(Coronavirus) On UV Sanitization

[N5329K]

This looks like an interesting project to do while staying at home, but me and my hubby are not very handy. Looks like you have used a shoebox with a uv lamp. Can you post specifics of the UV lamp? There are so many on Amazon, can't figure out which one is enough for a shoebox size box. Also, is it better to line the inside with foil?
Did you build this one already? Results?

The bulb is an Ushio PL9, available (or was) through Amazon. Be sure to get the appropriate base for the bulb. Lining the shoebox with foil is not a bad idea, as it would protect the cardboard. But unlined, the UV lamp produced perfect sterility in her petri dishes after 200 seconds. We process our N95 masks when we come home... on one side for 200 seconds, then we flip them over and zap the other side for the same amount of time. It produces the pleasing aroma of fried bacteria, viruses and ozone. Sterilizing the masks means we can use them again and again.
Good luck and stay well,
Robin

 

[Xd85]

anyone know about application of Pulsed UV Machines typically used to sanitize entire rooms to sterilize PPE? wavelength is similar (200-400nm) but need to understand duration not to deteriorate mask materials.

 

[Big Earl]

Materials will degrade over time when exposed to UVC. Ozone will also degrade elastics. Masks should be checked regularly and repacked when necessary. 3 minutes of exposure should be sufficient for your average UVC light source. Stronger sources will require less time to sanitize.

 

[EVCollies]

I purchased this Zeiger UV Germicidal Lamp, 60W Bulb E26 to build a sterilizing room. I will hang the lamp in the middle of a small garage closet and hang items on the wall or place on wire racks. Any thoughts how long or if this lamp is sufficient quality?

 

[Bill Price]

I purchased this Zeiger UV Germicidal Lamp, 60W Bulb E26 to build a sterilizing room. I will hang the lamp in the middle of a small garage closet and hang items on the wall or place on wire racks. Any thoughts how long or if this lamp is sufficient quality?

On another tangent, Home | SANUVOX has been making uvc products for killing airborne pathogens in residential and commercial applications for years. Being in the HVAC business, I've had one installed on the air handlers of my last two houses for many years. It would be hard to modify for decontaminating product instead of air, but if your aspirations are to purify and decontaminate airborne viruses, germs, bacteria and pathogens in your house or workplace, I highly recommend it.

 

[EV forever]

Behold my state of art UV Sanitization Box

Well, it looks like an old cooler box from outside


But has been fully transformed from inside





Plenty of aluminum foil and liberal use of a hot glue gun to cover up the inside. Couldn't quite figure out how to get the wire to come out, original plan was to pull it out of the outlet for water at the bottom. But the lamp I purchased on eBay came fully assembled with a switch and plug, so couldn't do that without cutting the wire. So instead, just had the wire come out from the hinge side and used some foam tape to cushion it. A couple of old cooking racks on the bottom work well to keep items off the bottom.

When the lamp is turned on with the box tightly closed, there is a slight blue glow that escapes from the side of the handle area. Good thing to indicate that the lamp is working.



So far, we have only used it to sanitize face masks so that they can be re-used. We have been using 4 minutes each side facing up. The lamp generates a fair amount of ozone, you can smell it when the box is opened.

The lamp picture is below - it is the 9W lamp meant to be used in water filters for aquariums, but is sufficient for our purposes. It does not have a timer, but does have an on/off switch. I bought it on eBay because none of the sellers on Amazon were shipping in less than 2 weeks. Also, on eBay it cost about $15. Everything else used for the project was items around the house.

 

[eevee-fan]

Behold my state of art UV Sanitization Box

Well, it looks like an old cooler box from outside
View attachment 529390

But has been fully transformed from inside

View attachment 529392

Plenty of aluminum foil and liberal use of a hot glue gun to cover up the inside. Couldn't quite figure out how to get the wire to come out, original plan was to pull it out of the outlet for water at the bottom. But the lamp I purchased on eBay came fully assembled with a switch and plug, so couldn't do that without cutting the wire. So instead, just had the wire come out from the hinge side and used some foam tape to cushion it. A couple of old cooking racks on the bottom work well to keep items off the bottom.

When the lamp is turned on with the box tightly closed, there is a slight blue glow that escapes from the side of the handle area. Good thing to indicate that the lamp is working.

