How Can We Help?

UV-A LED Strips for Curing Etching Plates

I want to build a UV exposure unit to cure Tojobo Photopolymer etching plates using your 365nm realUV™LED strips. My largest plates are size A2 (16.5” x 23.735”) so I designed a grid of strips (about 12 meters) that covers that area as follows:

Strip length 500mm, Strip separation 13.75mm, Number of strips 22

Would this number of lights and arrangement work to expose photopolymer gravure plates?

We don't have any data or experience for this particular application, unfortunately, but we have had customers report success with our UV LED strip lights (particularly the 365 nm versions) for various curing applications, so I do believe that this should be a viable approach in concept.

​The biggest unknown, from my perspective, is the required UV irradiance levels for a satisfactorily fast cure time. If you have any data on the photopolymer material using as far as their recommended irradiance or dosage levels, that may help us provide some additional guidance in terms of irradiance needs.

Is the proposed strip separation a problem for even illumination of the plate at about 2-3"?

The LEDs emit UV radiation at a 120-degree angle. This generally means that the LED strips should not be spaced farther apart than the distance away from the irradiance surface. In other words, if the exposure irradiance surface is 2-3 inches away, the LED strip lights should not be spaced farther than 2-3 inches per row.

​Your proposed LED "strip separation" indicates 13.75 mm which works out to approximately half an inch, and furthermore dividing the 22 rows across 23.735 inches, we would not significantly exceed 1 inch between LED strip rows (on center), so I think we are well within the limits and should not be concerned about uneven irradiation.

Is this calculation correct?

Yes, the LED strip lights require 14.4 watts per meter, so the entire 12-meter section will need 173 watts, and the 350-watt power supply should be a great option for your needs.

Is this bus topology OK with your strips and the required power in my project? The copper power bus makes the soldering clean but I am not sure if it is safe (not sure where to get them either).

The proposed bus topology is perfectly fine from an electrical standpoint. In fact, this is probably the only feasible way for such an installation requiring a relatively high current draw, as the maximum LED strip run length is 5 meters (your proposal has a maximum run length of only 0.5 meters x 22 rows, so we are OK here since you are taking a parallel bus connection approach).

We don't have any specific recommendations, but I do know solar panel assemblies require a similarly high current carrying capacity, so that might be an area that could be worth looking into.

As far as safety is concerned, since we are using a 12-volt DC, the electric shock risk here is relatively low. The only potential concern would be high heat buildup, which may be caused by improper or loose wire connections, so we would recommend checking to make sure you do not see any unexpected behavior or hotspots during operation.

UV-A LED Strips for Tanning Wood and Curing Oil Varnish

I'm interested in these UV LEDs for tanning wood and curing oil varnish. They're listed as 12V units. My question is could I get higher intensity output by using your 24v power supply, or would that blow out the lights? 

As our LED products are designed at the circuit level with a specific voltage in mind, we do not recommend utilizing a 24V power supply with a 12V LED strip light product. In general, connections that lead to an over-voltage can permanently damage the LED strip lights and void the product warranty.

UV-A LED Strip Lights for Curing

Interested in UV LED for curing, 350 nm. I need 2 or 4 strips about 1 ft long. What products do I need, LED Power supply?

Based on the details provided, it appears that the closest product match would be the 365nm realUV™ LED Strip Lights. These products are available in 3.2 ft (1 meter) increments and can be powered using a power supply such as our 12V FilmGrade™ DC Power Supply for LED Strip products.

If you would prefer to connect multiple lengths using the pre-installed power plugs, you might be interested in our Daisy-Chain DC Connector for UV LED Strips product. Please note that these LED strip lights can support a maximum connected length of 16.4 ft (5 meters).

We have also attached two layout diagrams below, which illustrate some of the most common product installation configurations:

LayoutMaps™ - LED Strip Light Layout 7021_4B: https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/7021_4B?px=-2201&py=-2213.5&pw=1402&ph=1427&s=0.1

LayoutMaps™ - LED Strip Light Layout 7021_4C: https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/7021_4C?px=-2201&py=-2213.5&pw=1402&ph=1427&s=0.1

UV-A LED Light for Curing Glue-On Metal to Glass

Which UV light is best for curing glue-on metal to glass? Should I use 365nm or 395 nm? 

