Lighting in Garage

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Indy YZF

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I have a question about lighting the interior of vehicles while working on them in a garage. My garage has 4 double bulb flourescent lights overhead. Unless the car has a sunroof I can't seem to get enough light inside the car to do the interior in the evening hours. I've tried trouble lights (I have 2, one LED, one flourescent I try to hang from the grab handles) but find those are a pain to point correctly and don't put out enough light.

I end up doing a lot of Mini vans for friends of my wife and since they are usually nasty, it's hard to make sure I got all the crud.

Any suggestions would be great.
 
Dual halogen lights on an adjustable stand? (Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, etc)
 
agree with above. options are limited and the cost and usuability of the halogens on stands is good. i have an unwieldly one with 6500k compact florscenent with a huge metal can that hangs. cant even look at light directly but it puts out better than a cheerleader if i remember what those were.
 
I use the dual halogens on the adjustable stand. I also use my Brinkman Swirl finder light for the tight little areas when I'm in the car. I also have a single halogen lamp that isn't on a stand that I can use inside the car as it has a handle on it. Just have to be careful with it cause the halogens get really hot!

I've also seen people use the LED headlamps for interiors. But I prefer to try to light up the whole inside instead of just what i'm looking at. that way I can really see the mess.
 
Problems:
A location that you can't point a dual hal stand light.
A location that none of your shop lights illuminate.
You need 2 hands and don't want to hold your Brinkman or other light.

Solution:
LED Head Lamp

I got a really great one for a little over 20$ if I recall correctly.
3 lightness settings
Adjustable
Lifetime Warranty
Great build quality
Many hours of use
 
CEE DOG said:
Problems:
A location that you can't point a dual hal stand light.
A location that none of your shop lights illuminate.
You need 2 hands and don't want to hold your Brinkman or other light.

Solution:
LED Head Lamp

I got a really great one for a little over 20$ if I recall correctly.
3 lightness settings
Adjustable
Lifetime Warranty
Great build quality
Many hours of use
Click to expand...

Agreed! AG sells one in fact:

Brinkmann LED Headlamp, Brinkmann Head Lamp, Head Light, headlamp flashlight, LED headlamp

:props:

Only problem (sort of) is that wearing it will make you look like...well....a Geek! :p
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Only problem (sort of) is that wearing it will make you look like...well....a Geek! :p
Click to expand...

You are certainly right about that. Other AutoGeeks have said exactly that to me.

My dogs don't like the look. My car is just happy I can see any area I need to work on.
 
I do have a headlamp, just got it for doing insulation in the attic. Not super bright but I guess would work. I like halogens, but they get so damn hot, maybe I'll look at some new ones, mine are kind of old and not really steady.

Best would be to mount some flourescents on the wall that were removable maybe? The plug in ones, then I could put in the corner until needed? Not sure how practical that would be.
 
Indy YZF said:
I do have a headlamp, just got it for doing insulation in the attic. Not super bright but I guess would work. I like halogens, but they get so damn hot, maybe I'll look at some new ones, mine are kind of old and not really steady.

Best would be to mount some flourescents on the wall that were removable maybe? The plug in ones, then I could put in the corner until needed? Not sure how practical that would be.
Click to expand...

I've thought about doing that; actually I've got an old camera tripod I was thinking of mounting a light on. Only problem is those still are too big/bulky to work inside a car IMO.

Another cool toy I've got is a pair of LED-equipped Mechanic's gloves. Might be good to look into if you don't mind wearing gloves while you work:

417haIFV5NL.jpg
 
]I have used this type of light on interiors (sorta like a shop light) but more durable, cool (so you can place it anywhere), batteries, magnetic base plus about 400 lumens - more than most any led type flashlight.

31VrpMOfaAL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
I have an multiple LED version of that, maybe I need to look at some newer ones and dedicate them to detailing (mine are grimy from using them when I work on the car) as mine is bright, but doesn't last very long when on the 'high setting'.
 
I got this one from Griots garage. Might be helpful to you. Does not get hot. Bright enough for interiors. Kinda big and hard to fit in tight spots.

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That looks like something I could use. It would work great in Minivans (only thing I really need a lot of light for). I'll take a look thanks.
 
Indy YZF said:
That looks like something I could use. It would work great in Minivans (only thing I really need a lot of light for). I'll take a look thanks.
Click to expand...
NP. I actually bought mine to see the under side of the car, rocker panels and wheel wells. I have super bright lights in my garage, but, they just dont reach under the car. Frankly, I was a little disappointed in this little stand light's ability for that. I still use the super hot twin halogens for that kind of work.
 
I just noticed you were in Indy. I am in Muncie. Griots warehouse is right out by the airport. You can pick stuff up at the business office.
 
I was having the same problem with seeing the interior fully inside my garage. I did some research and found that they sell led headlamps on eBay for really cheap but that could be a bad thing lol. I'm gonna order one and try it out though.
 
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