I know this has been discussed here and there, but I would love to start a comprehensive thread about these DIY LED builds with standard formatting and an updated first post with details of each build and some kind of consensus summary. After the new year I think I am going to try my own build and would like to further the development and discussion rather than rehash others mistakes and what not.
Can you detail the following in this format, and note after each what you might change or like to see tried for comparison:
LED Details:
-Source
-Cost (in total/per LED/shipping/etc)
-Wavelength (and any other details related to the light output itself)
-Electrical requirements/wiring diagrams, etc.
Build Details:
-Overall Size
-LED Layout (distance between bulbs,distance from glass, etc)
-Glass (thickness, type, source, etc)
-Peripheral info related to vacuum blanket, etc
Film/Emulsion/Exposure Details:
-Type of emulsion and coating technique
-Film brand and printer output
-Exposure Times and mesh used
Random thoughts, what you would improve, etc:
I agree with everything you're saying. BUT, this is still a work in progress and I don't really want to post anything as fact until we can reach a consensus on all the components. The biggest variable here is the LED type.
BUYER BEWARE - LED's are vastly mis-represented on the internet with no way of actually knowing what you're getting until you get it. There are no markings or part numbers on these led chips so you have to choose reputable seller and hope they send you the right stuff!
That being said. I have been in contact with an alibaba supplier for UV strips and his PDF catalog he attached sheds a little light on the subject, or literal lack of light...
He lists 3 categories of strip, all the same in specification:
5050 SMD UV LED 60 LED per meter, 5m rolls
The differences in the 3 categories??? Power consumption! 4.8w/m, 7.2w/m, 14.4w/m. A lot of suppliers, MOST in fact, list their LED's as 14.4w/m for a 5m roll. Now, Gilligan or North, have you measured the amperage draw of your strips? I'm willing to bet my strips don't pull 72w per 5 meters or my power supply would be overloaded immediately on start up. I'll see if I can measure one row with my cheapy multimeter and calculate actual load.
What I THINK we need either the 365-370nm range strips, or 380-385nm like Pierre suggested. There is a HUGE price jump between these two ranges and both are 3-4 times the cost of 395nm strips. The idea here is to get the times down into the starlight range, to actually make these DIY setups WORTH the effort to source and assemble. If it ends up costing $700 instead of $200 and you get starlight performance, it's worth it in my opinion.
All this being said. It would probably be easier to mimic the light setup of the vastex style led's over the strip style as there are fewer options in those larger power LED's. I'm not going down that path now though. Too much invested in this project.