12 replies to this topic

[Leo U]

Not sure if anyone's read my post about my home made light so here's some links if you need to get caught up.


Pictures of my home made lamp

Link to 'Why not Build Your Own' post

So I've been using my lamp since 4/20/07 and it's really too early to draw any conclusions but I have noticed some encouraging signs that the lights are doing their job.

1) I've read in some other member's posts that a reduction in skin oil was experienced and I'm REALLY happy to report the same. I have pretty oily skin and find that within 3 hours of washing my face I'm back to an oil-slick shine but over the last 4 days or so I've been able to go a good 6 hours without much more than a slight glow which is really encouraging.

2) I've gotten 3 new zits over the last 12 days which is about normal for me but the cool thing is that 2 of them were really much smaller than usual and were gone within a couple of days. The 3rd zit is the tiniest one I've ever had. A miniature white head that I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it.

There's not much more to say since it's only been 12 days but I'm feeling good about this so far. I'll update again after a couple weeks or so.


Also worth mentioning:

I finally got my photodiode in the mail so I was able to do some real measurements of my lamp's optical power. The British Journal of Dermatology research cited in Wolfy's Blue/Red light faq states that over a 12 week period using 15 minute daily treatments the cumulative dose of blue light was 320 Joules per square centimeter. This works out to a minimum irradiance requirement of 4.23 milliwatts per square centimeter for a daily 15 minute treatment. I measured the output from one of my lamp's bulbs(38 LEDS) and these are the results:

At a treatment distance of 4" the irradiance from one bulb is 4.575 milliwatts per square centimeter.

At that 4" distance each of the 5 bulbs on my lamp puts out approximately a 3.5 - 4 inch diameter treatment area. I drew a circle this size and checked the light output at different areas along the edge of the circle(There is light outside that area but it gets dimmer so it doesn't count as far as I'm concerned). The 5 bulbs on my lamp should do a decent job of full face treament with a 15 minute daily treatment time based on these numbers. The 70 LED heads used on the acnelamp models probably exceed this but I haven't confirmed that yet and may not bother since my main goal was to build a cheaper alternative that would do the job as well as the lights used on the research. Many thanks to Wolfy for putting up with my questions and double-checking my math.

[cassiopeia]

Not sure if anyone's read my post about my home made light so here's some links if you need to get caught up.


Pictures of my home made lamp

Link to 'Why not Build Your Own' post

So I've been using my lamp since 4/20/07 and it's really too early to draw any conclusions but I have noticed some encouraging signs that the lights are doing their job.

1) I've read in some other member's posts that a reduction in skin oil was experienced and I'm REALLY happy to report the same. I have pretty oily skin and find that within 3 hours of washing my face I'm back to an oil-slick shine but over the last 4 days or so I've been able to go a good 6 hours without much more than a slight glow which is really encouraging.

2) I've gotten 3 new zits over the last 12 days which is about normal for me but the cool thing is that 2 of them were really much smaller than usual and were gone within a couple of days. The 3rd zit is the tiniest one I've ever had. A miniature white head that I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it.

There's not much more to say since it's only been 12 days but I'm feeling good about this so far. I'll update again after a couple weeks or so.


Also worth mentioning:

I finally got my photodiode in the mail so I was able to do some real measurements of my lamp's optical power. The British Journal of Dermatology research cited in Wolfy's Blue/Red light faq states that over a 12 week period using 15 minute daily treatments the cumulative dose of blue light was 320 Joules per square centimeter. This works out to a minimum irradiance requirement of 4.23 milliwatts per square centimeter for a daily 15 minute treatment. I measured the output from one of my lamp's bulbs(38 LEDS) and these are the results:

At a treatment distance of 4" the irradiance from one bulb is 4.575 milliwatts per square centimeter.

At that 4" distance each of the 5 bulbs on my lamp puts out approximately a 3.5 - 4 inch diameter treatment area. I drew a circle this size and checked the light output at different areas along the edge of the circle(There is light outside that area but it gets dimmer so it doesn't count as far as I'm concerned). The 5 bulbs on my lamp should do a decent job of full face treament with a 15 minute daily treatment time based on these numbers. The 70 LED heads used on the acnelamp models probably exceed this but I haven't confirmed that yet and may not bother since my main goal was to build a cheaper alternative that would do the job as well as the lights used on the research. Many thanks to Wolfy for putting up with my questions and double-checking my math.

I followed your whole other exchange with Wolfy ... as I'm not technically-minded at ALL (history major, what?) i'm very impressed with both of your research and with your success in building your own light. Please keep us posted!

[₫₦å]

Sample purchase is 10 it claims. Reg order only through wire-transfer. Sucks. I like the setup , hope all goes well for you and thx for the help.

