Caution: As with
any mid-wave or short-wave ultraviolet source, you must not allow
anyone to look into the light or shine it on bare skin as it
will cause damage to the eyes and/or sunburn to any exposed skin.
We currently have models from 9 watts to 190 watts. The bigger
units operate on 110 volt AC, 60 Hertz power, but can be custom
made to operate on 230 volt AC, 50 Hertz as well, please ask
for a quote.
The standard display units are made in a metal fixture with a
black powder coat finish, stainless steel lids and a black plastic
handle. The metal boxes come in 4 basic sizes - small 3"
x3" x15" (7.62cm x7.62cm x38.1cm), medium 4" x4"
x18" (10.16cm x10.16cm x45.72cm), large 4" x8"
x18" (10.16cm x20.32cm x45.72cm), and extra-large 4"
x5" x24" (10.16cm x12.7cm x60.96cm). The enclosures
for the 9 watt lamps are black ABS project boxes. They come in
two sizes 2.5" x4" x7.5" (6.35cm x 10.16cm x19.05cm)
and 3" x6"x8" (7.62cm x 15.74cm x20.32cm).
*** Ballasts ***
A few years ago, Way Too Cool switched over to hi-efficiency,
electronic ballasts for all of the larger AC lamps. The electronic
ballasts cost quite a bit more than the magnetic ballasts, but
they give off more light and they do not wear out the bulbs as
fast as the magnetic ballasts. The smaller 9 watt (see description
below) AC units do still use magnetic ballasts. Further, in both
the AC and DC versions, they use 13 watt ballasts to drive the
9 watt bulbs. The SW bulbs are rated by Philips to have an average
life of about 10,000 hours. Using a stronger ballast greatly
increases the amount of UV that is emitted by the bulb, but it
does shorten the life of the bulb somewhat. The 9 watt PL-S bulbs,
have capacitors built into the base of the bulb to allow them
work properly with the magnetic ballasts. The DC lamps use a
different kind of ballast and the capacitor is not needed, so
I take the capacitor out of the base of the bulbs used in the
DC lamps. The reflectors are made from highly polished aluminum.
The short-wave (UV-C) and mid-wave (UV-B) models feature Hoya
filter glass (U-325) for the very best in ultraviolet transmission
and resistance to solarization
*** Special Bulbs
***
These Phillips bulbs put out more UV over the life of the bulb
than the standard quartz bulbs and they also have much less mercury
in them. Philips also uses a different kind of glass so that
none of the ozone producing UV gets emitted from the bulb. Most
of the standard quartz bulbs do produce ozone. Philips figured
out that part of the reason that the standard quartz bulbs lose
efficiency is that the mercury gets into the structure of the
quartz and changes it so that less UV gets through. Because the
mercury absorbs into the glass, the standard quartz bulbs have
to put in about 5 times as much mercury, so that there will be
enough mercury left at the end of the useful life of the bulb.
Philips found that putting a coating of yittrium oxide on the
inside of the bulb helps to stop the mercury from getting into
the glass. This coating allows the bulb to emit much more UV
over the life of the bulb. Tests have shown that at 10,000 hours,
the quartz bulbs are emitting only about 53% of the UV that they
did when the bulbs were new. The Philips bulbs, on the other
hand still emit about 80% of the UV that they started out with.
The quartz bulbs do start out with a little more at the beginning
since the quartz glass allows about 92% of the UV through, while
the boro-silicate glass only allows about 88% of the UV through.
The cross over point where the Philips bulb starts outperforming
the quartz bulbs is about 2,000 hours, so for the rest of the
8,000 hours of typical use, the Philips bulb produces much more
UV than the quartz bulbs.
Although the big lamps can be taken out in the field,
the display lamps are primarily intended for inside conditions.
These high-powered ultraviolet display units will light up your
fluorescent collection for an awesome exhibit. The units are
available in long-wave, mid-wave, and short-wave ultraviolet
models as well as combinations of the various wavelengths.
