ArmyofOne

Ok, so I am coming home soon, and my Detailing business needs a new lighting option. We will be moving to the Seattle/Tacoma area soon, so I have some criteria to meet:

-Halogen gives off too much heat. I need a cooler temperature. My Halogen lights (nice as they are), can raise the temperature in a closed garage by 15-20 degrees in a matter of minutes. They give off ALOT of heat. I have tried a few different brands, some good, some not. But in the narrow garage area where I work (especially with larger vehicles taking more space), Having a light that gets that hot is not only annoying, but it is dangerous. If I bump it I could burn myself, or someone else (customer maybe?) and If I knock it over, It could start a fire.

-Has to still be portable, and run off of an electrical outlet. I cannot have any permanent lighting because I have to be able to move it around the vehicle. I also cannot hardwire into the circut box in Military Housing.

-Has to be less than $200. I am on somewhat of a budget, though when business picks back up it will not be as much of an issue.

-Has to be free standing (meaning it must stand up/support itself). I cant hold it with one hand and work the polisher with the other.

-Bulb longevity is also a concern, seems my Halogen goes through a $20 pair of bulbs about every 40 hours of use...which can get expensive.

Adequate lighting is one of the keys to a successful detail. Without it, little things can be missed that will show up on sunny, gorgeous days. I considered a portable pair of Fluorescent lights (similar in design to halogens) but wonder, if that type of light is maybe not condusive to being able to see hidden paint defects, such as swirls? FL lighting is more of a "glow" than a Light...if that makes any sense.

Thoughts?

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

I'd do a couple of these.

So purdy...and you can get them at the Homer Depot for under $150 each.



Big Mack

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Have you considered LED lighting? I use a Fenix TK11R2 when I don't feel like using my Halogens. I also use a LED headlamp as well during polishing so I can tell when the polish breaks down.

If you want a real set up just look for a LED light stand or something. There are some that screw on the same brackets as the Halogens do

tsslaporte

When it got down to 30s in Florida, I had no heat, I used my 1000 watt light to warm my room up, true story.

But its the best damn lighting you can get for 50 bucks :O, to get a florescent or LED that puts out that much light will be expensive

MoeMistry

I personally like halogens better since I can pick up more imperfections on lighter colored cars. But the heat, inefficiency, and cost of replacing bulbs, I can see why you'd want LEDs. Let us know how it turns out and what you end up getting.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Fenix TK11R2 has the ability to pick out most holograms on the paint for those who don't know

ArmyofOne

^You are now on my list of heroes! I am going to invest in one of these as a Halogen supplement, if it works well enough, I will purchase a second for an actual replacement.

I have looked, but to no avail, apparently everywhere is out of stock. Hot ticket Items those LED lightsets. And the cheapest one I have found (out of stock anyway) was $350, a little out of my budget.

I have a few flashlights

SureFire Nitrolon Tactical Flashlight

and this one here:

Maglight AA LED
^thats actually a friggin BRIGHT flashlight, BUT...a flashlight does not solve my problem of having a light that will stand on its own . I cant hold a flashlight and work a polish at the same time, I am not THAT good .

Flourescents are good, but not for seeing defects. They actually tend to hide them. I am going to get a set of those ones from Home Depot, but If they dont do what I want them to, I can always return them. I have found floursescents to be more of a "Glow" than is usable for detailing applications....but maybe the flourescents combined with a good flashlight?


Moe, not nessecarily LED's, but there was a stretch there where I was replacing halogen bulbs every other job, there just has to be a better way. I JUST MIGHT buy one of those cheap HID kits off of ebay, and experiment a little.

I will give both of my high powered flashlights a try.

jfelbab

Fluorescent lighting is cool and an effective light source for a lot of things, but seeing swirls is not one of them. For swirl finding, a point source of light is most effective. Even some clear incandescent bulbs are useful for this. LED lights are great for this You might also consider Metal Halide bulbs as well.

For a wide assortment of bulbs look to 1000bulbs.com.

ArmyofOne

JIM! I was hoping you would chime in here!

Do you think I could find one of those metal-whatever bulbs for a halogen lamp? That way I can just change the bulbs. I would make do if I could have a longer lasting bulb. But the heat output combined with the gross inefficiency of a standard halogen bulb makes me wonder.

I honestly could not tell you what kind of bulbs I have, I have not been home in almost a year. Part of my problem was (my wife pointed it out) that I had 250 watt bulbs in my 500 watt lamps. hence, they were burning out faster. :edagds:

EDIT: changed wattage

jfelbab

You can't just replace the halogen bulbs with metal halide bulbs as they take a special ballast and they also run hot. They need to be mounted in special fixtures and give out a good amount of light (and heat).

Using a lower wattage halogen bulb in a fixture designed to handle a higher wattage bulb will not shorten it's life. Halogen bulbs are not long lasting, typically 2,000 hours or less. They can easily develop hot spots if any oils get on the bulb surface from handling. Most of the shop light halogens bulbs are the double-ended tube type bulbs and are pretty inexpensive. I buy them by the dozen for my portable shop lights.

My shop halogens have 500w bulbs and a switch that lets me use them at either 250w or 500w. They last 2-3 times longer when operated at the lower wattage setting. They also run a bit cooler at that lower wattage.

Many detailers use a Brinkmann during swirl correction.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

If you are planning to pick up a Brinkmann, please be wary that they are very fragile. I knocked mine off the roof of my Camry and the battery pack was shorted

jfelbab

The battery pack is a weakness of this light for sure. I believe it is a sealed lead acid type and has a pretty short run time. You also are advised not to leave it charging for over 12 hours which is really annoying.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Definitely. I've been meaning to replace it with an RC battery of the same specs but I'm having way too much fun with my Fenix to even bother. If I do repair it, I'll be adding a lot of shock reducing fabric in there. Its very empty and cheap inside!