Heat from worklights...

K

kleraudio

New member
Can the heat from your worklights cause your paint to get too hot to polish? If so, how far away to you guys keep your worklights, what angles, etc...?



Seems today that my 1000W halogens were making my paint hot and drying up my polish pretty quick.



Thanks in advance!



Jim
 
yeah i know those suckers get hot they kept my van warm while i was working on the interior this freezing winter, keep em far away if you can, youll be able to see what you need to see from a considerable distance.
 
My two sit six feet away from the paint. I can feel the heat on my back but paint doesn't warm up.
 
Sweet thanks guys, I think I had the lights about a foot or so away, above the paint and facing right down. Im pretty sure thats what was causing my polish to dry up on me after 1 pass and start smudging everywhere.



Thanks for the help. If I can get out today, I will put them about 6 feet away and see what happens.



Jim
 
FWIW, I don't always find that close proximity equals good, functional illumination.



For seeing marring, I often do better with the lights a ways away. And for general illumination, issues such as heat (and safety, don't burn yourself) can be just as important as how brightly the surface is being illuminated.



I can't think of a single time that I've ever had halogens within a yard of the paint I was working on. Much more likely for me to have them at least as far away as SVR does it.
 
I might add, the farther away the tripod is, the less opportunity for the whole thing to topple over against the vehicle. Whatever has the slightest chance of happening, can and will happen if you do something long enough.
 
Thanks guys, Accumulator and SVR, can I have an example of where you would put your worklights when working on the hood of an SUV?



How bout the roof, trunk, sides...??



I had them about 1 foot away from the paint, raised on the tripod and lights shining down on the *panel* I was working on... I betcha thats why my polish dried up and smudged on me.



Thanks for the help everyone! This is the first time Ive had a real worklight with 2 500 W halogens on a tripod, so Im still new to this as well.



Jim
 
Yea man I figured as much, too bad I thought of it *after* I left. I didnt realize they didnt have to be so close, always thought they had to be right over what you were working on, so you can see the polish breaking down, marring, etc....



Jim
 
As long as you have enough light to see the polish/compound flash your fine. If its so close its heating the paint then that is way to close.
 
Yea I will try to get out there tonight just to test that alone, Im pretty tired so i dont know yet, thanks for your help though everyone!



Jim
 
I just used a single 500W halogen on a tripod to defrost my dog's freezer. It was standing as close as I could get it, aimed down with one tube extended. It worked great btw, but several minutes after turning it off, cleaning up, I happened to touch the (snow white) front of the unit and it was pretty hot. Took it's temperature and it was 122º F. The front was basically directly below the light, maybe 2-3 ft - I didn't think it threw that much heat straight down. On further inspection, the sides are very hot as well. The freezer is 27" wide and 22" front to back and the light was centered across the front. So the light baked all exposed sides even though it was "aimed" into the box.



The other night I had it on for a few hours in a closed garage while I played with a door and fender. Maybe 6ft from the car, but in a closed room for hours. JW Prime Strong dried almost instantly. I'd never used it before, and I'm guessing it dries pretty quickly, but still ...
 
I dont think that would do anything to reduce the heat from my worklights onto the paint. I just have to move the lights back, that should fix everything.



Jim
 
kleraudio said:
Thanks guys, Accumulator and SVR, can I have an example of where you would put your worklights when working on the hood of an SUV?



How bout the roof, trunk, sides...??
Click to expand...



I have 'em back a good ways, can't say just how far but I don't have to worry about the heat at all. Six to ten feet I suppose...yeah, that's a big range :o



I raise the light so it shines *down* on the hood and trunk (can't raise 'em high enough for the top of big SUVs). I move them down to varying levels for the sides and I reposition/adjust them as needed so I can see what I'm doing. This can be a royal PIA as sometimes I spend forever getting things just right.



But then I turn out all the lights and use incandescents for the final inspection anyhow. I usually dab a smear of light polish on the flaws that I find that way, because I probably won't be able to see them with the halogens and/or other lights back on when I actually do the work.
 
Thanks Accumulator! One more thing, say your doing work on the hood, and your working from the front of the car. Would the light be behind you or on the side of the car. I realize they would be shining down on the hood, but behind you or on the side?



Thanks



Jim
 
I don't have a tripod as of yet. Just hand held. On doors, it's six feet away, on the ground and is either slightly raised upwards or just flat on the ground.



If you get them too close, it will hide or mask the defects. you need to be at least four feet away to be able to see defects and holograms properly. when checking for holograms, I just put it on a box or something and move my head up and down, left to right. Dunno about a tripod, they can fall down.

On boots, hoods and roof, I just check the paint before I start and after each product. I'm not suspending a work light above a car. I've had one fall on my mates car and put a dent in the front guard before so I stopped doing that.
 
Thanks SVR, yea that would suck to have the light fall on a friends car. OUCH.



I will have to experiment next week sometime.



thanks for all your help everyone!



Jim
 
I suppose you could use a mirror above the roof to shine light down onto it if you really wanted to? Fasten one above in a rafter? I dunno, just thinking of ideas. Maybe tape a couple flash lights up there? I keep them (lights) far way enough that I can't feel the heat with my hand anymore. Usually is about the distance Accumulator mentioned IIRC.
 
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