View attachment 529393

So far, we have only used it to sanitize face masks so that they can be re-used. We have been using 4 minutes each side facing up. The lamp generates a fair amount of ozone, you can smell it when the box is opened.

The lamp picture is below - it is the 9W lamp meant to be used in water filters for aquariums, but is sufficient for our purposes. It does not have a timer, but does have an on/off switch. I bought it on eBay because none of the sellers on Amazon were shipping in less than 2 weeks. Also, on eBay it cost about $15. Everything else used for the project was items around the house.

View attachment 529394 View attachment 529395

Ozone is also a disinfectant.

 

[EV forever]

Ozone is also a disinfectant.

Yes, so we probably don’t need to do 4 min each side of the masks. But no way for me to test that. Also, need to keep the box in a well ventilated place, maybe the garage. don’t want ozone in the house with all of us WFH.

 

[Bill Price]

I purchased this Zeiger UV Germicidal Lamp, 60W Bulb E26 to build a sterilizing room. I will hang the lamp in the middle of a small garage closet and hang items on the wall or place on wire racks. Any thoughts how long or if this lamp is sufficient quality?

UV bulbs are not very efficient. That said, fluorescent UV bulbs are probably 10% efficient at best, so a 60 watt bulb probably emits around 6 watts in the UVC range. LED's are roughly twice as efficient, so say 12 watts. That being said, one would think that 12 watts of UVC entergy would surely be sufficient dependant on how close it is to the object being "sanitized." This bulb should be more than adequate if the data divulged by the seller is correct, the downside being the cost of the bulb. But makers of UVC bulbs, whether they are fluorescent or LED know they pretty much have captive buyers and always put a premium on the sale of these bulbs, so the price may not be out of line given the seller's data of 50,000 hours. Caveat Emptor.

 

[linux-works]

for the DIYers out there, I started a github project for a UV (including UV-C) wireless sensor module:

sercona/UVSee

its still a work-in-progress but there's code that works and a layout that also works (until I have a PCB made). it needs a box, too; maybe something 3d printed.

the idea is to put this inside a uvc disinfection chamber, have it 'watch' the light output during your hour long soak time, and with a matching bluetooth module (or native BT on a phone or laptop) you can know that the light is still working, it did not burn out and that your hour long investment was actually worth something

still to be done: the main interface system for the disinfection chamber (itself), which would control the UVC lights, a motorized turntable in the box, optional exhaust vans (for the ozone that gets produced), a bright RED/GREEN light to show operational status and maybe a timer set function and a count-down display.

this part, here, is the wireless sensor part. I plan to have a motorized turntable to place the objects on and this sensor will sit on that turntable. I wanted it to be wireless to that nothing gets tangled as the platform rotates; and also you can use this as a general purpose UV sensor, for sunlight or anything where you need portable operation.

oh, the link.

here 'tis: sercona/UVSee

 

[Big Earl]

for the DIYers out there, I started a github project for a UV (including UV-C) wireless sensor module:

sercona/UVSee

View attachment 530174

its still a work-in-progress but there's code that works and a layout that also works (until I have a PCB made). it needs a box, too; maybe something 3d printed.

the idea is to put this inside a uvc disinfection chamber, have it 'watch' the light output during your hour long soak time, and with a matching bluetooth module (or native BT on a phone or laptop) you can know that the light is still working, it did not burn out and that your hour long investment was actually worth something

still to be done: the main interface system for the disinfection chamber (itself), which would control the UVC lights, a motorized turntable in the box, optional exhaust vans (for the ozone that gets produced), a bright RED/GREEN light to show operational status and maybe a timer set function and a count-down display.

this part, here, is the wireless sensor part. I plan to have a motorized turntable to place the objects on and this sensor will sit on that turntable. I wanted it to be wireless to that nothing gets tangled as the platform rotates; and also you can use this as a general purpose UV sensor, for sunlight or anything where you need portable operation.

oh, the link.

here 'tis: sercona/UVSee

I love your project!

