Testing UVC lamps with a cheap UVA/UVB sensor

Recently, Big Clive has investigated whether some items being sold with claims such as “UV-C germicidal lamps” are legit.  In this video, he explains the difference between UV-A, -B, and -C, demonstrates how an Adafruit sensor together with a piece of glass can be re-purposed into a non-calibrated UVC-C detector, and shows that several items are almost certainly not living up to their marketing claims.


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1 Comment

  1. Here’s my UV-C meter implementation. Used two sensors as these cheap $6 sensor boards from eBay were giving different results. The eBay sensors were giving more consistent results than Analog UV Light Sensor Breakout – GUVA-S12SDY (1918). I tested the unmodified 1918 boards with the ADS-1115 ADC as it has the resolution to measure low voltages and also has built in reference.
    The UV-C bulb is 3W (usually around 30% efficient) and the sensors are placed approx. 15 cm away at the middle. This work is based on the following article by Akiba.

    https://hackerfarm.jp/2020/03/nukemeter/

    My code,
    https://github.com/mpallewa/UV-C_meter_Trinket_M0

    Facebook post with output.

    https://www.facebook.com/methlal.pallewatta/posts/2726878874091208?notif_id=1588642505083181&notif_t=video_processed

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