores and such. Strong, actual uv, but small enough to carry around and not look like a weirdo.
be aware that 365 will make all kinds of things glow not just uranium glass. Manganese glass looks similar to uranium glass and is also pretty collectable.
For that use a Geiger counter click click click click click
Don't forget to look at your cooked oatmeal with the 265nm light.😊
as alaways, enjoyed everybit of your video. Keep making videos like that. We learn alot from you.
I've got the SV003 365nm, it's the 18650 version. Fantastic light for my UV reactive stuff!
well i just ordered a different cheap 365nm light off the big marketplace, but glad to see it theoretically should be fine. cheers bud
I've got one looking exact the same but it's way more visible, I think mine doesn't have a (good) UV filter. But I'm still impressed by mine, so yours is off the charts.
I bought a few cheapo rechargeable 365nm lights recently and amazingly all of them were real! It’s really interesting looking at their beams on non-fluorescent materials with and without glasses, because it looks like a creepy grey with glasses and it looks like what I can only describe as unhealthy without glasses.
And then if you point the beam at something fluorescent like a sheet of paper, you realize just how much light is coming out when it illuminates the entire room
Your glasses probably block the UV or violet. A lot of plastic lenses do that. I even notice a difference looking at a violet "blue ray" laser pointer with and without glasses on, though it's been years since I knew where my home made bluray laser pointer is
@@gorak9000 yep! Most modern glasses and a decent number of brands of contact lenses block over 90% of UV
Thanks for another excellent schcematic go-through! 🌠
You should get the Big Brother version of these 365nm lights. Go out at night in your garden/parks etc and see all the plants, trees and wee beasties that fluoresce in crazy technicolour!!
Some Mushrooms and fungi fluoresce strongly.
These are good for searching your tomato and pepper plants at night for Tomato Hornworms.
I have 2 of these “AA” alonefire 365nm lights. They are very impressive for the price. They burn the skin if you get too close to the led inside!
I have the 10 watt version of this from the same brand which is powered by an 18650 lithium ion. It works great for finding UV dye while leak searching HVAC equipment. The only thing missing is a charger built into it with a USB-C port.
3:26 "if he dies, he dies" lol
Also useful for finding Scorpions. They glow well under UV!
Thanks! I bought both versions!
The woods glass they use for the filter lens is also worth having on its own as you can convert the cheapie 395 nm ones or a standard “BLB” black light to a UVA light source since it will block the longer wavelengths, but cheap surplus samples might be hard to find.
Bought a 50 watt chip off amazon. Seller had the whole range of uv down to 365, but the price went up pretty quick too. There is such a soothing difference between 395 and 365 nm though. I had found out that my enamel pin collections glows real well under 365 but is saturated with the purple from 395.
Yes, I own one similar 265nm for ID minerals. Opals, Sweetwater Agates (contain Uranium). Thanks for mentioning that.
I got a distressingly cheap UV laser for curing resin a few years ago that just runs off an 18650, and it works wildly well. Useful as a more typical UV light with the beam diffused as much as possible
OOh I like this, I might have to buy one. I have a lot of UV reactive Gemstones and mineral samples, that I have a few different wavelengths of UV light for but this is just a handy thing to have. Interesting video 2x👍
(I do follow safety rules of UV light stuff I like my eyes working and not having skin cancer👍 )
When Big Clive says it makes it pop, I was rather hoping smoke and flames :( lol
Not enough smoke in the last years, unfortunately.... maybe coming back?
I had to order one of course!
I love the thumbnail AI pun 😂. It's better than the other boring ai thumbnails used for all new youtube videos😢😩😔.
What!? This UV Flashlight doesn't have the strobe and S-O-S modes!? LOL I agree with you, it's a nice UV flashlight
That thumbnail is wildly ballsy. Can't believe how far I had to scroll to find a mention of it.
Picked up a similar one from Amazon last year. It's fun to look at things like bank notes, IDs, passport, etc. I was surprised to find that they printed the same photo that's on the front of my DL on the back in UV ink making it invisible under normal light.
Thank you, Sir. Will get me one as well ASAP
Haven't finished this yet but just shone one onto my hi-viz and it's incredible! [the reason I have such a light is for "curing" pcb paint]
the aliexpress bundle! i was wondering how good those uv torches where too! thanks for providing the answer! the moving dog toy for £1.5 was too tempting and very cute XD
I bought 2 of these but a different style and i found a moss around my yard that fluoresces a red colour and doesn't with my older uv lights. They're pretty neat.
Also clicky switches are better i think because all my other push button flashlights have a parasitic drain when off and need the base unscrewed a bit when not using them.
Good wavelength for lighting up scorpions.
Love the vids, always find something new and interesting!
I bought this light....its brilliant
on switches:
My current favorite flashlight is sold by Duracell under its own brand. I bought them in Canada at Costco.
The switch is a clicky type on the side, which is a lot more convenient than the end. If the flashlight is on and you push the switch til it clicks, it turns off. If you click it again within about 2 seconds it turns on to the next mode in the sequence. After 2 seconds of being off it turns on at high brightness.
These flashlights do have a flashing mode, which I find useful when walking at night to help keep idiots from running over me with their cars.
I was glad I had my flashlight with me (which I always do when walking at night) back in late August. If I'd turned it on just a few seconds later than I did I'd have walked smack into the side of a cow moose who was standing across the path. She wouldn't have liked that. An annoyed moose is quite capable of kicking a human into next week.
bought a similar torch for setting UV plastic, again a very nice lamp but i have to wear safety glasses when in use it, it is so bright in UV