Dive Blacklight (UV Light)?

[LarsB]

See Steffen Beyer - Fluo-Diving for the complete collection of information about fluorescent night dives, which will be kept up to date as more information becomes available.

 

[garyredfern]

Hi,
I recently bought a "395 nM 51 UV Ultraviolet LED flashlight Blacklight 3 AA, 7202UV395" from Amazon (costs $10) and a Princeton Tec TEC400 incandescent flashlight and switched the bulb & reflector from the dive light for the LED & reflectors. It was pretty simple ... took about 30 minutes ... it will be pretty self explanatory when you have the 2 flashlights in front of you. Unscrew the bulb and reflector from the mounting disc, block off where the centre of the bulb would have made contact with the disc (piece of tape worked for me) and then run a wire from the large spring that came with the UV light (completes the electrical circuit) through the plastic disc to the metal strapping (on the back of the disc) that the centre of the bulb would have connected to. It is most probably worthwhile attaching a small piece of wire at the end of the smaller spring so it is guaranteed to make contact with the circular strapping. Finally, the UV light is only 3 cell so you need to make a dummy cell for the battery housing (either a tape both ends of a cell and then run a wire from one end to the other (on the top of the tape) or fashion a piece of wooden dowel/broomstick with a wire from one end to the other).
We used this for the first time on a New Years Eve night dive and all I can say is "Wow! Amazing!". The UV light exceeded all expectations!
Gary

 

[garyredfern]

Hi,I recently bought a "​

395 nM 51 UV Ultraviolet LED flashlight Blacklight 3 AA, 7202UV395​

" from Amazon (costs $10) and a Princeton Tec TEC400 incandescent flashlight and switched the bulb & reflector from the dive light for the LED & reflectors. It was pretty simple ... took about 30 minutes ... it will be pretty self explanatory when you have the 2 flashlights in front of you. Unscrew the bulb and reflector from the mounting disc, block off where the centre of the bulb would have made contact with the disc (piece of tape worked for me) and then run a wire from the large spring that came with the UV light (completes the electrical circuit) through the plastic disc to the metal strapping (on the back of the disc) that the centre of the bulb would have connected to. It is most probably worthwhile attaching a small piece of wire at the end of the smaller spring so it is guaranteed to make contact with the circular strapping. Finally, the UV light is only 3 cell so you need to make a dummy cell for the battery housing (either a tape both ends of a cell and then run a wire from one end to the other (on the top of the tape) or fashion a piece of wooden dowel/broomstick with a wire from one end to the other).We used this for the first time on a New Years Eve night dive and all I can say is "Wow! Amazing!". The UV light exceeded all expectations!Gary​

 

[bl6394]

I temporarily converted my 21W HID Lightmonkey Can Light into a UV light for about $10.

Bought a Wood's Glass filter and glued it into the bottom of a neoprene beer Cozy. The whole thing slipped over the light head and worked remarkably well. The wood's glass (available from cinema supply stores) only passes UV light - and the HID generates lots of UV.

There was a lot of fluorescent flora / fauna on the reef dive off Key Largo. And the filtered light (although sufficient for the night dive) didn't destroy my night vision. It was an awesome way to see the reef.

Good luck,

Bjorn

 

[LarsB]

Thanks a lot for sharing, garyredfern and bl6394!

garyredfern, did you mean these?

Amazon.com: 395 nM 51 UV Ultraviolet LED flashlight Blacklight 3 AA, 7202UV395: Home Improvement
Princeton Tec Tec 400 | Simply Scuba UK

By the way, my own construction of another UV dive light is complete,
see http://picasaweb.google.com/ostbey/HowToBuildYourOwnUltravioletDivingLamp3

 

[garyredfern]

Yes

Thanks a lot for sharing, garyredfern and bl6394!

garyredfern, did you mean these?

Amazon.com: 395 nM 51 UV Ultraviolet LED flashlight Blacklight 3 AA, 7202UV395: Home Improvement
Princeton Tec Tec 400 | Simply Scuba UK

By the way, my own construction of another UV dive light is complete,
see Picasa Web Albums - O.St. Bey. - How to build ...

 

[MRXRAY]

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[LarsB]

I just came back from the Dominican Republic and uploaded a video of the night dive I made there with my latest self-made UV lamp;
see Biofluorescent Night Dive - República Dominicana, Bayahibe (La Romana), Park Reef (Isla Saona) - YouTube or https://picasaweb.google.com/110815...OwnUltravioletDivingLamp3#5701652351403611538

Enjoy!

Best regards,
LarsB

 

[LarsB]

The link on PicasaWeb has changed: https://picasaweb.google.com/110815...OwnUltravioletDivingLamp3#5704655588634462546

And if the above YouTube video is blocked, try either the above PicasaWeb link or Biofluorescent Night Dive - República Dominicana, Bayahibe (La Romana), Park Reef (Isla Saona) - YouTube

Enjoy!

 

[Damselfish]

Hi,
I recently bought a "395 nM 51 UV Ultraviolet LED flashlight Blacklight 3 AA, 7202UV395" from Amazon (costs $10) and a Princeton Tec TEC400 incandescent flashlight and switched the bulb & reflector from the dive light for the LED & reflectors. It was pretty simple ... took about 30 minutes ... it will be pretty self explanatory when you have the 2 flashlights in front of you. Unscrew the bulb and reflector from the mounting disc, block off where the centre of the bulb would have made contact with the disc (piece of tape worked for me) and then run a wire from the large spring that came with the UV light (completes the electrical circuit) through the plastic disc to the metal strapping (on the back of the disc) that the centre of the bulb would have connected to. It is most probably worthwhile attaching a small piece of wire at the end of the smaller spring so it is guaranteed to make contact with the circular strapping. Finally, the UV light is only 3 cell so you need to make a dummy cell for the battery housing (either a tape both ends of a cell and then run a wire from one end to the other (on the top of the tape) or fashion a piece of wooden dowel/broomstick with a wire from one end to the other).
We used this for the first time on a New Years Eve night dive and all I can say is "Wow! Amazing!". The UV light exceeded all expectations!
Gary

Thanks for this. Bought one of those lights on Amazon and we already had a TEC400 lying around which wasn't getting used. Worked nicely.

Now I'm wondering if I could find a UV light with an LED head that could work in either an old Princeton Tec Surge, or a UK400. Anybody done that?