question on lighting

House of Wax

House of Wax

Active member
I'm wondering what everyone is using for lighting in their garages.....more specifically for when you're correcting paint. I've got a typical 3 car garage that I do my work in and I need to make some improvements in the lighting. I've currently got about 7 or 8 4' dual bulb t8 lights on the ceiling and a piece of crap craftsman dual halogen stand light that I need to replace. I've got a decent amount of light overall in the garage, but I feel like I waste way too much time looking at every panel at a million different angles only to pull it out in the sun and see i've missed areas. Basically I'd like to get some lighting that will help me see better while I'm working on getting paint defects out. I've got a few strip lights that I'm thinking about mounting to the walls. I know that might not necessarily show swirls, but it'd be nice for general work. So what's everyone else using that helps? Thanks
 
When I'm doing correction, I have some battery powered LEDs from superbrightleds.com



FLPB-CW120-10W-LED-WORK-LIGHT-7.jpg




They can be found here.



I like not having power cords running around but I really liked the idea of the aluminum stand with the single bulb from the linked post for seeing the top of the car. I can see a few of those in my future. Since they will be put on the other side of the car, the power cords won't be an issue. The little rechargeable lights are great for shining up at the side panels so I can see what's down low. I also wear a headlamp with a single LED. I use a rechargeable Led Lenser.



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Working in a dark garage so only direct light hits the paint is what I like. I did cars for a guy who had an underground garage so when I did his cars I turned off all his lights so it was like I was in a cave with just my few LEDs and I could see everything. His cars came out amazing.



Robert
 
Hope its not hijacking the thread, any advise on lighting for seeing swirls in clear plastics (e.g. headlights) and glass (wiper marks)?
 
On the fluorescent tubes, under those I can only see "texture" issues. That *can* included certain types of marring and sanding/prep scratches, but not "swirls" or micromarring or holograms etc. I've even experimented with specialized fluorescent tubes (used in jewelry/art galleries) with no change in how they work for me.



Don't dismiss crappy/cheapie halogens! I have a few halogen setups, and the *best* one for spotting marring is a really awful old cheap thing from Damark that I got maybe 25 years ago for next to nothing. Total POS but it just works better than my fancy (and expensive) ones.



But I need all kinds of lights to see everything- fluorescents, halogens, incandescents, Xenon, natural sunlight, the SunGun, and now I'm also experimenting with LEDs.



Tip- turn out the fluorescents if using another type of light. And keep the shop dark, other than the light you're using at that moment, when doing inspection.



And as for the time spent inspecting when doing correction, I honestly believe I spend at least as much time inspecting as I do working the polishers. Between changing the viewing angle and distance and the illumination type/angle/distance, it takes a long, long time for me to determine whether a given area is truly acceptable to me.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
Robert... They look really nice!
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Yeah, very appealing!



So they're OK for swirl-spotting? I can see them being *great* for general-purpose illumination, wouldn't have thought of them for correction inspecting though.
 
For me, I haven't found anything better than good old fashioned incandescent light. I use about 200 watts for general lighting, inspection, etc.
 
bill57 said:
For me, I haven't found anything better than good old fashioned incandescent light. I use about 200 watts for general lighting, inspection, etc.
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Those are still my standard for spotting most kinds of marring, especially the wash-induced variety :xyxthumbs



It's funny about the wattage, sometimes my 60W ones make it easier to see flaws than my 320W ones.
 
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