foufee Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Hi, I've been looking at UV sterlizers and I saw a Unifilter 500, and it uses UV LEDs, which being technically minded, I thought, "I can do that", and have sourced some UV LEDs (wavelength 400->450nm) for next to nothing each. But I've seen a comment somewhere (can't remember where) that the UV prodcued by a LED isnt suitable for this application (so what does the Unifilter do?). Can anyone confirm or deny the suitability of UV LEDs for aquarium use. Or has anyone had any experiance with the Unifilter products? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Whats the wavelength of the led's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 I made one years ago designed the same way as a lieberg condenser. I used a three foot UV flouro tube and a PVC pipe as a jacket with a smaller inlet and outlet each end. There are problems with UV sanitizers which have to be addressed. Water clarity, water depth, keeping the tube clean and operating temperature as well as contact time are all critical. I would doubt that an led would give out enough light. I used mine on sea water and siphoned water from a top tank to a bottom overnight (very slowly). I made it from a piece of the pvc pipe by your front gate used by telecom for wires and an end cap each end with the tube held by rubber bungs. It worked well but needed clean water and frequent cleaning. The flouro tubes are for UV sanitizers and are not cheap (or were not then anyway) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Are the leds you got grunty ones, or the pathetic 5mm type? There are 3 and 5 watt UV leds available, but last time I looked at the price they were close to $90 a piece in small quantities. I doubt that the 5mm ones would do anything towards killing crud in water since they are not even dangerous to look at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foufee Posted August 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 The wavelength is 400-405nm, and yep, they are the 5mm type. I was thinking of having a bank of 10. At $1.50 each, I'll give it a go, and experiment to see if it works, and post back here on the results (probably in a month or so's time) The UV LEDs in the Unifilter 500 is only 2x5mm so going by that, that too is a waste of time, glad I didn't spend $100 on one, $20 is much better to waste, and more fun doing it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 You're being ripped at that price. Have you looked on ebay at the prices from the asians? You can get 100 for US$9.99 on there. Seems the cost of the power ones has come back - TERRALUX was the ones I was looking at and the 1 watt is US$26 - I would expect better luck with one of those then several 5mm ones since the intensity will be so much greater at the point where it leaves the end of the led. I know that when I was looking at getting one I was going to have to send back a signed waiver of going blindness before getting them, whereas the 5mm ones are pretty benign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foufee Posted August 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Yike's much cheaper....Thanks...I'll keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 You're being ripped at that price. Have you looked on ebay at the prices from the asians? You can get 100 for US$9.99 on there. Seems the cost of the power ones has come back - TERRALUX was the ones I was looking at and the 1 watt is US$26 - I would expect better luck with one of those then several 5mm ones since the intensity will be so much greater at the point where it leaves the end of the led. I know that when I was looking at getting one I was going to have to send back a signed waiver of going blindness before getting them, whereas the 5mm ones are pretty benign. the blindness is serious issue it can only take minutes some big factories use 3kw 1s in pipe work to sterilise water, im quite interested in this thread without buying on ebay where would u buy 5mm UV leds ? also do they put out ane visible light at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 I wouldnt not buy on ebay. There are a few people that buy from there and resell on the unmentionable site, but they add heaps to the price when I looked at it when I wanted some sooner, and the reality with airmail from HK is its here in a week moreoften then not. $13 + $4.50 post on unmentionable site vs US$9.99 for 100 including airmail - no reason to buy locally. Asiaengineer is who I have bought heaps off, without problem... Also auspicious.e, no problems at all. I have bought other stuff off sure electronics on a friends account, again, no problems at all. I think in the bag of 200 blue leds I got (back when they were a lot more then the other colours) there was about 5 dead ones and a couple with the beam shooting out at a strange angle. Between ebay and farnel there is no reason to go to dse/jaycar again IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 no one tried dealextreme.com? free shipping worldwide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 Have for many many other things, but they are not that sharp on price when you factor in the postage on other sites its often less then DX are - plus you are penalized for more then one thing in an order on DX, whereas on other sites the more you buy the cheaper it is since the shipping is a smaller portion of it. DX is cool, but if your a true gadgetphile then you will quickly get annoyed at their postage included prices that quickly add up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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