While we do not have any specific data on cure rates including the glue-on product, our 365 nm wavelength is generally better suited for curing applications and should be a good option for you.

The product I am using is CRL UV adhesive, UV KLEBSTOFF, high viscosity. I am attaching metal jewels to glass containers and need to know if this is the correct UV light before I order additional lamps?

We did a quick search online but was unable to locate any specific UV requirements for the UV Klebstoff product. However, we do believe that our UV-A lamps are in the general range of wavelengths required for most curing applications and should work sufficiently for your needs.

We would perhaps recommend testing and taking advantage of our free returns policy. If for whatever reason you find that the UV LED will not work for your project, we would be more than happy to pay for return shipping and offer a full refund. 

UV-A LED Light for Aging

I'm interested in an LED strip which can be used for accelerated life testing, preferably something that is close to the UVA-340 florescent lamps. 

While we do not have any specific guidance or test data, our UV-A LED strip lights could certainly be considered for ultraviolet exposure in simulating accelerated aging under certain lighting conditions.

Our 365 nm and 395 nm LED strip lights may be a good starting point for providing UV-A radiation output. I've provided the product link below.

​

UV LED Strip Lights for SLA 3D Print Curing

I am considering the use of your UV LED strips in the fabrication of one or more UV curing stations for SLA 3D resin prints. The print objects will be roughly 2-3 inches from the sides of the container during curing. I am looking to duplicate or get as close as practically possible to, the effect of leaving the prints exposed to direct sunlight. What would be the recommended length of your UV LED strip lights for this application? Will I need to consider ventilation to dissipate heat?

Our UV LED strips sound like a nice option for your UV curing needs. Unfortunately, while we completely understand the reason and nature of your question, it'll likely be quite difficult for us to provide you with a satisfactory answer as far as "how much" UV LED intensity would be needed.

The primary difficulty in making this determination is that natural sunlight produces a wide range of ultraviolet radiation, anywhere from 300 nm to 400 nm. It is a combination of these various wavelength energies that are likely producing the chemical reactions needed during the curing process, but without additional information from the resin material manufacturer, we can't be certain as to whether the curing happens most optimally at 320 nm, 340 nm, 360 nm or 380 nm, for example.

Our UV LED strip lights, on the other hand, are narrow-band UV wavelength devices. Our 365 nm LED products, for example, emit energy only in the 355 - 375 nm wavelength range. This typically is a wavelength range that happens to be within the range for many curing processes, but the extent to which this happens efficiently or optimally would ultimately depend on the specific resin material.

As a very rough estimate, we do believe that one or two rows of the LED strip lights, if placed 2-3 inches away from the curing surface, should be a good starting point for testing purposes. No special thermal management for the LED strips would be needed as long as they are used at standard room temperature.

To that end, we would perhaps recommend testing and taking advantage of our free returns policy. If for whatever reason you find that the LED strips are not going to work for your project, we would be more than happy to pay for return shipping and offer a full refund. All we ask is for you to keep the LED strips in their original condition, meaning that the adhesive liner must not be removed, and that the LED strips must not be cut into any shorter sections or otherwise altered.

According to the vendor for my printer and resins, they use a 385-405 nm UV wavelength, with the shorter end of that range being the more effective. How might this change your recommendation (if at all)? Also, when you say one or two rows of the strip lights, you mean the 1m length or 5m?

Based on this graphic published on Wikipedia showing irradiance levels of sunlight, we should be able to extrapolate approximately a 1.0 W/m² /nm irradiance level across the 385-405 nm wavelength range.

​If we do a basic integration across this wavelength range, we can estimate that the irradiance levels provided across that 20 nm wavelength range is approximately 20 W/m² .

​Based on our measurements of the LED strip light, the irradiance levels at 12 inches is approximately 228 µW/cm², which converts to approximately 2.28 ​W/m². 

