Blacklights, and way too much info..

[DougD]

Ok, here's pretty much everything you'd ever want to know about blacklights,
or blacklights to be used for sniffing out cat urine stains. I can't guarantee
any of this material, or the sources, I've just tried to get some idea of what
may work best for stain spotting. And one thing, not all black lights
are black lights!!! Or at least when it comes to cat urine. The ideal
flourescent type lamp should have the part designation of BLB on the end of
the part number. The BLB stands for: Black Light Blue. The problem is, not all
BLB tubes work!!! I have a cheap Asian party light myself with a BLB type bulb
in it, but it doesn't work!! The key seems to be staying with high end, well
known lamp suppliers such as GE (General Electric), Sylvania, and OSRAM. The
GE BLB type lamp has a specific black light filter on the glass of the tube
that provides a very narrow band of light in the desired 365nm range. "NM"
stands for nanometer, and it's used as a way to numerically label a frequency
of light (it's actually a measure of the wavelength, in nanometers. It's
pronounced "Nan-O-meters", or "Nann Om OMeters". The resources that I could
find on the topic of using UV to spot stains is somewhat sketchy, in that
some folks use different numbers as the ideal wavelenght. The GE BLB tube is
centered on 365nm. I've found another chart that shows that 380 or 395nm is
best, so for the time being, I would think that any UV source from 365 to
395nm should work. Also, some of the URL's below are for LED type UV lamps.
These lamps can be purchased for a specific wavelength, so you need to pay
attention to that when ordering as they have about 10 variations on what
wavelenght is used. Some also have multiple wavelengths in one lamp, which
might be handy as long as they are in the range that's desired.
So, stay away from any lamp that just has a "BL" on the end, that
won't work. And then only stick to the big name suppliers when looking for a
BLB tube. All the data is here in these URL's, as well as a good selection of
sources for them. Oddly, it would appear that probably the best place to buy
one of these urine inspection lamps is from the same folks that sell the
removal chemicals. Their lamps aren't much more expensive than any other
source, and that way you know that you're getting a lamp that has been tested
and works for this application!!
OK, I'm worn out.. Good luck, please post your results if you try any of
these!!
Thanks,
Doug

GEF15T8-BLB
365BLB
368BLB
(Good GE part numbers)

380 or 395nm best for cat/human urine.
(best suggested if using an LED light source)

http://riskreactor.com/Index.htm
http://0-0-0checkmate.com/Hot/Portable_Blacklight.html
http://www.urine-off.com/
http://www.defensedevices.com/portable-black-light.html
*** http://www.sprayalert.com/finding-cat-spray.html (good source for info)
(suppliers of flourescent type UV lamps)

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(og4xmyfawg0qmuqyc0dryi55)/productDetails.
aspx?SKU=3237435
(large 40 watt BLB bulb)

http://genet.gelighting.
com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?
REQUEST=CONSUMERSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=35885&BreadCrumbValues=Specialty_Colored%
20,_%20Party%20Lights_,
T8&ModelSelectionFilter=FT0010:Specialty_Colored%20&%20Party%20Lights
(Tech Spec's on BLB type lamps)

http://genet.gelighting.
com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=COMMERCIALSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=10531
(more tech spec's/detail on BLB lamps)

http://genet.gelighting.
com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=RESULTPAGE&CATEGORY=Lamps&FILTER=FT0010:
Specialty_Colored+%26+Party+Lights_Blacklight+Blue&CHANNEL=Commercial&FILTERFI
ELD=Specialty&BREADCRUMB=Specialty^Blacklight+Blue
(GE's master listing of all black light blue lamps)

http://www.theledlight.com/uv_flashlights.html
(LED type flashlights)

http://www.24hours7days.com//Science/Demonstration.html
(school science type projects, with blacklights for sale)

[Sherry]

Bleh. Stay away from blacklights altogether, unless you have a Hendrix
poster. I bought one
and my living room lit up like Chinatown. I wanted to move. Some
things you're better off
just not knowing.

Sherry

[-Lost]

Response from Sherry <srid...@aol.com>:

> Bleh. Stay away from blacklights altogether, unless you have a
> Hendrix poster. I bought one
> and my living room lit up like Chinatown. I wanted to move. Some
> things you're better off
> just not knowing.

*falls over laughing*

We have a 4 foot black light in every room in the house for various
occasions, like the upcoming All Hallow's Eve (Samhain) party.
Anyway...

Not only do you see things that you now wish you could get rid of,
but you mostly cannot!

Looking down at yourself (even without clothes) is also a scary
process! "Aaaaiieeee! What are all these white dots on me?!"

Too funny.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

[Jean B.]

Okay, I am squirreling this away and will refer to it when
buying a blacklight. Just too busy the next few days (at least).

This is such a useful post! Thanks so much for ferreting out
this much information!

--
Jean B.

[Mark_Galeck]

Wow this is so great Doug! I will get one of these and try, as soon
as I get some dried cat urine :) FYI, the ones I tried, were both
large and small, so size is not the issue, and also of course I tried
them according to instructions, for example, really close to the
stain... Will post when I get a chance to try what you recommend