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UV LED Torch by XxShadowxX14 (/member/XxShadowxX14/) in leds (/technology/leds/)

Download h (/id/UV-LED-Torch/) 6 Steps .  Collection I Made it!  Favorite  Share 

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Related
(https://cdn instructables com/FLT/AZLL/FYIZ4YMH/FLTAZLLFYIZ4YMH MEDIUM jpg)
LED Pen Torch (/id/LED-Pen-
Torch/)
In this tutorial, I will show you how to construct a simple, cheap, and powerful by abhirooprobotics
Ultra-Violet Torch for all your UV illumination needs. This project is beginner (/member/abhirooprobotics/)

friendly and requires only basic soldering skills. Lightning / Firefly Bugs Jar
Lets get started! (/id/Lightning-Firefly-Bugs-
Jar/)
by RobSmithDev
Step 1: What You Will Need (/ b /R bS ithD /)
Simple Counterfeit Money
Detector - UV Black Light
Lamp < 2$ (/id/Poor-Mans-
counterfeit-money-detector-
Ult i l t L/)
DIY 9V LED Torch - Quick
Hacks (/id/DIY-9V-LED-Torch-
Quick-Hacks/)
by arjun_g (/member/arjun_g/)

Modular UV LED Exposure

Unit (/id/Modular-UV-LED-
Exposure-Unit/)
by DIY Circuits
(/ b /DIY+Ci it /)

(https://cdn instructables com/FG6/COK4/FYIYC13R/FG6COK4FYIYC13R MEDIUM jpg)

 Components you will need for this project include:

- x2 Ultra-Violet LED's. (I purchased mine from Radio Shack for under 2 bucks.)
- x1 100-Ohm Resistor (Again, from Radio Shack. 99cents for a pack of 5.)
- x1 DEAD 9v Battery (or purchased 9v battery clip)
- x1 WORKING 9v Battery
- Pliers
- Basic Soldering Equipment.

Step 2: Extracting the 9v Terminal Clip

(https://cdn instructables com/FMH/IQX3/FYIYC13U/FMHIQX3FYIYC13U MEDIUM jpg)

(https://cdn instructables com/FGO/PRDI/FYIZH52X/FGOPRDIFYIZH52X MEDIUM jpg)

Using your pliers, Carefully peel the shell of the 9v back, and expose the cells
inside the protective covering. In this step, we are going to extract the terminal
clip, which will be the base of our project.

Step 3: Warm Up the Soldering Iron- Construction Begins

 (https://cdn instructables com/FJZ/ADA9/FYIYO409/FJZADA9FYIYO409 MEDIUM jpg)

(https://cdn instructables com/FLU/CGHN/FYIYC143/FLUCGHNFYIYC143 MEDIUM jpg)

The first part of this step includes determining the Negative (-) contact on our
freshly extracted clip. When dealing with 9v batteries, the large contact is
Negative, and the small contact is Positive. But beings that the terminal clip is
going to connect to our working 9v battery, the contacts for the clip we extracted
are reversed. The small contact connects into the large contact, and vise versa.
Identify the Negative (-) contact on the clip we have just extracted (the small
contact of the two) and begin soldering the 100-Ohm Resistor to its
corresponding contact point on the back, trimming the resistors leads as
needed. Refer to Picture.

-Note: Be generous with the amount of solder to get the resistors lead firmly
connected. I had a hard time getting it to stick well with minimal solder. Adding
more will do the trick.

Once the Resistor is secured, bend it downward also bending the un-soldered
lead parallel to the resistor. This keeps the circuit organized and compact.

Step 4: Soldering the LED's

 (https://cdn instructables com/FI6/XY8I/FYIZH53M/FI6XY8IFYIZH53M MEDIUM jpg)

Once you've determined the Negative terminal and have firmly soldered the
resistor to the contact, and bent the resistor in a organized manner, we will now
start soldering the LED's.

First, with one LED, trim the POSITIVE (+) lead to about 1/4"
Next, with the other LED, trim the NEGATIVE (-) lead to 1/4" as well.

