Problems;
1) Black diamond is very hard to identify defects in and requires extremely bright light to spot them in.
2) I'm a weekend-warrior, so $350 for a 3m sungun is a ridiclious spendature.
Solution;
The DIY sun gun!
Since the orginal write up was done in UK over at detailing world, you'll have to tweak some of it for the US market, but the pricipals are all the same, nothing about this mod is set in stone except the bulb size, color, wattage and the connector.
So..
Product selection; This is critical more than people think. Finding a 12-14.4V cordless drill that's <$100 is harder than it appears. Remember, cheap is key here since we're buying a housing, switch and battery essentially.
What I ended up with is a $39.99 Black and decker 12V(the sun gun has a 14.4V turbo mode, but they're hard to find). Battery's are $27 a pop (and avaliable at wallyworld..), and in this case I get a free flashlight. Critically though, it's nothing fancy, what you want is a Drill without hammer featuers, fancy torque wheels or one without one at all. The drill pictured below is *exactly* what you should look for. Some have odd housings that won't work, and some cheaper ones have the spot you want to use closed off. If you want to use the drill, buy something like this in 12-14.4V flavor.
Notice the seperation near the housing and the torque wheel? you want that.
you'll also need a GU5.3 Bulb with MR16 connector-- which these days can only be bought on-line. You'll also need the connector for it, which can be had on ebay for <$3. I acutally picked mine up at a local lighting store for $3.5. The GU10 recessed lighting kits(which the DW DIY suggests buying for the connector) that littered home depot and lowes will *not* work, since they're 120V and we need a 12V
this is the correct bulb
Amazon.com: EiKO 35003 SoLux True Daylight Flood 35 Watt MR16 Halogen Lamp, 36 Degree Beam Angle, 12 Volt, 4700 Kelvin: Home Improvement
this is the correct connector
Amazon.com: TP-61 G/GU/GX/GZ4 G/GU/GX5.3 G/GX/GY/GZ6.35 lamp holder: Home Improvement
after taking both units apart, and since I was able to snag two connectors, I'm toying with the flash-light application. It's a oneway switch instead of the resistor style in the drill, and I don't have to destroy the drill either.
It was held together with screws, so, 5 minuites later
Black and decker CLEARLY had this mod in mind; the connector wedges in the bulb spout perfectly! I used some epoxy to reinforce it in it's new home, but otherwise no cutting required.
The way the light holds the frame together requires the use of the plastic lense (it remains to be seen whether the bulb melts this..) I cut some vents into the sides and left the rear bulb opening free in an attempt to keep things cool
I won't bore you with the wirejob, polarity doesn't matter, and we're only talking about 2 wires here. it couldn't be simpler.
I need to tweak the vents, and I may need to remove the plastic lense completly, I may also cut off the holding tabs over the lense, but here it is, it cost me $55. The bulb in there is a 50W which get's very hot (it was $4.5, I decided to splurge while I wait for the right bulb) but the color-corrected bulb will net me $300 savings. Just intitally playing with a 50W bulb in the wrong color, I'm not sure it's making my life easier with the paint, so it may have been a good thing I didn't buy the real thing. Or maybe I'm just tired. Either case I'm happy it worked out so well!
1) Black diamond is very hard to identify defects in and requires extremely bright light to spot them in.
2) I'm a weekend-warrior, so $350 for a 3m sungun is a ridiclious spendature.
Solution;
The DIY sun gun!
Since the orginal write up was done in UK over at detailing world, you'll have to tweak some of it for the US market, but the pricipals are all the same, nothing about this mod is set in stone except the bulb size, color, wattage and the connector.
So..
Product selection; This is critical more than people think. Finding a 12-14.4V cordless drill that's <$100 is harder than it appears. Remember, cheap is key here since we're buying a housing, switch and battery essentially.
What I ended up with is a $39.99 Black and decker 12V(the sun gun has a 14.4V turbo mode, but they're hard to find). Battery's are $27 a pop (and avaliable at wallyworld..), and in this case I get a free flashlight. Critically though, it's nothing fancy, what you want is a Drill without hammer featuers, fancy torque wheels or one without one at all. The drill pictured below is *exactly* what you should look for. Some have odd housings that won't work, and some cheaper ones have the spot you want to use closed off. If you want to use the drill, buy something like this in 12-14.4V flavor.
Notice the seperation near the housing and the torque wheel? you want that.
you'll also need a GU5.3 Bulb with MR16 connector-- which these days can only be bought on-line. You'll also need the connector for it, which can be had on ebay for <$3. I acutally picked mine up at a local lighting store for $3.5. The GU10 recessed lighting kits(which the DW DIY suggests buying for the connector) that littered home depot and lowes will *not* work, since they're 120V and we need a 12V
this is the correct bulb
Amazon.com: EiKO 35003 SoLux True Daylight Flood 35 Watt MR16 Halogen Lamp, 36 Degree Beam Angle, 12 Volt, 4700 Kelvin: Home Improvement
this is the correct connector
Amazon.com: TP-61 G/GU/GX/GZ4 G/GU/GX5.3 G/GX/GY/GZ6.35 lamp holder: Home Improvement
after taking both units apart, and since I was able to snag two connectors, I'm toying with the flash-light application. It's a oneway switch instead of the resistor style in the drill, and I don't have to destroy the drill either.
It was held together with screws, so, 5 minuites later
Black and decker CLEARLY had this mod in mind; the connector wedges in the bulb spout perfectly! I used some epoxy to reinforce it in it's new home, but otherwise no cutting required.
The way the light holds the frame together requires the use of the plastic lense (it remains to be seen whether the bulb melts this..) I cut some vents into the sides and left the rear bulb opening free in an attempt to keep things cool
I won't bore you with the wirejob, polarity doesn't matter, and we're only talking about 2 wires here. it couldn't be simpler.
I need to tweak the vents, and I may need to remove the plastic lense completly, I may also cut off the holding tabs over the lense, but here it is, it cost me $55. The bulb in there is a 50W which get's very hot (it was $4.5, I decided to splurge while I wait for the right bulb) but the color-corrected bulb will net me $300 savings. Just intitally playing with a 50W bulb in the wrong color, I'm not sure it's making my life easier with the paint, so it may have been a good thing I didn't buy the real thing. Or maybe I'm just tired. Either case I'm happy it worked out so well!
).