Halogen/Other Technology Tripod Worklight Recommendation?

**tenorplayer23** · 09-05-2009, 10:11 PM

A mundane topic, but, what`s the latest recommendation for tripod mounted worklights (halogen or other superior technology) and where to procure them?

A search of the site doesn`t yield too much in the way of recent posts. I assume the usual Home Depot Husky brand is OK (the only thing I can see is that the higher output/heavier duty sets seem to have a restriction on their ability to tilt "forward").

Anybody have a set that they really like and where did they come from??

Thx.

See ya :wavey:

**AeroCleanse** · 09-05-2009, 10:38 PM

I got mine at the local True Value Hardware store.

**Thats Fresh** · 09-06-2009, 05:26 AM

I got mine from Lowes. IIRC, it was only $19.99

**lland** · 09-06-2009, 05:59 AM

I bought mine at Big Lots with a 20% off coupon. Came to under $15 each. They work fine, just wish the tripods were taller.

LL

**Accumulator** · 09-06-2009, 11:02 AM

I got a second incandescent trouble light, and for my last correction job I clamped them to the HVAC registers in the ceiling. I had to reposition them a few times before I got the illumination angle just right, but once I figured it out they worked great. I did most of the work under halogens, then turned those off and inspected under (only) the incandescents.

I`m finding my SunGun more and more helpful, but I still rely on my incandescents. For ~$25 each I sure wouldn`t be without them.

So far the only light I don`t find all that necessary is my Brinkman. I don`t see flaws any better with that than with my halogens, and not nearly as well as with the incandescents. It`s just not very demanding lighting IMO.

Fluorescent light can be great for "texture" issues; pitting and certain types of scratches show up under fluorescent better than under anything else, even though fluorescent lights generally do *not* show "swirl"-type marring. And some paints are best inspected for gloss level under fluorescent lighting too.

And the SunGun is simply in a class of its own, I agree with Mike Phillips that it can be more demanding than any other type of lighting. Might tell you more than you want to know

As for which halogens to get...well, I dunno :nixweiss My older one is a *REALLY* cheap, crappy setup I got from a bargain catalog back ages ago, and it works *better* than my much newer, far fancier Sears setup! From how well it lights things up to how fast it goes through bulbs, the cheap old one is the hands-down winner. You`d swear it was junk but it does the job better, so I suspect you won`t know how well any light actually does its job until you try it.

**efnfast** · 09-06-2009, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Accumulator

I`m finding my SunGun more and more helpful, but I still rely on my incandescents. For ~$25 each I sure wouldn`t be without them.

So far the only light I don`t find all that necessary is my Brinkman. I don`t see flaws any better with that than with my halogens, and not nearly as well as with the incandescents. It`s just not very demanding lighting IMO.

.

I find I`m the opposite - I love my Brinkman. Doesn`t show flaws and better than halogens, but I don`t need to carry a lamp stand around with it. On the other hand, I find my SunGun useless for anything other color matching or finding hollograms.

Maybe I`m just using my SG wrong, but i can take a black car that`s heavily swirled, put the SG on it, and the paint will look perfect. :nixweiss

**BigAl3** · 09-06-2009, 02:38 PM

Craftsman 1000 watt Tripod Light with Portable Stand

**Accumulator** · 09-06-2009, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by efnfast

I find I`m the opposite - I love my Brinkman. Doesn`t show flaws and better than halogens, but I don`t need to carry a lamp stand around with it...

Huh...I just don`t see much under the Brinkman :nixweiss

On the other hand, I find my SunGun useless for anything other color matching or finding hollograms.

I felt the same way until I played around with it enough...I`d find a *very* faint scratch that`d only show up under weird conditions and then I`d try to find that scratch in my shop using differnt lights. I could almost always spot it with the SunGun once I got the hang of it, but other than that only the incandescents would ever show those "tough to see" ones.

Maybe I`m just using my SG wrong, but i can take a black car that`s heavily swirled, put the SG on it, and the paint will look perfect..

Eh...different types of marring show up differently under different types of light. I only use the SunGun for mild/shallow stuff. Yeah, there are lots of cases where the halogens work better. I guess I`d hate to be without *any* of my, what?...four or five different light sources.

I must`ve played around with the SunGun for hours before I got the hang of using it. Never did get it figured out with the Brinkman. Funny, but I seem to be the one guy who thinks the Brinkman Dual-Xenon is deficient :nixweiss

I`m assuming you`re doing all your inspections in an otherwise dark shop. Having other lights on pretty much kills *any* inspection for me, unless we`re talking about a real horror show.

**craigdt** · 09-06-2009, 10:22 PM

I reccomend getting the cheapest halogen stand lights you can get. I bought the most expensive pair that Sears had and I wish I hadnt. The quality was poor and and they dont doo a better job of showing defects than cheaper halogens. I wish I had picked some up at Lowes.

A Brinkmann is next