Once you have done this, you'll want to bend the shortened contacts both
outwards at a 90� angle.

Last, solder the two shortened contacts together.

Refer to Picture

Step 5: Putting It All Together

 (https://cdn instructables com/FUP/N4JO/FYIZ4YZ3/FUPN4JOFYIZ4YZ3 MEDIUM gif)

Once your LED's are soldered together, and your resistor is soldered and bent
strategically, you may now trim the un-soldered LED leads and solder them to
their correct terminals. The LED with the un-soldered NEGATIVE terminal is
soldered to the un-soldered resistor lead. The LED with the un-soldered
POSITIVE lead is soldered directly to the positive contact, or the "big" contact
corresponding on the opposite side.

-Note: If you look carefully into an LED, connected to the leads are two pieces of
metal. One piece is significantly bigger than the other, that lead would be
NEGATIVE (-). Leaving the smaller piece POSITIVE (+).

Step 6: Let There Be Light!

 (https://cdn instructables com/FDT/PD62/FYIYC14N/FDTPD62FYIYC14N MEDIUM jpg)

(https://cdn instructables com/FQB/5HH0/FYIZ4Z00/FQB5HH0FYIZ4Z00 MEDIUM jpg)

Your finished project should look something like the picture below, and easily
clip onto a working 9v battery for a powerful, long lasting UV LED!

If UV isnt your taste, you can duplicate this same project using different colored
LED's, but that would require a different resistor suitable for your LED.
How do you find out which resistor is right for the LED you want to use?
When buying LED's, specifications are usually given for the average operating
voltage, and mA to illuminate the LED. With those values, you can plug them
into a simple online calculator that will give you the best resistor for your needs.
This calculator can be found here: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
(http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz)

Question: "I have 2 LED's, but they are salvaged, therefor I don't know their
operating values to plug into the online calculator."

Answer: A good rule of thumb is not to run a LED on any more than 3v
WITHOUT A RESISTOR unless specified to have a higher operating range. For
LED's with unknown voltage and mA values, "diode forward" or operation
voltage should be 3, and 20mA should work just fine.
 advertisement

Comments

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Please be positive and constructive. w I Made it!  Add Images Post Comment

Lateral Thinker (/member/Lateral+Thinker/) 2009-08-21 Reply

How many uses does it have? I was getting ready to chuck out a stack of ex-
smoke detector 9-volt batteries, thanks heaps, I am going to strip off the
connectors now. I bet they also make good cable joiners for projects

nruegs (/member/nruegs/) . Lateral Thinker (/member/Lateral+Thinker/) Reply

2009-08-21
I've also seen the connectors cut in half and used as snaps for
things like duct tape wallets.

Lateral Thinker (/member/Lateral+Thinker/) . nruegs (/member/nruegs/) Reply

2009-08-21
Seeing I live in State Housing, I will ask the "landlords"
electricians for more 9 volters, it is political if a state tenant dies because
the smoke detector does not work so at great cost, when you call, they
sent somebody to put in a new battery.

But heaps people then remove them, for powering radios etc, putting back
the flat battery from the radio, which came from the detector in the first
place too.

We are going to mains powered now, using 9 volters as back up.

Maybe 6-7 years ago, they tried long life lithium 9-volters, the batteries
were preinstalled, the detector sealed up by the supplier. However, within
months of mine being installed, I needed new batteries.

I made inquiries, and I was told that all the sealed detectors had been
railed in shipping containers from Auckland down to Wellington, during a
very hot summer, they overheated, and all were screaming out during the
trip. Under express freight, it was about 8 hours, more likely it was a
broken trip over two days.

A lot of people were disappointed, they thought these lithium batteries

would power their radios for 10 years, NO, they had a shelf life of 10
years, the smoke detectors used so little power, it was always the shelf life
of a 9-volter that ran out first.

Every year, first cold snap of the Winter, the low battery warning beeps go
off everywhere.

