TigerTech 12 LED 375 nm UV Flashlight 3AAA, Silver

My cat is a 90 year old hag who pees whenever she feels like it, creating foul clouds of ammonia scented stench around the house. The key to getting rid of the smell is drenching the stains with an enzyme based cleaner like Nature's Miracle. Unfortunately, precious metals and illicit drugs cost less than Nature's Miracle, so you can't just flood your bedroom and call it a day. You need to find the point of origin and treat that, which can be tricky once the puddle has dried.Luckily, whatever power decided that cat urine would be the most foul substance known to man also ensured that it would glow under a black light. So whenever the old hag-cat looks a little too pleased with herself, I turn out all the lights, whip this flashlight out and see what she's been up to. The urine stains will glow a dim yellowish-green. Happy hunting!

After a couple of weeks, it seems well built and I don't have any problems with it, other than that it doesn't work for what I wanted to do with it. Modern US currency designs include security threads that glow different colors under UV light. The problem is that $100 bills and some $20s (mostly 2004 and 2004A, in my experience) don't work under some UV light, including this flashlight. Seems maybe you need to get down to 365 nm for the $100s to glow. If the description had advertised for use in currency detection, I would be mad. But, I guess it was just a bad assumption on my part.I subsequently bought a HQRP Keychain UV Flashlight with Solar Battery Power 3 LED and 365 nm Wawelength for Document Check plus HQRP UV Tester. It does great with the problem $20s, and OK (I think) with the $100s. The strips in the $100s are only slightly pinkish with it, but I think it does the job.

If you like to shake a flashlight in hopes it will come on, this is the flashlight for you! If battery contact works, you will see pet stains on solid color carpet. This 12 LED UV light does not show up pet stains on pattern carpet or washable pee pads. In a few days of attempting to utilize this miniature flashlight, the mechanism at the inside base that makes contact with the battery, broke off. I have no idea how this mechanism joins the base or how to reattach, if it were possible, in the extremely limited space. The flashlight has a design flaw (battery connection) and inferior production for your money. In the trash it goes!

As new pet owners, there is always an adjustment period for pets, so there will be potty accidents. We decided to get this UV light to help us spot any accidents on our carpet. It also makes cleaning far easier since you can see if you got all the mess. This light worked really well on the carpet we have, short to med length tan carpet. For most stains it glows neon, but that depends on what the stain is. The packaging is just a white paper carton. There isn't any print on it so this wouldn't make a good gift to send/give without repackaging. However since we were just getting it for use, the minimal packaging wasn't an issue.

I tested the flashlight on a spectrometer. It does cause objects to fluoresce, but it has a very wide output range of 380 to 430 nanometers. I have never seen this with an LED. Usually their output is only a few nanometers wide. It is definitely NOT 375nm as stated.

