UV Powerhouse Flashlights for Forensic, Medical, Military and Home Use

Offshore Solutions manufactures the world's most powerful self-contained solid-state UV flashlights, the UV Powerhouse series. Using the latest in UV Light Emitting Diode and optics technology these flashlights illuminate wide areas even in relatively high ambient lighting situations. The wavelength of the UV light is 365 nanometers, perfect for many applications.

UV Powerhouse Flashlights

3 C-cell UV Powerhouse

3 D-cell UV Powerhouse

UV Powerhouse Flashlights are available with two levels of light intensity, and use either 3 C-cells for compactness or 3 D-cells for longer battery life. The number of hours listed is the approximate battery life when run constantly.

UV Powerhouse Extra

4 UV sources 3 D-cells 50 hrs $389.95

UV Powerhouse

2 UV sources 3 D-cells 100 hrs $256.95

UV Powerhouse Compact Extra

4 UV sources 3 C-cells 30 hrs $345.95

UV Powerhouse Compact

2 UV sources 3 C-cells 60 hrs $217.95

Front view of 4 UV source flashlight

Features

* Recessed pushbutton, self-cleaning switch

* Rugged, machined aluminum construction with knurled design

* Anodized inside and out for improved corrosion resistance

* Water and shock resistant

Danger! UV Powerhouse flashlights can be dangerous to your eyes!

Applications for UV Powerhouse Flashlights

Here are just some of the things you can do with UV Powerhouse Flashlights

Security

A bird appears on many Visa credit cards when held under a UV light source.

A bird appears on many Visa credit cards

when held under a UV light source.

To help thwart counterfeiters, sensitive documents (e.g. credit cards, drivers licenses, passports) may also include a UV watermark that can only be seen when viewed under a UV-emitting light. Passports issued by most countries usually contain UV sensitive inks and security threads. Visa stamps and stickers on passports of visitors contain large and detailed seals invisible to the naked eye under normal lights, but strongly visible under UV illumination. Passports issued by many nations have UV sensitive watermarks on all pages of the passport. Currencies of various countries' banknotes have an image, as well as many multicolored fibers, that are visible only under ultraviolet light.

Forensics

UV flashlights are used to view crime scenes

under investigation. Here is a lavatory when viewed

using a UV Powerhouse flashlight.

Stamp Collecting and Expertizing

Ultraviolet light is frequently used to differentiate between stamps for identification or to find counterfeit and repaired stamps. Modern stamps are tagged with a phosphor whose glow under ultraviolet light tells the post office sorting machines the amount of postage on an envelope. Stamps may appear to be identical under visible light but when ultraviolet is shined on the tagging differences become readily visible.

Canadian stamps viewed under white

light (above) and then under ultraviolet

light (below). Note the different tagging

patterns for different values

Stamp expertizers use ultraviolet light to find repairs that can greatly decrease a stamp's value. For example, if there is a thin on the back of the stamp, caused by careless removal of a stamp mounting hinge, it is possible to fill the thin with paper pulp so that the stamp appears pristine. However, under ultraviolet light the whiteners in modern paper pulp glows bright white, while the old paper does not. This uneven glow on the back of the stamp indicates that a repair has been done.

Antique Collecting

The UV Powerhouse flashlight can be used to verify that objects are truly made of vaseline glass, also known as depression glass. The UV Powerhouse flashlight can be used to verify that objects

are truly made of vaseline glass, also known as depression glass.

This glass glows a bright green (see the image on the right) when

exposed to UV light due to the uranium oxides the glass contains.

Institutional Lice Detection

The UV flashlight can be used in school, residential, military, and prison settings to easily detect head llice and other parasites..

Biological surveys and pest control

Some animals, including birds, reptiles, and insects such as bees, can see into the near ultraviolet. Many fruits, flowers, and seeds stand out more strongly from the background in ultraviolet wavelengths as compared to human color vision. Scorpios glow or take on a yellow to green color under UV illumination. Many birds have patterns in their plumage that are invisible at usual wavelengths but observable in ultraviolet, and the urine and other secretions of some animals, including dogs, cats, and human beings, is much easier to spot with ultraviolet. Many insects use the ultraviolet wavelength emissions from celestial objects as references for flight navigation. A local ultraviolet emissor will normally disrupt the navigation process and would eventually attract to itself the flying insect.

Entomologist using a UV light for collecting beetles in the Paraguayan Chaco.

Entomologist using a UV light for

collecting beetles in the Paraguayan Chaco.

Ultraviolet traps are used to eliminate various small flying insects. They are attracted to the UV light, and are killed using an electric shock, or trapped once they come into contact with the device. Different designs of ultraviolet light traps are also used by entomologists for collecting nocturnal insects during faunistic survey studies.

Analyzing minerals

A collection of mineral samples brilliantly fluorescing at various wavelengths as seen while being irradiated by UV light.

A collection of mineral samples brilliantly fluorescing at

various wavelengths as seen while being irradiated by UV light.

Ultraviolet lamps are also used in analyzing minerals, gems, and in other detective work including authentication of various collectable. Materials may look the same under visible light, but fluoresce to different degrees under ultraviolet light; or may fluoresce differently under short wave ultraviolet versus long wave ultraviolet.

Chemical markers

UV fluorescent dyes are used in many applications (for example, biochemistry and forensics). The Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) is often used in genetics as a marker. Many substances, such as proteins, have significant light absorption bands in the ultraviolet that are of use and interest in biochemistry and related fields. UV-capable spectrophotometers are common in such laboratories.

Checking electrical insulation

A new application of UV is to detect corona discharge(often simply called "corona") on electrical apparatus. Degradation of insulation of electrical apparatus or pollution causes corona, wherein a strong electric field ionizes the air and excites nitrogen molecules, causing the emission of ultraviolet radiation. The corona degrades the insulation level of the apparatus. Corona produces ozone and to a lesser extent nitrogen oxide which may subsequently react with water in the air to form nitrous acid and nitric acid vapor in the surrounding air.

Reading otherwise illegible papyruses

Using multi-spectral imaging it is possible to read illegible papyruses, such as the burned papyruses of the Villa of Papirior of Oxyrhynchus. The technique involves taking pictures of the illegible papyruses using different filters in the infrared or ultraviolet range, finely tuned to capture certain wavelengths of light. Thus, the optimum spectral portion can be found for distinguishing ink from paper on the papyrus surface.

UV Powerhouse Flashlights for Forensic, Medical, Military and Home Use