blacklight questions

[Anonymous]

I'm experimenting with the old blacklight and fluorescent paint trick for some special lighting effects and it generally works quite well.

Problems arise when certain things glow that shouldn't. Most problematic is a lake that looks like some strange radioactive waste dump (the lake was made using EZ water - another reason not to use that stuff).

Is there some sort of clear overcoat I can paint on the lake (and other things) that will stop the glowing? Or do other water-making methods not produce a glow under a blacklight?

Thanks!

[FJ and G]

yes there is. Sorry can't look it up for you. I gotta run and catch the train soon. Snow piling up outside

[cwclark]

that's why i quit using blacklights...(they were really cool in the 70's but that's another story)...i use those BLUE 40 watt incandecent bulbs for night time scenery now...Chuck

[Anonymous]

But do the BLUE 40 watt bulbs make signs glow as if they are actually lights? I am modeling an amusement park and want to light up the rides. Ever notice how amusement park rides have approximately 40 billion lights on them? Little dots of glowing paint sure seems like a lot better option then trying to wire actual lights! I experimented with a cool lighting package for a ferris wheel with great results.

[rrinker]

Am I nuts or did I see someone making very small black lights at one time? That would be the way to go - just provide the black light in the area you want to have the glowing signs rather than a black light over the entire layout.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

You can get blacklights that are incandescent - they are the size and shape of a normal 40 watt (or so) bulb, and screw into a standard socket. You may be able to use something like that, and put in baffles around it to shield it from things you don't want illuminated.

Rob

[AntonioFP45]

Hello Envisci,

Hope you forgive this but please use caution! Black light produces UV rays and it has been scientifically proven that they can damage eyesight with repeated exposure.

For your amusement park rides fiber optics may be the way to go.

Cheers!

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Hello Envisci,

Hope you forgive this but please use caution! Black light produces UV rays and it has been scientifically proven that they can damage eyesight with repeated exposure.

Likewise, although less of a concern than personally safety, it will cause the rapid fading of all your scenery colors and perhaps even the deterioration of some modeling materials.

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

Hmmm...I was under the impression that the BLB bulbs sold for novelty use were not so much of a safety concern. I'll have to look into it.

As for scenery damage. I thought about that but I plan on only occassional intermittent use of the blacklight. It would only be on for 10 minutes or so at a time.

Using fiber optics could be a bit tricky for a motorized ride!

The easiest thing to do is just skip lighting effects but it would just be so cool...

[Anonymous]

If I recall from many years back.....blacklight flourescent bulbs are or were made in two varieties - those that emitted harmful UV light and those that didn't. I had two 4' ones that were the safe kind, but don't recall how I knew, probably by the bulb number. They were a dark blue/purple in color. I seem to recall the unsafe ones weren't colored, but my memory could be wrong. I doubt if the incandescent bulbs sold as novelties would do any harm, but who knows?

Bob Boudreau

[RedLeader]

Bob, there are actually two types of black light. One is the Blacklight (without filter), and the other is the Blacklight Blue (with filter). Both emit UV-A, non harmfull to humans. The difference between one and the other, is that the first one (white tube) produces bits of UV-B and C in form of light, producing an actinic violet light. The second one (BLB blue tube) has a violet coating filter that blocks the UV-B and C and lets only the UV-A to get out. All Fluorecent lamps produce only UV-A, B, C (invisble to human eye, and harmfull) in their inside, the different types of phosphor coatings in the inside of the tubes transform this rays into different types of lights (colors), depending on the phosphor used. That's why they look white. Bacteria killing and UV sterilazers tubes, doesn't have any coating at all. These are transaparent tubes that emit UV-A, B and C without any filter and kills microorganisms oxposed to it. These are very harmfull to humans too.

If you're worried about any physical effects of the blacklight, you may use actinic light tubes, like phillips' Actinic-03. These will give you a very deep blue/violet light, and enough "blacklight" (UV-A) for fluorecent effects.

Again, UV-A is not harmful to humans. The harmful UV rays are the B and C types, wich have a very small wave longitude.