I have a diabetic dog. He's had diabetes for years, a side effect of which is incontinence that can range from occasional to frequent, and minimal (dribbles or tiny puddles) to severe (massive puddles).THE SITUATION ...In recent months, he started getting worse about peeing any time he felt like. He got so bad that I couldn't even keep up with the frequency of his peeing--three to six times per night at times (large puddles), and constantly little puddles if I was gone. He was going through a bout of extreme glucose fluctuation (high glucose is what leads to excessive peeing and drinking in a diabetic). He was stenching up my room (where he spent most of his time, especially at night), and his issues forced me to find a new kennel, an attachable water bucket for inside, and a raised floor designed for the kennel (so he would be comfortably dry even if he had to pee [he does every time he's in there--I've taught him that it's allowed if he's in there]). He now stays kenneled at night and when I'm gone--which we both hate, since he's always been a very people-puppy and hates isolation--and it's been a boon to my sanity not to have to clean up a dozen spots a day!But, then there's the carpet he effectively turned into a toilet. I cleared everything out of that stinky room, had a professional come in and clean (did a terrible job for several reasons), and found that the smell and many of the stains returned within about 2 weeks. I knew approximately where his pee patterns were, so I knew what general paths to treat. I started treating with enzyme-cleaner designed for dog urine in the areas I knew, but had no way other than smelling the carpet to know which other areas he may have hit at random times that I COULDN'T see.I wanted a way to efficiently treat the problem areas without wasting cleaner, time, or effort anymore. This light was $9.65 when I bought it (now $10.99.. Go figure), and unlike the sparse selection of other low-cost UV lights, it didn't have any negative reviews about being too weak, ineffective, etc (but admittedly it only had one review!;)...I got it yesterday evening, and was thrilled to start "playing" with it (running around looking at things all around the home).THE LIGHT ...Effectiveness - This, for me, was the biggest requirement. I needed something that'd show everything--from strongly present pet messes to barely there--so I could treat every single possible source of smell or general carpet-quality-reducing rough/sticky/dirty spot he's made, whether I'd know it's there or not without the UV light. This flashlight delivers on that. I shined the light in sweeping motions across my carpet (room dark), and saw everything from super-bright former puddles to faint and faded spots that had obviously been fixed a little by previous cleanings but just not well enough yet. What made me happiest was that it showed me where to focus on in the areas I WASN'T as sure about (even small/almost gone spots), not just the areas whose patterns I knew about (areas he favored). It worked well enough for the super-visible areas even with overhead lights or lamps on; but, it certainly worked better (including those barely-there light spots) if it was dark in the room (some of the lightest spots don't show much or at all in daylight/lights on).Material & Durability - The flashlight opens from the bottom (a cap screws on/off). Exterior is a metallic casing with a rubbery button on the bottom end (on the cap). Inside is a small pod-style removable compartment for the three AAA batteries to go into, mostly-plastic (except the springs and contacts). Apart from the rubber button on the outside of the cap, there's also a rubber gasket around the inside of the cap to tighten the seal when the cap is fully screwed on (otherwise, the inside is basically entirely made of metal too). The flashlight feels very durable and solid--as much as any quality flashlight I've ever handled. In fact, it slipped out of my hand once last night while I was looking around, and its light didn't even flicker as it hit the ground; it sustained no damage or problems that I could tell (but admittedly it also fell only probably four feet to a carpeted area). It comes with a cloth loop on the lid for easier carrying/holding, but I will point out that the loop is so small that it doesn't seem to be intended to fit over an adult's hand to hang on the wrist (it's very tight fitting over my hands onto my wrist, and I have fairly small hands).Battery installation and ease of use - This was great overall. As far as installing batteries, the little removable pod has +/- symbols above each battery slot (embossed symbols), showing you how the batteries must be inserted into the pod (very straight-forward); however, putting the pod itself back into the flashlight was a bit of a different matter. The pod also had faint +/- symbols on the ends (lightly engraved [that is, sunken in a bit]... larger, less visible), but the flashlight's cap and interior appeared to have NO symbols. I just rechecked, to be sure, and yes, there aren't any corresponding symbols inside the cap or interior to match up with the pod (and when I first removed the pod, I didn't think to look at which end came out first). This wasn't a problem, since it was easy enough to simply put it in one direction, try it, find out it wouldn't turn on, and flip the pod-thing over and try again (soon as I flipped the pod over and pressed the cap to it, the light came on, before I screwed the cap on... Worked perfectly). However, for anyone who needs to know and didn't check as they pulled it out, the pod must be inserted with the PLUS(+) symbol's end going in first (so that the end with the convex bump is behind the light, and the end with the concave spot makes contact with the inside of the cap). Perfectly easy and fast installation--no fuss, no frustration. ADDENDUM: I just now noticed there are arrows on each side of the pod, pointing toward the + end (thus indicating to insert that end first)... That ought to be good enough in the future (and save me from the added seconds of trial and error).Power/Strength - It has a good long, strong light. It shines a good distance away, and shows a plenty wide area. I will say, however, that its effectiveness depends on distance a bit. Too far away, and not much showed up as readily; too close, and it seemed to make the super-light but expansive spots LESS visible, whereas tiny spots were MORE visible the closer I got. So, it has taken some trial and error. Just remember that ya might have to move the light closer and farther, or even different angles, to see spots clearly (I found that some spots showed best from a somewhat diagonal angle: standing a few feet away and aiming slightly sideways at the spot, rather than straight-down... This might be because those areas had been cleaned, but not well enough--and/or with the right cleaners--so some of it wicked back up, without wicking all the way to the tips of the carpet fibers, so it's visible more from the side than from above).Energy consumption - Can't really comment on this yet, as I've had it only less than 24 hours. But it's certainly lasted fine with all the on/off running around experimenting I did last night ;) Hoping that it lasts a good looooong time, especially considering it takes three AAA batteries. (the description on the Amazon product page claims the batteries will last 20 hours of continuous use)Instructions, Info, and Packaging - It came in a plain white box exactly fitted to it. Inside the box it was inserted in a tiny bubble-wrap sheath/pocket, also exactly fitted. The box itself was NOT very sturdy, but in my case I had ordered some other items as well so it got combined with those during shipment (I don't think it'd stand up to shipping without an exterior box, so hopefully they double-package it even if it's ordered alone). As for instructions and Info? None. Not so much as a sheet of paper saying "Congratulations"... The box has a small label on the outside identifying the item (a barcode and barcode number, and below that, "Abco Tech 12 LED UV 375 nm 3 AAA flashlight Silver New")... That's it. Obviously it's pretty intuitive to open the battery compartment (twist the cap off), install batteries, close it, and turn it on (press the button)... So instructions are totally unnecessary for initial usage. But I do kind of wonder, for example, if there'd be any way to replace bulbs if they burn out (looking doubtful), or if a person just has to toss it and get a new one if its bulbs wear out.Accuracy in comparison to its product description - Very accurate. Feels heavy-duty, yet is lightweight and compact; 12 LED bulbs; compact enough to fit in a pocket.In summary - Awesome light. Not necessarily one I'd use for regular lighting needs, as its best illumination is of course on items that react well to the UV, and where anything else is concerned it just doesn't brighten enough (wouldn't be great for fixing a spark plug or fiddling with the back of your TV set, etc).No cons so far--we'll see. If I've forgotten to include anything, leave a comment and if I see it/can answer it I'll amend my review to address it.

...for finding those hidden pet presents. We got one because we kept getting that faint hint of /something/ in the air. This thing could flouresce up the little wee spot in broad daylight visibly. Much easier, obviously, with the lights off, but the ability to see it right off was awesome. Good beam size, too, broad enough so that you aren't constantly searching about with it.

Mine failed after about a week of light use. One or two of the LED's light up and that is it. While it was working correctly it was great.