A few thoughts:

1.) make the inside of the chamber reflective to improve UV distribution and reduce dwell time
2.) use ozone to your advantage, as it aides in the sterilization process
3.) one hour dwell time seems excessive, particular if you plan on installing more lights. You can probably reduce it by an order of magnitude. Excessive UV exposure can cause material degradation, particularly on elastics
4.) if you’re looking for lamp upgrades, the 15 watt UVC lamp for an Ionic Breeze fits a standard F15T8 fluorescent light fixture and would be very cost effective in this application https://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Sharper-Image-Breeze-Germicidal/dp/B071DWM2FF

I’m really looking forward to following your progress. Thanks for sharing.

 

[keydiver]

Thanks to the tips on this thread, I decided to repurpose an old hinged box I had in the attic. I bartered a friend that owns an A/C repair company for the UV lamp assembly he installs in the ductwork, A few minutes in this box is all my mask needs to freshen it up for the next grocery store trip.

The only issues I ran into were:
1) The tube was too long for the box, so I painted an old solder reel black to act as a spacer. Fortunately, it also has a small notch in it, that acts as a pilot light for the UV lamp.
2) The A/C UV setup is made to run off the 24 VAC from the A/C air handler. Fortunately I had a heavy class 2 26 VAC wall wart that seems to work perfect.

 

[linux-works]

I suggest adding a motor turntable so you get all angles covered:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQJMZND

does not rotate too fast; seems to support a decent amount of weight. add a dinner plate for more surface if needed.

 

[joetomasone]

Funny - I am building an ice-chest version as well. The grow room looks interesting as well.

As far as how long you need to expose with UV-C - some of the variables are:

1. The strength of your UV-C source
2. The distance from the source to the object (inverse square law, less distance is better)

Also, keep in mind that for UVC @ ~254nm, the surface to be decontaminated must receive the light - so if your object has a side shaded/blocked, it will not be decontaminated. That's one reason to suspend objects and use aluminum reflectors. Ozone (generated by UV sources at ~185nm ideally) will get into and around objects as much as regular air will - so airflow is a variable here.

There are formulas for this, but I'm a big fan of overkill in these situations.

Also noting that with respect to the "corn" LED 60W bulbs that someone posted about - many have been found to be fakes - just plain LEDs with visible light - so caveat emptor.

 

[normd]

Thanks to the tips on this thread, I decided to repurpose an old hinged box I had in the attic. I bartered a friend that owns an A/C repair company for the UV lamp assembly he installs in the ductwork, A few minutes in this box is all my mask needs to freshen it up for the next grocery store trip.

The only issues I ran into were:
1) The tube was too long for the box, so I painted an old solder reel black to act as a spacer. Fortunately, it also has a small notch in it, that acts as a pilot light for the UV lamp.
2) The A/C UV setup is made to run off the 24 VAC from the A/C air handler. Fortunately I had a heavy class 2 26 VAC wall wart that seems to work perfect.

I hope you realize that the New England Journal of Medicine has concluded that masks do not prevent the virus from being spread or inhaled by you.

 

[FRE0]

Spraying a mask with rubbing alcohol which is 70% isopropanol should do the job, at least until you run out of rubbing alcohol and find that you cannot buy more.

 

[FRE0]

I hope you realize that the New England Journal of Medicine has concluded that masks do not prevent the virus from being spread or inhaled by you.

What exactly to they mean by that? Of course if they reduce the risk by 99% it would still be correct to say that they don't PREVENT the spread. However, if they reduce the risk by even 75% that is very significant.

Have they ever actually quantified by how much they reduce the risk?

 

[ThisIsTrue]

Spraying a mask with rubbing alcohol which is 70% isopropanol should do the job, at least until you run out of rubbing alcohol and find that you cannot buy more.

That's fine for a cloth mask, but NOT the N95 types. Studies have shown trying to clean them with any chemical agent (e.g., alcohol) degrades their filtering ability. If you MUST reuse an N95 (sadly needed with shortages), it's best to let them COMPLETELY dry out, ideally for 3 days, before using again. Of course to do this, they should NOT be in a plastic bag.

 

[eevee-fan]

Also noting that with respect to the "corn" LED 60W bulbs that someone posted about - many have been found to be fakes - just plain LEDs with visible light - so caveat emptor.

Darn, I just ordered 2. Guess I'll have to do some test.

BTW, one can smell ozone (O3), I assume the corn LED would generate it. Also, 60W on LED would be super bright, I guess I can at least measure the power usage of the bulb.

 

[pigwet]

N95DECON - A scientific consortium for data-driven study of N95 FFR decontamination