MarkF74 (/member/MarkF74/) . Lateral Thinker (/member/Lateral+Thinker/) Reply

2015-11-05
State housing and your stealing batteries from smoke detectors.
What a low life!! You should be greatfull for a hand up from my tax dollars
you punk. Go get a job and stop being a leach.
jlandreth1 (/member/jlandreth1/) 2014-05-28 Reply

I made one similar a few days ago. Except I used white leds and also put a
momentary switch/button. Tho I did use the same resistor...

Also here's a good way to figure what resistor to use without the led calculator.

9v (power supply)- 7v (led voltage drop)= 2v (leftover voltage)÷0.020

(amperage)= 100ohms (resistor value)

Here's my torch.

(https://cdn.instructables.com/F7M/GOSX/HVR7ORMP/F7MGOSXHVR7ORMP.LARGE.jpg)

(https://cdn.instructables.com/FS0/W51K/HVR7ORMQ/FS0W51KHVR7ORMQ.LARGE.jpg)

Timboscoops (/member/Timboscoops/) 2013-01-12 Reply

Sorry for being a burden I am n00b when it comes to electrical components. But
I have a few questions that I would like to get some help with.

Is there anyway to make it so that it flashes?

Can I use smaller batteries(a few button cells I need to use it in a very small
space)?

Lastly, I want to have the whole thing sealed in a waterproof container/

substance (for a fishtank?) but still be able to toggle it on/off and flash/ steady
light, any ideas thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
~Tim

coolsciencetech (/member/coolsciencetech/) 2009-11-09 Reply

man i wish we had radio shack in canada...all we get now is the source which
doesn't have many electronic components and the ones they do have are
overpriced :P

94todd (/member/94todd/) . coolsciencetech (/member/coolsciencetech/) Reply

2012-02-24
thats all radio shack is anymore, theyre changing a little bit, but
its still 4 bucks or so for 2 LEDs... your probably better off going on ebay,
you cna get deals like 600 LEDs for 4 bucks.

Xamith (/member/Xamith/) . coolsciencetech (/member/coolsciencetech/) Reply

2009-12-21
no kidding, eh? i miss Radio Shack. I have to travel all the way
the the states to buy stuff there.
zapper067 (/member/zapper067/) 2011-08-10 Reply

It looks like...burning.

Xamith (/member/Xamith/) 2010-01-19 Reply

yeah

coolsciencetech (/member/coolsciencetech/) . Xamith (/member/Xamith/) Reply

2010-01-19
I'm going in march so I might be able to pick some stuff up :)

arduino man (/member/arduino+man/) . coolsciencetech (/member/coolsciencetech/)

2011-06-22 Reply
Go to taydaelectronics.com they have cheap shipping
and cheap products.

I am never going to purchased any thing from Radio Shack ever.

Steeps5 (/member/Steeps5/) 2011-02-05 Reply

Mine worked really well =). For some reason the Enercell battery is brighter
than the Duracell.

(https://cdn.instructables.com/FOE/1RSU/GJQED3HZ/FOE1RSUGJQED3HZ.LARGE.jpg)

Adam Manick (/member/Adam+Manick/) 2010-11-02 Reply

UV leds are the best kind of led to get glow in the dark items to glow

fundash (/member/fundash/) 2010-08-14 Reply

Nice, I'm going to make a few of these with normal LEDs for thinks like power
outrages! (I had to deal with a 30 hour long power outage a few days ago, next
time, ill be prepared!) :)

Dream Dragon (/member/Dream+Dragon/) 2010-08-01 Reply

Beautifully assembled project, well documented and informative instructable.

Thank you for sharing it.

ericg001 (/member/ericg001/) 2010-02-14 Reply

Thanks for adding the link to the LED calculator. This instructable has been very
helpful.

dj whatever (/member/dj+whatever/) 2009-12-21 Reply

you can take an led flashlight and just change the regular leds with the uv
leds.. much more powerful.. i think.. very good instructable though..
 mr.origami (/member/mr.origami/) 2009-10-13 Reply

this is awesome man(in a jamaican accent).

lemonie (/member/lemonie/) 2009-08-21 Reply

Nice curves. L

hominid (/member/hominid/) 2009-08-21 Reply

Good one, very neat.

I More Comments

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