LED vs. Halogen work lights ... let's discuss

S

stilez

New member
It's no surprise that the trend of lighting in homes has gone from halogen, incandescent, fluorescent, and now LED. LED uses the least electricity, lasts the longest, and doesn't have the toxic Mercury waste as fluorescent does. The prices are still high and the beam patterns/colors are still being developed to mimic those of halogen.



While Halogen work lights have been the standard since I began detailing, fluorescent have made it into the mix but lack a bit in the light intensity department, leaving more to be desired when highlighting defects. They do make nice general drop lights for lighting areas, use much less power, and stay relatively cool.



More recently, I've seen some high-end LED flashlights used to highlight defects as the LEDs are bright and very focused, mimicking the sunburst effect. The attractive factor for me is that while buffing, I cannot run my halogen lights off the same circuit without overloading at most locations. Having an LED work light would eliminate this as most have battery packs which would allow them to be cordless, but nonetheless, a very low draw/high lumen output.



I'm no electrician, I just know what works. Before I start trying things out, I'm hoping we can discuss real-life experiences and thoughts on lighting solutions for mobile detailing, specifically LED work lights, and hopefully gain some clarity.



Here's what I've found for LED work lights with good reviews.



Amazon.com: Tooluxe 130 LED Rechargeable Cordless Work Light Worklight with Stand: Home Improvement



Amazon.com: Professional Grade CORDLESS RECHARGEABLE SUPER BRIGHT LED SHOP / EMERGENCY / WORK / TROUBLE LIGHT: Home Improvement
 
Are you talking about usig LED for defect spotting or for general work?



I still use 2 1000 or so watt tripods for general work and defect removal. For final inspection I've actually been using my Brinkman along with my mountain bike headlight with is a single super-LED (Lupine Tesla 5 with 720 lumens).



The thing I like about my Lupine is that I have a head strap so I can use it while polishing off it's battery and give my tripods a break. The lupine battery lasts 3 hours or so on full blast. It also weighs about 100 grams on the head so you kind of forget about it being there.
 
Halogens are great for spotting spider swirls, LEDs are better at rotary swirls. If I am not going to have sunlight available, I bring my 180 lumen LED bike light with me. The battery pack is rechargeable and I get 5 hours of full power light out of it-and really only use it to check for rotary holograms so it isn't on that long. Probably not practical to go buy one though, it was $250! A high quality LED flashlight or 3M sun gun aren't nearly as expensive.



Never had any problems with my halogens tripping circuit breakers.
 
I have a Black and Decker worklight, a wand type like the second one you linked, and it's pretty terrible. Those little LED's really suck, that's why they can put so many in there without it being expensive. A good LED like a Luxeon is much more expensive. There are plenty of guys here that are tactical LED flashlight experts, like Jason who never seems to come around anymore, but I remember them pointing me to a couple of flashlight forums, and those guys are as crazy about flashlights as we are about buffers and waxes.



I guess I'm trying to say I think you're going to be disappointed with those lights you linked. The one thing really irritating about the wand I have is the light output is very directional--as opposed to a plug-in fluorescent droplight I have you really have to aim the light, I guess because there are a lot of little lights, most of the light is coming straight out of the LED rather than bouncing off the reflector...so if you have it turned just a little bit...the light is going somewhere else.
 
Halogens have burned me many times...way too hot.



I prefer LED lighting for correction. I've been using a hand held SureFire to do final inspections before applying an LSP. Not the best or most economical, but it works.



Good find Sean, I'll be ordering that Tooluxe 130 led now.
 
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