[Leo U]

Sample purchase is 10 it claims. Reg order only through wire-transfer. Sucks. I like the setup , hope all goes well for you and thx for the help.

You sure? I was able to order 5 samples and got an invoice through email which I was able to pay using paypal. They also have bulbs with 50 LEDS available for $ 10.50/ea but those did have a 50 pc. minimum requirement. Well I do have extra cash laying around so if anyone's interested in buying these bulbs then post a reply. If there's enough of you I'll order the bulbs and sell them to you all at my cost via ebay.

[₫₦å]

Yeah, the inquiry stated 10 at a total of $10?.??. I went through Rambo. I'll try again, it takes a long ass time for them to get back with me though. I would had purchased the compact 03's, but I am having second thoughts about it.

[Leo U]

Yeah, the inquiry stated 10 at a total of $10?.??. I went through Rambo. I'll try again, it takes a long ass time for them to get back with me though. I would had purchased the compact 03's, but I am having second thoughts about it.

He quoted me $7.50 ea for the 38LED bulbs with no minimum order requirement.

The 60 LED bulbs are $10.50 ea. but require a 50pc. minimum order. I bet those are sweet.

I dealt with Rambo also so I guess maybe the prices have changed. Bummer if that's the case. Sucks he won't take Paypal either. This is a copy of the email he sent me. Maybe you can refresh his memory with it.

> Dear Leo,
>
> Thank you so much for your e-mail and interested in
> our products.
>
> Actually, we have manufacturing and exporting
> products from Hong Kong to different places in the
> world since our company establish at 1975. We are
> committed to offers "Excellent Service" , "Best
> Quality Control" and "Competitive Price" to our
> clients.
>
> Let's take a look at below pricing : ( F.O.B. Hong
> Kong )
>
> For YL-UV-0138 / 38 UVA (Ultra Violet) LED Mini Spot
> Light in the E27 110v 410nm package would Cost Only
> @USD$7.50/pc " SAMPLE "
>
> ***** Wholesale Price would be depending on the
> total amount of product(s) that you order *****
>
> By the way, we could send you samples for the items.
>
>
> However, I just wonder Where do you want us to ship
> to? So that we could send you the sample order
> Pro-forma Invoice right away.
>
> Please confirm and do not hesitate to let us know if
> you have any questions or enquiry.
>
> Thanks again and we're ready to serve you.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Rambo (Export Sales)
> YesLED.com ( Hong Kong )
> 24 Hours Direct Line: (852)97544779

[Leo U]

It all sounds unbelievably good, but I'm still wondering about the spectrum though.

The spectrum of one of the "420nm" LEDs looked like this when the ledmuseum guy tested it:



Which is way, way off peak.

Hopefully their production process has changed so that peak of the LEDs is much closer to the specified number. It sounds like it, since you've been using your lamp for about 2 weeks.

Are you getting any visible tanning at all?

They way I see it it didn't turn out "unbelievably" good, just barely good enough. I tested my lamp touching the light source for comparison to the acnelamp model and theirs is the more powerful lamp. I'm just glad that mine turned out to be capable of doing it's job. I was planning to replace one of my bulbs with a 9w actinic fluorescent but I'm probably gonna wait and see how I progress first.

As far as tanning goes....
Didn't really notice anything the first week and I've been enjoying my pool too much this past week to draw any conclusions. So far so good.

[₫₦å]

Yeah the 03 actinic is a good buy it seems as well, much cheaper too. It's just configuring the setup which would be a pain in the ass, seeing as you need to shop around a bit.

Well I will probably end up shopping elsewhere, 2 days for each reply really sucks and I'm also forgetting the fact it's more than 1 1/2 week to get it shipped here.

[Leo U]

Intensity when you're touching the lamp is not in and of itself important; it's the intensity at the correct treatment distance that counts.

The numbers I posted before were at a 4" distance from the light. That's the distance I use it at, a couple of the bulbs are actually a bit closer to my face than that. I have no other way to test the light's intensity. The photodiode I used was a perkinelmer VTS3082 and I used the spectral response plot from the datasheet to do the calculations and also accounted for the active area of the photodiode (93 mm^2) as well. I checked the circuit with a known standard(635nm 5mW laser pointer) before I began and it was pretty much spot on accurate.

The only reason I chose the LEDS is because they were easy to get( at the time...) , easy to use with existing lamps, and I really liked the gooseneck lamps and the fact that they're easy to position where you need them. The actinic fuorescent bulbs are definitely the better deal and appear to have a better output at the 400-420nm range than the Beautyskin and Dermalux lamps do. If I had to do this again from scratch I would use 9 watt actinic fuorescents in screw type ballasts that fit regular lamp sockets so I could still use my gooseneck lamp.

[Annaa]

Hi Leo!

Just wondering how you are progressing with your lamp? Is it working?