retrObright alternative to sunlight, advices needed

[kilogeek]

As I've seen on retr0bright related wikis or pages people saying that using sunlight is the best solution,
I found this type of full spectrum lights that are not too expensive, these are made in Germany
and it says it's very close to sunlight spectrum (10% UVA and 0.2% UVB) :

http://www.tobelight.fr/ampoule-de-luminotherapie-elecolight-biovital-5800-kelvin.html

More details in this PDF :   (371.91 kB - downloaded 368 times.)

It's written in french but technical data can easily be understood by anyone,
do you think this could be used in the retrObright process ?

(it's winter and I've got no sun coming into my flat, no garden or roof to use + taning UV lights are very expensive)

[niubio]

Hi there kilogeek!

Sunlight is "the best solution", because it's the largest source of UV radiation and it's free I've read tons of pages and articles, and nowhere I've found one simple answer which lights/bulbs should be used. My small piece of advice: HEAT is important, as well as UV.

Try this quick experiment: take a simple cardbox (big enough to fit your board case or whatever you want to retrobright) and put some alu foil on it's inside walls. Then take some bedside/table lamp or sth like that and put ~60W-80W (strong) bulb above. Now apply hairgel or retrobright paste on your item and put it inside for an hour or more - be careful not to let the formula to dry (blooming!). Make sure it's WARM inside! Observe your results.

I tried various things - now I use old swedish '60-era UV sunbathing lamp I bought on a flea market for ~$1 + 150l fishtank coated with alufoil, filled with hydrogen peroxide water solution (% vary). It's really hot inside! I've tried to pressurize it, tried ozone generator + various bleaches, etc. - and came to one single conclusion: the temperature has to be higher. There are ppl on polish forums that achieve decent results with simple hot bulbs + cardboxes In that case, you decide if it's wise to spend extra money on special purpose UV lamps... Of course I'm not 100% sure if those wouldn't be "better" or "faster"...

[lowpoly]

In my experience it works well without additional UV (i.e. indoors on an overcast day). Takes longer but no problem IMHO as the process runs on its own.

Nothing wrong with optimizing though. :-)

[Abe]

I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here as I'm not familiar with the whole retr0bright process, but if your after artificial sunlight couldn't you use a hydroponics grow lamp?

They kick out tones of heat and UV. You can get a whole range from 100W-800W, I managed to pick up a 600W with a ballast from GumTree (second hand site in the UK thats a bit like Craigslist) for $65. I'd imagine you would want something a bit smaller so wouldn't cost as much.

[kilogeek]

Yes I've seen these kinds of artificial sunlight lamps for reptiles, but they cost much more than elecolights, they also send much more IR. So ATM I'll make a try with an elecolight and cooking aluminium paper on a crap dome yellowed keyboard. Thx anyway for your advices, I'll put here some feedback on what worked best.