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| Click here to select a new forum. | | Retr0Bright: How do I know if my UV bulb is working? | Posted by: LC_575 on 2010-12-19 13:37:34
I just bought a set of 4 UV bulbs for a nail dryer machine. However, each bulb shares the same socket mount as a CFL desk lamp I own. It works with it's standard 13W florescent bulb. Each UV bulb is a 9W bulb, and fits in the desk lamp perfectly. However, when I turn the lamp on (w/ the UV bulb installed), it appears that the bulbs (all four) don't work. No clicking of the bulb heating up, no light, no sensory indication of successful operation. Now I know UV bulbs don't put out much light, but even in a perfectly dark room the bulb produces no light. What's going on? Do I have a bad batch of bulbs or is my lamp not appropriate for the task?
Also, do these bulbs take more than a minute to heat up? I've only left mine on for no more than 10 seconds.
| Posted by: Anonymous Freak on 2010-12-19 14:18:14
Find out what kind of socket the UV bulbs are actually meant for. It might be that the physical socket is the same, but has different electrical properties.
For example, does your CFL have its own ballast, or is it "just tube"? If it's just a tube, with no ballast (the bulky electronic part of a CFL that uses a standard socket,) then the CFL is likely expecting fairly high incoming voltage (Fluorescent lamps require fairly high voltage, so desk-type CFLs use a step-up transformer internally.) They also use DC rather than AC. If your UV bulb is a standard incandescent UV, then it is expecting mains voltage, AC. You might very well have blown the bulb; although if you didn't hear/see anything, that's not too likely.
| Posted by: LC_575 on 2010-12-19 14:26:21
The UV bulb are ballast-less florescent bulbs. The lamp itself has a ballast/transformer in it's base.
If it's any help, here's where I bought the bulbs on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120592878330&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
| Posted by: CJ_Miller on 2010-12-25 21:05:59
Try using it to erase your UV-erasable EPROMs. If they erase, it works.
| Posted by: Mk.558 on 2010-12-26 09:59:07
A digital camera (at least mine) detects about 30-50 % UV.
| Posted by: redrouteone on 2011-01-06 19:22:35
Also you could turn the lights out and stick a sock under the lamp. The phosphorus left behind from the detergent fluoresces in the presence of UV light.
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