NUV "BULLET" LIGHT

NUV "Bullet" Light, retail $(unknown)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 11-10-09




I don't know what this product is supposed to be called, so I'll name it the first thing it reminded me of when I saw it...hence, the NUV "Bullet" Light has been named that way by me.

What the NUV "Bullet" Light is is a very small, keychain-sized source of NUV (near-ultraviolet) radiation that can be used for what you might use a near-ultraviolet radiation source for: checking paper currrency, bank cards, driver's licenses, and checks for invisible security features, checking hand stamps at clubs (or "discotheques" -- do they still have those?), checking antique items and glass for forgery or breakage, etc.

The NUV "Bullet" Light uses four LR41 button cells, and provides its NUV radiation with a 5mm LED emitting at ~406nm in the deep violet/near-ultraviolet part of the spectrum. And it comes in a plastic-coated police...er...uh...I mean COPPER body.


Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



To use the NUV "Bullet" Light, press and hold down the little silvery button on the side of the barrel to send a noncoherent stream of near-ultraviolet photons cascading from the light's "business-end", and release the button to turn it off.

Yes, it's just that easy.



To change the batteries in your NUV "Bullet" Light, unscrew the flashlight halves, dump the dead batteries out of the lower portion (disposing of or recycling them as you see fit) if necessary, carry the lower portion to a bridge over deep water (the Oakland Bay Bridge would be ideal; however, the Juneau-Douglas Bridge would also do in a pinch here), and throw it over the side so that it goes "blub blub blub" all the way to the bottom of Gastineau Channel with all of the bowling balls that were lobbed over that bridge in the 1950s and 1960s...0 W4!+!!! Y0U'11 N33D +H4+!!! So just set it aside instead.

In the upper portion of the unit, you'll see a white plastic sleeve; this serves as an insulater so that the batteries don't short out against the barrel. Remove this sleeve, and relieve it of any used button cells (again, disposing of or recycling them as you see fit).

Place three new LR41 button cells in this sleeve (placing them in so that the (+) of one cell faces the (-) of the next), lower the now-full sleeve down over the light so that the button-ends (-) negatives of the batteries go in first, and lay the last cell on top of that so that its button-end (-) negative faces down.

Lower the bottom half of the light over the stack of batteries, and screw it on until it stops turning.
Aren't you glad that you didn't throw the lower half of the light over the side of the Juneau-Douglas Bridge now?


This is what the Juneau-Douglas Bridge looks like...or what it lookED like anyway before it was replaced in 1976.


And this is what the bridge looks like now.



The NUV "Bullet" Light is very small and is made almost entirely out of plastic-covered copper, so "The Smack Test" would not really be appropiate here.

That said, this flashlight appears quite durable, but I don't believe it is too water-resistant. When I had it apart to do the battery change, I did not see an O-ring between the case halves. When the LED-end was suctioned on, rather extreme leakage was detected. So water, milk, diet Pepsi, coffee, urine, root beer, or other liquids could get inside around the LED and very probably around the pushbutton switch as well. So please try not to drop it in creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, oceansides, docksides, puddles of Siamese cat pee (What? No litterbox?), glasses of milk, slush piles, mud puddles, tubs, root beer floats, toliet bowls, cisterns, sinks, cups of coffee, fishtanks, dog water dishes, old yucky wet mops, wall-mounted porcelain uranators, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. A little rain or snow probably wouldn't hurt it though, so you need not be too concerned about using it in moderately bad weather.

If it fell in water and you suspect it got flooded, disassemble it as you would for a battery change, dump out the water if necessary, and set the parts in a warm dry place for a day or so just to be sure it's completely dry inside before you reassemble and use it again.

If it fell into seawater, got thrown into a glass of milk, if it fell in a root beer float, if it fell into a bowl of "soft-serv" ice cream, if somebody squirted a Massengill brand post-menstrual disposable douche or a Fleet brand disposable enema at it (and hit it with the douche or the enema), if it fell into your car's radiator while the radiator cap was off, or if somebody or something got "pist off" at it and subsequently "pyst" on it, rinse the parts out with fresh water before setting them out to dry. You don't want your NUV "Bullet" Light to smell like seaweed, sour milk, flowers, fresh butts, or rotten pee when you go to use it next. Besides, salt (from seawater, disposable douches, disposable enemas, or uranation), lactic acid (from moo juice), glycerol (from antifreeze), or sugar (from root beer & ice cream) can't be very good for the insides.

This appears to be a fairly well-constructed flashlight, provided you don't just beat the devil (or beat the {vulgar term for feces}, or beat the urine, or beat the living tweedle) out of it.
That is, it will definitely do what you purchased it to do - which is provide near-ultraviolet radiation.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Wavelength is too short for me to measure power output with the instruments at my disposal.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this light.


Spectrographic plot
Same as above; spectrometer's response narrowed to a range
between 380nm and 440nm to pinpoint peak wavelength.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of a uranated* glass marble when irradiated with this light.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the 2009 NIA Commemorative insulator in uranated glass when irradiated with this product.

*"Uranated" - infused with an oxide of uranium, *NOT* piddled on.
Commonly referred to as "Vaseline glass" because it has
a distinct pale yellow-green color when not being irradiated.

Note spelling: "urAnated", not "urEnated","urInated",
"urOnated", "urUnated", or sometimes "urYnated".


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the greenish-yellow "day glow" safety stripes of the VestLED when irradiated with this product.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the orange mesh of the VestLED when irradiated with this product.


USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.








TEST NOTES:
Test unit was obtained in 2003; it just turned up on 11-06-09 while I was looking for another product requiring spectroscopy.

Product was alnost certainly made in China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:
High NUV output
Handy-dandy size for keychain carry


CONS:
Uses batteries that may be expen$ive and/or difficult to locate
Not too water-resistant and definitely not submersible


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small NUV radiation source
    LAMP TYPE: 5mm NUV LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium flood
    SWITCH TYPE: Momentary pushbutton on/off on barrel
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic-covered copper
    BEZEL: None
    BATTERY: 4x LR41 button cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER-RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: Batteries, medium spring-loaded clasp
    WARRANTY: Unknown/TBA

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





NUV "Bullet" Light *






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