Why don't LED UV sterilizer's exist?

[Raul-7]

It's 2023 and we are still replacing bulbs. What obstacles are there before UV sterilizer's using LEDs become prominent. Lack of decent UV-C LEDs?

Or is it like printer companies who make more on the ink than the printer?

 

[Macdaddynick1]

I don't think LEDs can produce a substantial/required amount of true UV radiation. I might be wrong, though.

 

[rtparty]

UV LEDs aren’t there for hobby use

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I actually think it is the cost of those LED's. There is a reason why not everybody is making the proper lighting for corals. It comes down to the cost per chip. I think...

 

[taricha]

fun fact, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 was awarded to the people who figured out how to make Blue LEDs.

So making LEDs powerful and whatever wavelength you want is a really really hard problem.

powerful cheap UV LEDs at 254nm, don't hold your breath. Check back in a decade. Or two.

 

[Malcontent]

Lifespan is also a challenge with many only having a lifespan of 10,000 hours which isn't much more than a conventional UV bulb.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

They have, them no price mentioned on this site. https://www.uvledchip.com/uv-led-sterilizer-light.html.

BTW, a friend was showing off his new vehicle, and bragging about the LED Taillights, and how he’d never have to change a bulb. I ask him to go online, and check how much that Taillight Assembly would cost, if something went wrong, he wasn’t smiling afterwards.

 

[Malcontent]

 

[rhitee93]

Ouch, that about $1/mW.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

fun fact, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 was awarded to the people who figured out how to make Blue LEDs.

So making LEDs powerful and whatever wavelength you want is a really really hard problem.

powerful cheap UV LEDs at 254nm, don't hold your breath. Check back in a decade. Or two.

It was made in 1972 though, so maaaaybe someones done it by now? Def not mass produced yet it seems, it so.

Edit: I remember when he got the nobel prize and thought it was dope he got the recognition and was surprised it came 40 some years later. It was the first time I really learned whats going on in an LED

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

They have, them no price mentioned on this site. https://www.uvledchip.com/uv-led-sterilizer-light.html.

BTW, a friend was showing off his new vehicle, and bragging about the LED Taillights, and how he’d never have to change a bulb. I ask him to go online, and check how much that Taillight Assembly would cost, if something went wrong, he wasn’t smiling afterwards.

To be fair, my Nissan's headlights have a defect, and I missed the recall deadline that was a super short window. The cost to replace the reflector assebly.... 1.4k per headlight. Not even LED

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

To be fair, my Nissan's headlights have a defect, and I missed the recall deadline that was a super short window. The cost to replace the reflector assebly.... 1.4k per headlight. Not even LED

Send a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, DC, to see if they will help you get it resolved. BTW, when I was working in the DOT Building, Nissian had a well deserved hatred, by them.

 

[taricha]

It was made in 1972 though, so maaaaybe someones done it by now? Def not mass produced yet it seems, it so.

Your instincts were right. What @Malcontent posted is a good bit better than what I saw last time I looked a couple years ago.

Getting there in terms of power, just the cost issue.

So check back in a couple years (not decades, like I said originally)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

To be fair, my Nissan's headlights have a defect, and I missed the recall deadline that was a super short window. The cost to replace the reflector assebly.... 1.4k per headlight. Not even LED

Reminds me of a story...

Years ago I was working for GTE Laboratories (they owned Sylvania at the time). One of my tasks was to make an adhesive suggestion for a headlight assembly that Sylvania was going to make.

To shortcut the process of figuring out which adhesives might work best, I went out to buy a headlight assembly from a local car dealer that was manufactured by a competitor, and I'd look carefully at the adhesives used.

When I got to the dealer, they asked which I wanted, right or left. When I assured him I didn't care, and I'd take whatever he had, that set off a whole discussion, which in short, implied I was a moron. lol

Finally got it back to the work site, and the guard wouldn't let me bring it through the entrance. When I explained I bought it for the company, he then proceeded to claim I needed to sign a paper saying that I guaranteed I would take responsibility for it and keep it in good condition (seems more like a going out issue than a coming in issue, but apparently no).

When I told him I wouldn't sign because I intended to rip it apart and destroy it, I had to wait for the head of security to come and sort it out.

Finally getting it back to my lab, I did rip it apart, learned what I needed to know, and threw it in the trash.

 

[aquaman67]

They make make 254nm LED flashlights. And they are cheap. Not very powerful though.

 

[taricha]

BTW, you can use much less power (cheaper LED) at that wavelength and measure organics in tank water. 254nm absorbance is a well-used metric for organics levels in natural water.
Could be done hanna checker style, but you need a quartz cuvette.

Technology is good enough now. We should have this already in the hobby for $100.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

BTW, you can use much less power (cheaper LED) at that wavelength and measure organics in tank water. 254nm absorbance is a well-used metric for organics levels in natural water.
Could be done hanna checker style, but you need a quartz cuvette.

Technology is good enough now. We should have this already in the hobby for $100.

That would be soooo awesome

 

[Russell G]

They have led uv sterilization on the market for drinking water. Here’s one business that’s selling it:

Residential UV-C LED Water Treatment | PearlAqua Deca™ | AquiSense

The PearlAqua Deca is the world's first point-of-entry UV-C LED disinfection system that offers whole-home protection.

aquisense.com

The question would be how effective are they for aquarium use. The drinking water sterilization may not be tuned to target the protozoans and algae we want gone. It could not aggressive enough or too aggressive and kill off all the free floating beneficial bacteria we want in the aquarium.

It’s a good question though. The lower power consumption and lack of heat transfer would be great. Of all the chiller usage I have, probably 95% is due to the uv heating up the water. Not only would I save on the uv unit alone but also less chiller usage which is a huge power cost.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Reminds me of a story...

Years ago I was working for GTE Laboratories (they owned Sylvania at the time). One of my tasks was to make an adhesive suggestion for a headlight assembly that Sylvania was going to make.

To shortcut the process of figuring out which adhesives might work best, I went out to buy a headlight assembly from a local car dealer that was manufactured by a competitor, and I'd look carefully at the adhesives used.

When I got to the dealer, they asked which I wanted, right or left. When I assured him I didn't care, and I'd take whatever he had, that set off a whole discussion, which in short, implied I was a moron. lol

Finally got it back to the work site, and the guard wouldn't let me bring it through the entrance. When I explained I bought it for the company, he then proceeded to claim I needed to sign a paper saying that I guaranteed I would take responsibility for it and keep it in good condition (seems more like a going out issue than a coming in issue, but apparently no).

When I told him I wouldn't sign because I intended to rip it apart and destroy it, I had to wait for the head of security to come and sort it out.

Finally getting it back to my lab, I did rip it apart, learned what I needed to know, and threw it in the trash.

I was working on Computer AC’s at DOE in Washington, DC. We had to recovery the Refrigerant, replace valves on the Condensers. Trace and Leak Check with Nitrogen. Also we were doing Maintenance on other units. Every time we went in and out we had to empty our pockets, and walk through the scanner. Meanwhile we were bringing in large cylinders and yellowish plastic humidifier canister, with wires sticking out of them. They didn’t give a second look at, any of this stuff.

 

[flashsmith]

Just go to bulbamerica.com.and pay $12-15 bucks for your replacements instead of $100 from a hobby source. Problem solved.