There’s a 100% chance that this is a scam. If it were actually UVC LEDs it would be very expensive. And if it were an actual UVC cold cathode discharge tube it would be not terribly expensive but way more money than this.
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There are 2 UVC LEDs that are visible in the images, and listed in the specs. The rest are UVA.
This product is a piece of junk. Money wasted.
I bought one, cuz I’m a sucker for gimmicks, I fully admit.
Mine has two distinctively different types of LEDs. Three of them are metal-bodied, gold in color. Six of them a flat, plastic-looking, white in color.
The tube is clearly marked as emitting UVC and UVA, so these must be the differences in the two types.
I slid the rubber tubing off to see if the plastic cover could be removed, and indeed it can. I’m curious if the Wooter that tested with the dosimeter card tested with this plastic in place or not.
At $35 for a 10pk of those cards, I’d like to see if that was possible before spending just as much to test the thing as I did to buy it.
To those claiming that UVC LEDs are prohibitively expensive, how do they explain the $50 cost of those phone sanitizer cases? They too use LEDs, and they aren’t hundreds of dollars. Must they be scams too? Is everything a scam? Or is it possible that things are fictitiously expensive in some areas, and not in others?
Tests are needed. Not arguments built on conjecture.
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I bought a smiliar one from Thinkgeek years ago. Broke it out during the lockdown only to learn that it’s claims weren’t valid. Not sure about this one though. Makers Of Ultraviolet “Disinfectant” Devices Penalized $1.3M For Making False Germ-Killing Claims – Consumerist
I’d do some research before buying.
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Don’t worry about the safety of the people using these. These don’t even come close to producing UVC.
These are plain old black lights. Also, the commenter that mentioned UVC not penetrating plastic is correct. Actual UVC LEDs have a quartz lens to allow the UVC wavelengths through.
The third link above shows how the clear plastic blocks UVC from an actual UVC lens.
He mentioned he was using glass. He never mentioned plastic in the video.
None of those videos tested this light. How is that helpful?
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Here’s an article about an EXPERIMENTAL uvc technology:
FAKE! Per my previous comment I bought 4 of these and had built a disinfectant box. I had 4 lights in a mirror lined box. I finally got access to UVC docimeter cards to test how long we need to have these on for mask decon. I had full confidence these would work and I just needed to adjust the time. The instructions with these wands said 2.5 minutes to kill bacteria. I used docimeter cards calibrated for bacteria and there was 0 reading at 15 or 30 minute intervals using multiple cards, multiple tests, etc. These wands have no UVC lights in them at all. Woot should remove them immediately.
For comparison it took 2 minutes (4 30-second cycles) in my Homedics zip-up UVC cleaner to kill MRSA and 10 minutes (20 cycles) for C-Dif. Similar results in my Casetify that arrived today - 1 cycle (3 minutes) for MRSA and 5 cycles (15 minutes) for C-Dif. The Homedics uses just 2 LED lights while the Casetify has 6.
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Hi all. For those wondering why their UVC cards are not detecting the UVC, per the vendor these items use new UVC LEDs. These were tested and we have the sterilization report (in Chinese) from a microbiology lab.
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SO… the product specs list 3 and 6 LEDs… One type is UVC but just barely… The other is plain old UVA “Blacklight” I’m guessing this is 3 of the uvc and 6 of the uva and that most of the 3w is in the uva. Can anyone confirm or deny?
I tested 4 of these lights. They have NO UVC’s in them at all. None. Avoid.
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These items are fake. You need to remove them. I used the same cards on other UVC LED devices and the cards detected the UVC as they should. Multiple people have now tested these wands and found them to be fake. There is no excuse for you not to have them removed immediately.
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The phone sanitizer cases use small mercury-vapor tubes. I have one from Phonesoap that I still need to send in to get one of the tubes replaced.
Perhaps YOUR phone sanitizer case uses tubes. The two I have (Homedics and Casetify) use LED. Both of these registered on the UVC docimeter card. This product sold by Woot did not.
That could explain why Phonesoap brand is nearly double the price of the one Woot’s been listing for the past month.
There is simply no way this is real. Only UVC light is effective for germicidal purposes for the same reason it can blind you and give you sunburn – it’s horrible. Nowhere in the description does this say it’s a UVC light source. This wand is likely in the UVA/UVB spectrum, and that simply won’t cut it. Even their photoshopped pictures show a purple light (UVA/UVB) while UVC germicidal lamps produce a spooky blue-green glow. I’m no expert, but I’ve been studying this for several days now for another project and I would hate to see people get ripped off or potentially put at risk because of a false product description. Additionally, anything you see that claims to be a true UVC wand is just dangerous. UVC light should always be kept contained to prevent skin damage or blindness. Even short term exposure can cause temporary blindness or otherwise extremely painful conditions. It’s infuriating to see someone marketing either a product that doesn’t work, but falsely claims to (likely here), or a product that works, but is extremely dangerous to the user. Be safe.
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Did you test this wand with the clear plastic cover removed? (easily done)
There are clearly two different LEDs on the device, but no way to tell what they are just from looking.
Others noted the cover might block UVC if it isn’t the right type.
No, I did not disassemble the unit to test it. As delivered, it does nothing to disinfect. 0 UVC reading. None. I returned the 4 units I bought. They are not designed to be easily disassembled.
For those claiming this items doesn’t advertise UVC clearly have reading comprehension issues as it’s right there in the description. The items also have a sticker on them claiming to be UVC and come with UVC warning material. However, there is no danger in using these as there is NO UVC light admitted from these devices. They are FAKE and should be removed.
Yes they do emit a purple/blue light when used.
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Very true!
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