What`s the best (artificial) light to view paint defects in?

[benpocock]

I`m thinking about getting some portable lights to use in my garage when the great British weather has forced me inside again to detail. What`s the best light for this purpose?



I`ve got fluroescent in there at the moment (not a great deal of it though) and from my experience it does a pretty good job of masking defects. Would halogen be better, or is a regular light bulb just as good.



Opinions please!



Thanks,

Ben.

[Accumulator]

Both halogen and regular incandescent have their pros and cons. I find high-wattage incandescents to be the most unforgiving. Halogens are good compromises between defect-spotting and general illumination though. Heh heh, I`d get both.

[Bill D]

I`d get both too. For black and dark colors a 1000 watt halogen stand from a hardware store is very good. I find a hand held flourescent trouble light and a good old fashioned incandescent trouble light to be good for white. However,I`d also like some more opinions ,especially for white.

[JJ_]

Ive got a twin hallogen, 1000w. Works well for me. Means when you pull it out you aren`t suprised by the swirls still left, try machinemart.co.uk or screwfixdirect.co.uk

[Mad iX]

I have 2x500w halogens for good lighting, but a 200w tungsten reveals swirls and scratches better. I`ve got dark blue paint.

[wannafbody]

the commercial lighting at malls really highlights paint flaws-some are mercury or sodium vapor i believe-some might have the same type light in their driveway

[basil]

I bought some flourecent lights from costco the other day. They come in pairs and are 2` twin tube portables, they can be run of the mains or of the in built rechargable battery. I bought 2 sets (4 units ) for about 35 quid. I use one unit at each corner of the car and along with the 5` twin on the ceiling the lighting is tremendous.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Mad iX

I have 2x500w halogens for good lighting, but a 200w tungsten reveals swirls and scratches better..



Yep, sorta funny how the old-fashioned lighting works so well for this. Only exception seens to be Bill D`s observations regarding white paint.

[Bill D]

I`m finding a good old fashioned trouble light to be good for white. The halogens just reflect back too much white :D, concealing the paint defects. Aside from flourescent, including the hand held variety, I am wondering what other kinfs of lights might help me inspect white further.

[togwt]

As BillD has said the reflectivity of light colours (especially white) makes it difficult to see paint defects if the light is placed above the surface. I`ve found that this works on light coloured vehicles due to the angle that the light source is held at. This needs to be the sole light source while inspecting the vehicle; otherwise any other lights will cause reflectivity problems.



Dark Field Micro Inspection:

For a surface to be optically perfect it should be free of all surface imperfections. The surface should be viewed very closely and from all possible angles. Start by looking at the surface in a darkened room, once your eyes have fully dilated, turn on a bright Halogen light beam.



Direct the beam away from you and at a low angle and from various directions (youâ€â„¢ll be able to see even the most minor paint film surface imperfection) this is 100X more sensitive than viewing a vehicles paint film surface in normal light.



This viewing technique is an adaptation of âہ“Dark field microscopyâ€Â� used in many scientific fields. Direct or cloudy sunlight, shaded, low-angled, directly overhead or light reflected from other surfaces, or the type of artificial light the surface is viewed under can all influence what surface imperfections can or cannot be seen

JonM