How to make a quartz lamp
Ultraviolet radiation is used in everyday life and medical facilities for disinfection of premises (rooms, hospital wards, etc.). Under stationary conditions, industrial quartz lamps are used as UV sources. Such devices are not always available in everyday life, so there are situations when you need to decide how to replace the lamp and how to make it yourself.
How to replace a UV lamp at home
It is impossible to make a quartz lamp at home, but it is quite possible to get a home-made source of disinfecting radiation in other ways. The lighting market is now confidently captured by LED lights. Various types of emitting elements in this class operate in the spectrum from soft ultraviolet to infrared. From LEDs, you can assemble a lamp in the UV range. But this path has a significant drawback - the low power of emitters of this type and their relatively high cost.Since a source of sufficiently high intensity is needed to disinfect the premises, such a path will be expensive.
Also, there will be little effect from visible light sources equipped with light filters - household LED flashlights or "flashes" of mobile phones. At home, it is impossible to make a filter with good characteristics (a high level of UV transmission in the desired spectral band), and this class of flashlights is more likely to be in the category of toys. In practice, they can only be used as currency detectors, etc.
A good source for obtaining a home source of ultraviolet radiation can be a gas discharge lamp DRL 250. A lamp of this power has an optimal radiation intensity for a medium-sized room. Based on the conditions, lamps of other sizes can be used. The parameters of gas-discharge lamps important for the review are summarized in the table.
| Type of | Power, W | Plinth type |
| DRL-125 | 125 | E27 |
| DRL-250 | 250 | E40 |
| DRL-400 | 400 | E40 |
| DRL-700 | 700 | E40 |
| DRL-1000 | 1000 | E40 |
Other standard lamp parameters, such as color rendering index, luminous flux, etc. in our case, they do not matter.
How to make a quartz lamp from DRL
Before making a germicidal lamp from a gas discharge DRL, you need to figure out how the donor lamp works.
Outwardly, a mercury lamp differs little from a conventional incandescent lamp - the same standard threaded cartridge and glass bulb. The difference is striking - the balloon is opaque, and covered from the inside with a white substance - a phosphor. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, this substance begins to glow. To initiate the glow, a source of UV light is placed inside the bulb.It is a tube made of quartz glass - it can withstand high temperatures. The flask is hermetically sealed, and the main and auxiliary electrodes are located in it. Inside is mercury in a liquid state, as well as a small amount of mercury vapor.
At the moment of switching on, an initial discharge flashes between the main and ignition electrode - due to the small distance between the elements. The heating of the initiating system begins. As the temperature rises, liquid mercury begins to turn into a gaseous form, and when a certain concentration and pressure of metal vapors are reached, a discharge appears between the electrodes. The ignition time depends on the ambient temperature and can be from 8 to 15 minutes.
At the end of the warm-up, the system begins to emit a glow, the spectrum of which captures the visible part of the spectrum in the blue-green region and the ultraviolet region. UV radiation causes the phosphor of the main bulb to glow red, and the visible color of the initiating block complements the glow of the large bulb to white light. The space between the inner bulb and the source of ultraviolet radiation is filled with an inert gas (nitrogen).
SEE how to make a quartz lamp stand.
To make ultraviolet from such a lamp, it is enough to remove the upper flask. To do this, the lamp must be wrapped in a dense cloth and carefully broken. This must be done so that the indoor unit is not damaged. The inside of the glass is coated with a powdered phosphor, so it is not recommended to carry out such an operation indoors. This should be done outdoors or in a well-ventilated workshop.
Important! The cylinder is under pressure, so measures must be taken to completely eliminate the spread of glass fragments.
Next, you need to remove the remnants of the flask - and the home-made lamp of the UV section is ready.
You can connect it to the network according to the usual scheme for such devices.
Important! During the initial warm-up of the lamp, the current consumed by the DRL can reach a high value, so it is impossible to turn on the lamp in a household single-phase 220 V network without a choke! Before switching on, make sure that the ballast is designed for the luminaire's rated power.
This method of obtaining a home source of disinfecting radiation has its drawbacks, the main of which is the low bactericidal efficiency. This is due to the non-optimal radiation spectrum for such a field of activity. But there are also advantages, including low cost and ease of manufacture.
Video: Step-by-step instructions for making a lamp.
Rules for the safe use of a homemade lamp
In small quantities, ultraviolet radiation has a beneficial effect on the human body, and in certain cases it is necessary - vitamin D cannot be synthesized without UV radiation. But ultraviolet luminescence has not only useful properties. UV in excessive doses has a harmful effect:
- causes skin aging, intense exposure leads to burns, prolonged exposure can cause oncology (long exposure to UV radiation is especially dangerous for people with fair skin);
- when exposed to eyes can cause burns, and with prolonged action promotes the development of cataracts.
Therefore, when quartzization of premises homemade or industrial device, protective measures must be taken.
- The most radical way - a lamp in a stationary version, or with a separate socket. The switch must be moved outside the room. Before disinfection, remove people and animals from the premises. This is the safest method, but it is associated with work on the transfer and installation of electrical wiring.
- Another way - use a portable lamp in a closed form. With a lampshade covering a small sector in which the operator must hold when manipulating the lamp. After switching on, you need to leave the room, adhering to the darkened area. This is less labor intensive than rewiring, but the disadvantage is a closed area in which decontamination does not occur.
- Use of protective equipment. The skin is effectively protected by ordinary clothing of sufficient density. UV does not penetrate fabric. Hands can be protected with gloves - ordinary or medical rubber. Use goggles to protect your eyes. A good degree of protection is provided by glass lenses (with or without diopters). Plastic products will protect against UV much worse. The level of absorption depends on the composition of the plastic; the level of protection must be indicated in the product data sheet. Cheap sunglasses of unknown origin do not offer any warranty and may be completely transparent to UV light. They can even increase the harm: a person's pupil, reacting to a decrease in the intensity of visible light, expands. An unattenuated stream of ultraviolet radiation penetrates the eye without obstacles, damaging the lens, cornea and retina.The best way to protect yourself is with specialized goggles, which can be purchased at medical equipment stores. They guarantee the absorption of most of the flow of the harmful spectrum.
Important! Glasses protect not only the eyes, but also the skin around them. There is no fatty layer in this area, so the aging of the skin and the appearance of wrinkles under the influence of UV occurs especially quickly.
Do-it-yourself ultraviolet lamp will greatly help in maintaining the hygiene of the room. But to avoid harmful side effects, you need to take reasonable precautions. The basic principle of doctors "Do no harm!" fully relevant to the topic of the review.