​You mention that you will be using the LED strip lights from approximately 2-3 inches away. Extrapolating by using the inverse square law twice, we would estimate an irradiance level of approximately 36.5 W/m² at this distance, which will be sufficient to match the irradiance levels of natural sunlight, as suggested by the references above.

​Please keep in mind that these values are extrapolated using a combination of empirical and theoretical values, and actual results may vary. It seems, however, that we would be "in the ballpark" in terms of the required irradiance levels to match natural daylight, and we do hope this might be helpful as a first step.

Our suggestion of using one or two rows did not take into account the reel size, as the length of the reel would only affect the irradiance surface coverage laterally and not the irradiance of a single point. In other words, extending a 1 meter reel by another 4 meters would not alone increase the irradiance levels of a point near the beginning of that reel.

You are basically saying that a single one of your 1 m strips at 2-3 inches from the object (wrapped round the sides of the circular can pointed inward) should be able to roughly match the effect of sunlight for UV 385-405 nm range , yes?

I note that the measurement chart you linked to is based on the 365nm strip. Can I assume that the 395 nm strips (which fall within the correct exposure range for my resin prints) will behave in a roughly similar fashion?

The answer to both of your questions is yes, and as mentioned prior, we would recommend testing and taking advantage of our free returns policy. If for whatever reason you find that the LED strips are not going to work for your project, we would be more than happy to pay for return shipping and offer a full refund. All we ask is for you to keep the LED strips in their original condition, meaning that the adhesive liner must not be removed, and that the LED strips must not be cut into any shorter sections or otherwise altered. 

After your recommendation, I purchased a couple of 1 m strips of UV LED lighting to trial with 3D print curing. I also purchased a pack of PN 7096 daisy-chain connectors; unfortunately these are quite bulky and interfere a bit with what I am trying to setup. Do the PN 3072 LED strip to strip connectors work with your UV LEDs? These would be a much better solution in terms of space in my curing can. 

The first alternative would be to solder your own wires directly, thereby avoiding the thick cables and connector pieces altogether. Please do let me know if you would be open to this approach and I can provide additional guidance on the steps needed.

The second option would be to use PN 3071 to join the two sections together. This cable is thinner and should cause fewer issues for your installation. PN 3072 is also compatible, but does not include the cable so you would be constrained to joining two LED strip sections end-to-end (no turns allowed).

Both products in the second option are packaged in packs of 10. Unfortunately we are unable to split these into smaller packs and we do apologize for the inconvenience.

Does your realUV LED Floodlight properly expose a standard size silkscreen?

Could you tell me if your 20W 395nm UV-led flood light will properly expose a standard size 20"x24" silkscreen? If so, could you tell me what brand of emulsion is for solvent-based or plastisol-type inks? I can't find any info on your site that says it will work or won't work. Are the 395nm UV-led strips effective in the same application? Approximately how far apart should the strips be and approximately how far away from the screen?

Unfortunately, we do not have any test or reference data for silkscreen exposure applications. Several customers who have used our products have reported success using the 365 nm wavelength variant of our LED strip lights. The exact requirements are likely to depend on the emulsion product and variations among manufacturers and formulations. If you have any additional information on peak wavelength sensitivities or irradiance requirements, we may be able to provide some additional guidance here.

​For your reference, below is an example of a customer who successfully used the 365 nm UV LED strips to produce a similar solution:

We do apologize that we do not have any readily available literature or data on silkscreen UV applications. As we enter the new year we do hope to be able to provide additional information for this specific application as we have seen quite a bit of interest in this area.

In the meantime, we would perhaps recommend testing and taking advantage of our free returns policy. If for whatever reason you find that the LED strips are not going to work for your project, we would be more than happy to pay for return shipping and offer a full refund. All we ask is for you to keep the LED strips in their original condition, meaning that the adhesive liner must not be removed and that the LED strips must not be cut into any shorter sections or otherwise altered.

