Are there UV properties in blue CCFL?

[gamingguru]

Could be because blue is close to UV in the spectrum of light.

[Eric1285]

My blue CCFL makes my UV cables glow a tiny bit.

[Gibo]

Ok.......here's how CCFLs work. The tube contains mercury vapor (which is what makes them different from fluorescent lights, they have liquid mercury). The electrical current runs through the mercury vapor and excites some of the mercury molecules (excite meaning elevated from the ground quantum state up to the first excited state). The mercury stays in the excited state for some time, then drops back to the ground state and releases energy. This energy is emitted as light, for mercury, UV light. Colored cold cathodes have phosphors that are designed to emit a certain color/wavelength. The UV light excites the phosphors, which emit light. Some of the UV light is not absorbed and goes through the tube. It's usually drowned out by the visible light so you don't notice it. A UV cathode just leaves out the phosphor.

[Morphes]

cool cool, well this explains alot, blue really lights up my UV reactive stuff, thanks for the info!

[Whatsisname]

Where did you get the idea that regular fluorescents use liquid mercury?

Originally posted by Gibo
Ok.......here's how CCFLs work. The tube contains mercury vapor (which is what makes them different from fluorescent lights, they have liquid mercury).

Anyways, the only difference between CCFL's and regular fluorescents is the blend of phosphor coatings. And the size of course. Other than that the tube is the same. Do not confuse fluorescents with "neon" lights though. Neon lights dont need the phosphor coating.

[cgrant26]

The color spectrum goes like this and in this order:
Infra Red
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Ultra Violet

The colors close to UV will have higher UV properties so a Violet (Purple) CCFL will have the most UV intensity of normal colors. Red will have the least.

[kronchev]

cold cathode lights (and neons too) all work by sending electrons through a bulb filled with a gas or gasses. the electricity excites the gas in the bulbs, whose electrons raise to higher states of energy. however, since the eletrons arent from those states, they quickly jump back down, and release the energy in the form of light. every element gives off a fingerprint spectrum of light, which ISNT just ONE color, its many. when you look at the bulb, it may look like whatever, but when you put it in a prisim or grating, itll separate into its components, just like white light, which is EVERY frequency together. this includes both UV waves and infrared waves. infrared is heat, so thats why ccfl's and neons are a little warm, depending on the gas. thats also why GaNGrENe's blue CCFL's react the UV-reactive paint on his PCI slots. theyre UV but they look blue, and since theyre touted as safe, assuming theyre not being dickheads, they also dont throw off a high enough frequency thatll mess up your skin/plexi/etc. so basically, there could be many different colored CCFL's that will make UV-reactive paint glow, but usually the other colors will overpower it. The advantage of black light is that the gas only throws off high-frequency UV, so theres no other colors. the disadvantage is that other matter usually doesnt like it.