Lighting question- tall vehicles

[imported_hockeyplaya13]

What do you do for lighting large vehicles? I have a dodge ram 1500 and lighting for the roof and hood has been quite a pain. Regluar halogens work for al the side panels, but aren`t tall enough to light the hood/roof. I plan to get a brinkmann soon, but that`s really only good for checking the paint after the fact. I need some way to light the paint while I`m polishing.



Any ideas?



Thanks,



Scott

[S&S Detailing]

The halogen twin lights I have also have a ~7 foot stand, havent had any issues with tipping or not being tall enough yet, something similar to this....but i suppose those rams are taller than hell, so that might not even be tall enough.



Amazon.com: Designers Edge L-14SLED Home Light Two-Light 1000-Watt Halogen Work Light with Tripod: Home Improvement (http://www.amazon.com/Designers-Edge-L-14SLED-Two-Light-1000-Watt/dp/B0002YW2C8)



You could deck your work area out with HID lights mounted to the ceiling :hifive:



I really think It would be cool (in my situation, which is in a two car 10 ft. ceiling garage) to mount a couple of those Halogen lights to the ceiling and wire them to a switch, maybe 6 of them all the way back on the ceiling and a few more on the walls, it would definitely be bright!!

[Accumulator]

I use the squeeze-clamp handles on my incandescent trouble lights to attach them to various things, from electrical conduits to ceiling mounted HVAC vents.



Plus, well....I have the ceiling-mounted incandescents, but I`m guessing that those aren`t part of the mix here. I`d *MUCH* rather have those than ceiling mounted halogens, as I always turn out the halogens and do my serious inspecting with the incandescents (and/or the SunGun these days ;) ) anyhow.

[imported_hockeyplaya13]

OK. I forgot to mention, I`m in the works of setting up a mobile business, so I`m not thinking of just my truck. It`d have to be something portable. Just trying to be prepared for SUV`s and such.



S&S, I`ll have to check for that. My current halogens suck, the lights keep blowing out, are only 500 watts each, and the stand is like 5 ft. As for your ceiling mounted halogens, that would be pretty cool, but depending on how many you had, it`d be hot during the summer!



Accumulator, do you find that the trouble lights show defects well? I`ve only used halogens for detecting swirls/marring.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator, do you find that the trouble lights show defects well? I`ve only used halogens for detecting swirls/marring.



Yes. I rely on incandescents *FAR* more than on halogens for this. Incandescents let me get colors like silver flawless under *any* lighting conditions and that`s almost impossible for me to do with just halogens.



My inspection routine (leaving the SunGun out of it) is to turn out all the other lights and inspect with incandescents; this almost *always* leads to finding some residual marring that I couldn`t see before.



They work a lot better for me than the Brinkman too ;)

[imported_hockeyplaya13]

Yes. I rely on incandescents *FAR* more than on halogens for this. Incandescents let me get colors like silver flawless under *any* lighting conditions and that`s almost impossible for me to do with just halogens.



My inspection routine (leaving the SunGun out of it) is to turn out all the other lights and inspect with incandescents; this almost *always* leads to finding some residual marring that I couldn`t see before.



They work a lot better for me than the Brinkman too ;)



OK, thanks. Do you use incandescents while correcting too? Or just for final checking?

[Accumulator]

OK, thanks. Do you use incandescents while correcting too? Or just for final checking?



I leave `em on while correcting, but I want different/brighter light when doing the correction than I use for inspection.



For me, there`s a big difference between being able to see what I`m doing and being able to spot marring (esp. light marring).



When I inspect, I have the shop as dark as possible, with only the inspection lights on. Yeah, I have to go throw switches/etc. back and forth and it *is* a hassle.

[imported_hockeyplaya13]

I leave `em on while correcting, but I want different/brighter light when doing the correction than I use for inspection.



For me, there`s a big difference between being able to see what I`m doing and being able to spot marring (esp. light marring).



When I inspect, I have the shop as dark as possible, with only the inspection lights on. Yeah, I have to go throw switches/etc. back and forth and it *is* a hassle.



OK, cool. Do you ever have to worry about overloading the circuit? I`ve done it a couple times in the middle of a detail, just from have twin 500w halogens running while using the PC. Really annoying to have to stop what I`m doing to go reset the breaker. And since I`m gonna start doing this mobile, I really don`t want that to happen.

[Accumulator]

Do you ever have to worry about overloading the circuit? I`ve done it a couple times in the middle of a detail, just from have twin 500w halogens running while using the PC. Really annoying to have to stop what I`m doing to go reset the breaker. And since I`m gonna start doing this mobile, I really don`t want that to happen.



Eh, I have a purpose-built shop, so my situation probably doesn`t relate to what you`re doing. Sorry...



But the incandescents don`t draw all that much.