Accelerated weathering tester QUV

The QUV accelerated weathering tester reproduces the damage caused by sunlight, rain and dew. In a few days or weeks, the QUV UV tester can reproduce the damage that occurs over months or years outdoors.

To simulate outdoor weathering, the QUV accelerated tester exposes materials to alternating cycles of UV light and moisture at controlled, elevated temperatures. It simulates the effects of natural sunlight and artificial irradiance using special fluorescent UV lamps in the UVA, UVB, and UVC portions of the spectrum. It simulates dew and rain with condensing humidity and/or water spray. The QUV accelerated weathering tester is the simplest, most reliable, and easiest to use weathering tester available. With thousands of testers in use worldwide, it is the world's most widely used weathering tester.

UV light is responsible for almost all photodegradation of durable materials exposed outdoors. The QUV tester’s fluorescent lamps simulate the critical short-wave UV and realistically reproduce the physical property damage caused by sunlight. Types of damage include color change, gloss loss, chalking, cracking, crazing, hazing, blistering, embrittlement, strength loss and oxidation.

Dew, not rain, is responsible for most of the wetness that occurs in outdoor exposure. The QUV UV test chamber's condensation system realistically simulates dew and accelerates its effect using elevated temperature.

The condensation process automatically purifies the ordinary tap water used in the system. This is because the process of evaporating and condensing the water onto the specimens is actually a distillation process, which removes all impurities.

The QUV tester conveniently accommodates up to 48 specimens (75 mm × 150 mm) and complies with a wide range of international, national, and industry specifications, ensuring the reliability and reproducibility of your test program.

Easy to operate

The QUV UV tester’s simple, proven design makes it easy to install, easy to use, and almost maintenance-free. It operates completely automatically, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Features include

Dual touchscreen user interface for easy operation and programming in five eight user-selectable languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Exposure conditions displayed continuously
Multicolor LED light for quick “at-a-glance” tester status
Self-diagnostic warnings and service reminders
Quick calibration with patented AUTOCAL system

Affordable

The QUV tester is economical to purchase and to operate, because it uses:

low cost, long life fluorescent UV lamps
ordinary tap water for condensation

Models

QUV/se is the most popular QUV model and it features the SOLAR EYE Irradiance Control for precise maintenance of UV light intensity. The QUV/se uses a proven condensation mechanism to simulate outdoor moisture attack. It allows faster, more reproducible testing, longer lamp life, and calibration according to international standards.
QUV/spray is the same as a standard QUV/se, but also includes a water spray system for enhanced water delivery. Short periods of spray can be used to create a thermal shock. Longer periods can be used to achieve mechanical erosion. The QUV/spray can be set to generate UV light, condensation, water spray, and even combinations of light and moisture.
QUV/cw. Some industries have test methods that specify the use of cool white lamps for indoor photostability testing. To reproduce indoor light conditions, the QUV/cw has a SOLAR EYE Irradiance Control system which has been modified to monitor and control the light output of cool white fluorescent lamps.
QUV/uvc. UV light is used widely in ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), a technique used to eliminate harmful viruses and bacteria. This short-wavelength, high-energy UVC light can also degrade the materials and surfaces it disinfects. The QUV/uvc model uses UVC lamps to deliver light concentrated at 254 nm to test for material durability against photodegradation effects resulting from exposure to UVC light. The QUV/uvc tester has multiple safety features to prevent stray UVC light from escaping; it is also not equipped with condensation or water spray.
QUV/basic is a simplified version of the QUV for the lab where economy is critical. Irradiance is controlled by periodic lamp replacement and repositioning. The QUV/basic has a condensation system for moisture simulation. It does not have water spray. It also retains Q-Lab’s Gen 3 controller, with simple touchpad controls and 2-line LCD display.

More information

Product brochure: Q-Lab – QUV brochure.pdf