385 nm UV light for Curing Finishes

I am looking for an inexpensive way to cure some finishes. The finish I am using says natural sunlight or UV light at 385 nm. What would be your recommendation?

We, unfortunately, do not have any products that emit at exactly 385 nm, but we do have two options at 365 nm and 395 nm. I do strongly suspect that at least one, if not both, wavelength options would work for your needs.

Our UV flood light might be a great option for you: https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/realuv-led-flood-light

​We do offer a 30-day free returns policy, so we would recommend testing out both wavelengths to see if they are sufficient for your needs. If not, we'd be glad to pay for return shipping and provide a full refund.

How do I daisy-chain the realUV™ 365 nm LED strip light?

I'm looking to purchase the realUV™ 365 nm LED strip. What exactly do I need in order to cut the strips and daisy chain them?

As you mention, our realUV™ 365 nm LED strip can be cut to length in 1-inch increments and is a great option for a wide variety of UV applications.

You may be interested in our PN 3071 LED strip-to-strip connector, which will allow you to reconnect any cut segments back together (i.e. daisy-chain). Please see below for a connection diagram showing an example of how this can be accomplished:​

https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/7021_4C?px=-5247.758879792562&py=-1572.6183425460667&s=0.45241870901798

Best UV light for emulsion curing

I am looking for the best UV LED light to cure emulsion in screen prints. Which product is the best option?

Emulsion curing generally requires energy between 350 and 400 nm in wavelength. The "best" wavelength will depend on the specific emulsion type and manufacturer. If you have any data or charts from the emulsion manufacturer, that would be the best way to determine the optimal wavelength choice.

We offer both 365 nm and 395 nm wavelength options. We would recommend our flood lights for the simplest setup. Our LED strip lights are also an option and may provide better uniformity, but will require some setup and assembly prior to use.

Building a 365 nm UV curing box

I would like to build a curing box, and am thinking of using your 365 nm LED strip lights. My thought is to run four rows of the 3.2 ft reels along the inside of the box. Can you tell me what components would be needed to make this work?

The easiest set-up would involve using our 365 nm UV LED strip light reels, and daisy-chaining them using our PN 7096 connectors. All four of the LED strip sections can be powered from a single power supply unit (PN 3091). Below is a layout diagram along with a parts list showing how this can be accomplished:https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/7021_4B Please keep in mind that the maximum daisy-chain length is five reels of 3.2 ft each, or 16.4 ft in total! 

realUV™ LED strip light grid array spacing for even exposure

I'm building my own UV LED strip light array for emulsion exposure with a panel size of 30" x 15", and am thinking of using 10 rows of your realUV™ LED strip lights in 365 nm with each row being 15 inches in length. The LED array will be approximately 3 inches from the exposure surface. How far apart can the LED strip rows be without any gaps in UV irradiance?

The LEDs emit the UV radiation at a 120 degree angle. This generally means that the LED strips should not be spaced farther apart than the distance away from the irradiance surface. In other words, if the exposure irradiance surface is 3 inches away, the LED strip lights should not be spaced farther than 3 inches per row, on center.

Based on your proposed UV LED strip array panel size, dividing the 30 inch length by a total of 10 rows will ensure that the distance between the LED strip rows will remain less than 3 inches each. Since we are within the 3 inch limit, there should not be concerned about uneven UV irradiation.

Thermal concerns with UV LED strip light exposure box?

I'm building a UV exposure box with your realUV™ LED strip lights. I plan on placing the UV LED strips in an array, with each row placed immediately next to one another. Will there be thermal concerns with this installation, causing the LED strip lights to overheat and burn out?

Our LED strip lights do warm up somewhat during operation, but they have been designed to stay within their thermal limits without the need for any special thermal management techniques commonly used for LED lamp and fixture design.

Placing the LED strip lights without any spacing will definitely add a bit more thermal concentration, but this should not cause it to exceed any thermal limits for the LED strip lights themselves. An absolute thermal limit based on LED strip circuit-board temperature is 185°F (85°C), so if there are any concerns, this would be the way to measure and determine if you are within those thermal limits.

‹   Knowledge Base Home