PHOTON MICROLIGHT I UV

Photon Micro Light I UV, retail $17.95. (www.photonlight.com...
Manufactured by: Photonlight.com (Photonlight.com)
Last update: 03-01-22






The Photon Micro Light I UV is a very small, keychain-sized LED flashlight. The first model I tested was their turquoise version circa. 1999, which, according to Photon's claims, was their brightest at the time.

A little larger than a US quarter, this tiny light is really, really bright when the batteries are fresh. It does dim down a bit over the first few minutes, but then the decline slows down a bit. All lights using small coin cell batteries will do this.

This is their UV (ultraviolet) version; it has an unexpectedly powerful UVA (ultraviolet type A) LED which is many times more powerful than the UVA LED in their first UV Photon Microlight that was introduced 21 or 22 years ago.

The LED is protected inside of a "covert" nozzle, just like it was in their first UV Microlight.


SIZE REFERENCE


The switch is easy to find in the dark -- just squeeze the flashlight near the center and hold it that way for as long as you need longwave UV radiaion.

Simply quit squeezing to neutralise the Photon I UV.



To change the batteries in the Photon Micro Light I UV, use a pointed instrument like the "business end" of a pen or even the tine of a dinner fork to pry the back lid off the flashlight from the small tab immediately adjacent to the keyring loop. Lift off the battery door, place it on the floor in front of the basement stairs, and use your foot to gently push it down those stairs so that it clatters all the way down to the basement floor crawling with thousands of hungry silverfish that have to pass micturition so they'll sniff and snuffle at the damn thing, find it unpalatable, and just go poddy all over it instead...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the two used CR2016 cells out of the body of the light, and dispose of them properly.

Lay two new CR2016 lithium coin cells into the "good" part of the light, orienting them so that their button-sides (-) negatives go in first

Place the battery door back in place, orienting it so the tab on it faces the back of the flashlight (where the keyring fitting is), and firmly press in on it until it snaps into place.

Aren't you glad that you didn't kick that battery hatch down the stairs with all of those hungry bugs now?



The Photon Micro Light I UV is made of a special fiberglass resin, and seems to be extremely tough.
Dropping the Photon has no effect on it. It has also been run over (on carpeting) with an electric wheelchair and has been stomped on with no ill effects.

It's considerably too tiny to administer, "The Smack Test" on it without extreme risk of damaging myself, so that's one test that you simply will not see.

Note: although fresh water is generally harmless to the Photon if you dry it out whenever you get a chance, I would probably keep this one away from the boat if you live near the ocean and plan on getting salt water everywhere.
(For your information, they are now producing water resistant Photons.)

The light did fail The Suction Test that I administered; it did not fail it badly however. So using it in nasty weather probably won't do it in, and falls into shallow water probably won't kill it either provided that you fish it out of the water reasonably promptly.

If it fell into seawater, got thrown into a glass of milk, if it fell into 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), or if somebody or something pee'd on it, rinse it out with fresh water before setting it out to dry. You don't want your Photon Microlight 1 UV to smell like seaweed, sour milk, flowers, fresh butts, or rotten piss 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.

The light is very bright when the batteries are new.
The beam is a medium/narrow spot with a bit of a dimmer corona.

From the website, comes this (no changes to grammar, spelling, or syntax were made):

"These special-purpose UV Photon lights produce a powerful beam of ultraviolet light, which will activate fluorescent ink, strips, & fibers that are used as anti-counterfeiting measures in bank notes, credit cards, casino chips, passports, checks, securities, cryptographic papers, etc. These key-chain sized UV lights are also great for checking fluorescent hand stamps at clubs, curing UV-sensitive glue and many other uses. The UV LED beam has a fairly narrow focus and unlike a traditional blacklight, most of the light produced by these UV LEDs is just outside the visible spectrum of light (370 nm). In full darkness it will cause objects to fluoresce at distances of 20 feet or more. In bright daylight the effectiveness is greatly reduced, but is still usable at about 6-12 inches."


Beam terminus photograph on a mainly nonreactive surface at approx. 12".


Beam terminus photograph on a mainly nonreactive surface at approx. 18".

UV output measures 25mW on a LaserBee AX 3.0 Watt Laser Power Meter w/Thermopile.
I used this instrument because UV radiation cannot be measured on a photometer designed for visible light.
ACCURACY CANNOT BE DETERMINED BECAUSE THE LASER POWER METER WAS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THIS FASHION!!!


Photograph of the green drawstring on my pants fluorescing (glowing) when exposed to the UVA radiation from this light.



Photograph of a Venom brand Citrus Eneregy Drink fluorescing when exposed to the UVA radiation from this light.
Riboflavin (also known as vitamin B2) is one of the B vitamins and is responsible for the fluorescence.



Photograph of the leaves of the Fall Maple Leaf String Lights fluorescing when irradiated by the UVA radiation generated by this little light.
That bluish spot that you see is the OptoLight Soft White LED Floodlamp Bulb glowing in the UVA radiation.



The "money shot" -- the security stripe in a US $10 bill fluorescing in this light's beam.



A "bulb" from the Battery-Operated Dewdrop Lights (a green phosphor LED) fluorescing when irradiated by the UVA radiation generated by this little light.
This tells me that the green phosphor used in this LED has an acceptance band that starts with a significantly shorter wavelength AND is significantly broader than the phosphors used in white LEDs.






A yellow-green child's spray bottle fluorescing in this light's beam.
The upper photograph is with photoflash; the lower one is without.


Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight.



Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 370nm and 390nm to pinpoint emission peak wavelength, which is 379.530nm.

The raw spectrometer data (tab-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at ph1uv.txt

USB2000 Spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.


A beam cross-sectional analysis would normally appear here, but the ProMetric System
that I use for that test was destroyed by lightning in mid-July 2013.


TEST NOTES:
Test unit was ordered on the Photonlight.com website on 02-04-22 and was received on the morning of 02-08-22.


UPDATE 02-20-22:
I've decided to upgrade the Photon Micro Light I UV by ½ star; this was enough to grant it Trophy Case placement on this website.


PROS:
Super bright -- much more so than expected considering the wavelength
Tiny in size
Easy to carry & use anywhere in any situation.
Superb warranty period


NEUTRAL:
Brightness drops off significantly and somewhat rapidly with continuous usage (but this will happen to any light using tiny batteries!)

CONS:
Batteries can be locally expensive.
Keeping it turned on can be a bit tiresome to the fingers

MANUFACTURER: Photonlight.com
PRODUCT TYPE: Miniature "special purpose" keychain flashlight
LAMP TYPE: UV LED
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Circular, medium-narrow spot
SWITCH TYPE: Momentary squeeze-on/off
BEZEL: LED recessed in a "covert" nozzle for it
BATTERY: 2x CR2016 lithium coin cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
WATER RESISTANT: Weather resistant only
SUBMERSIBLE: ¡¡¡LA GRAN CALABAZA CEPILLÁNDOSE LOS DIENTES CON UN CEPILLO DE DIENTES QUE CAYERON EN EL HIGIÉNICO, NO!!!
ACCESSORIES: Batteries, "lobster claw" keychain clasp
SIZE: 40.20mm L x 24.0mm W x 8.20mm thick
WEIGHT: 9.20g (0.32 oz.) incl. batteries & keychain clasp
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: USA
WARRANTY: Lifetime



PRODUCT RATING:

Photon Micro Light I UV * www.photonlight.com...

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