Shop light?

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akj

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I'm going to Lowe's tomorrow and i need a good light for seeing imperfections in paint.
I have a huge shop with a lot of flos about 12 feet above head. I also have one of those yellow flood lights that are square with the l long thin round bulb and the cage looking thing in the front.
It does ok but not near good enough i have to set it at just the right angle and the small imperfections don't show up that good.
I need one that's either on a stand or in some way easy to move and set in one spot. My budget is $45
What should o look for in a light? Wattage, lumens, color scale, bulb, type I.e. halogen, led, flo?
What do you suggest?

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You want 4ft bay lights. Most hard ware stores carry several choices. After a quick Lowes online search I found these at $17 a piece.

<http://www.lowes.com/pd_245546-58659-NXU-6001-B_4294896174__?productId=3168049&Ns=p_product_price|1>.

Typically in buying lights in the light bulbs that add up the cost. With tube lights, your looking for the amount of Kelvins the bulb is rated at. Ks or Kelvins measure the light colour temperature of the light aka the color scale. I recommend keeping lights between 5,000-6,500Ks. 5,500Ks is considered a clear sunny day. Look for a fixture that will run T8s or T6s. Typically the lower the T the more efficient the bulb. T12s will still do the job but in effecient and getting out dated. Hope this helps some! Good luck!
 
EWtheDETAILER said:
You want 4ft bay lights. Most hard ware stores carry several choices. After a quick Lowes online search I found these at $17 a piece.

<http://www.lowes.com/pd_245546-58659-NXU-6001-B_4294896174__?productId=3168049&Ns=p_product_price|1>.

Typically in buying lights in the light bulbs that add up the cost. With tube lights, your looking for the amount of Kelvins the bulb is rated at. Ks or Kelvins measure the light colour temperature of the light aka the color scale. I recommend keeping lights between 5,000-6,500Ks. 5,500Ks is considered a clear sunny day. Look for a fixture that will run T8s or T6s. Typically the lower the T the more efficient the bulb. T12s will still do the job but in effecient and getting out dated. Hope this helps some! Good luck!
Click to expand...

That link didn't work for me. I'm not sure what kinda light that is but remember i need one that i can move around. Not one that must be mounted


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Yea i have a good single diode spot light that does great. I want one that i can set up in what ever area I'm working on and leave it on behind me.

I'm looking at a florescent bulb that i will make a stand for. But tell me if this will do good. I'm afraid florescent won't be bright enough.
The blast holds 2 t8 bulbs. The bulbs are ge sunlight bulbs 5000 kelvins 32 watt and have 2600 lumens. Is that enough lumens? Will that light do the trick?
If not what should i get my wife is at Lowe's now.

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Ok so i ended up getting the 4 foot two bulb blast with 2 t8 5000k Kelvins and 2600 lumens.
Haven't got it to the shop yet but I plugged it up at home and it really don't seem as bright as i thought it would be

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Squid said:
Shop Utilitech 48-in Utility Fluorescent Lighting at Lowes.com

Fixed his link
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link repair!

akj said:
It's that light movable? Or do u have to mount it? I need one that i can move around

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Click to expand...

You can build a stand or mount them on the walls or ceilings.

ski2 said:
akj--sounds like you're looking for a "swirl finder light" rather than over all lighting. Take a look at this thread Finally a comprehensive review of the best bulbs out there... - Autopia Forums - Auto Detailing & Car Care Discussion Forum

The single diode LED lights do a fantastic job of showing marring-note my post near the end with the LED and photographic light stand--works great and easy to move around.
Click to expand...

Maybe this thread should be labled "Spot light" not "Shop light"

Typically you want a few of these light set ups. For inspection and detailing purposes the more light the better.

akj said:
Yea i have a good single diode spot light that does great. I want one that i can set up in what ever area I'm working on and leave it on behind me.

I'm looking at a florescent bulb that i will make a stand for. But tell me if this will do good. I'm afraid florescent won't be bright enough.
The blast holds 2 t8 bulbs. The bulbs are ge sunlight bulbs 5000 kelvins 32 watt and have 2600 lumens. Is that enough lumens? Will that light do the trick?
If not what should i get my wife is at Lowe's now.

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Click to expand...

I guess I didn't realize you were looking for only one light to light your shop? Your going to need flood lights to be able to do that..... If your making a stand I recommend 2-4 of those set ups on one kart. Then you can role the cart to each side as you detail.
 
Not to light my shop... I have over 12 sets of florescents lighting the shop. My shop is over 20 feet tall though. And the lights are all mounted at least 12 feet high. Do the shop is well lit. Is just not enough direct light on any one spot to see small imperfections.
I got this in order to mount to a moveable stand to move closer to the vehicle to see these imperfections.
They just don't seem bright enough from when i just plugged it up at home.

They are 2 florescent 32w t8 5000k 2600 lumens. And some one from this forum recommended these to me. Just from what I seem plugging them in at home they don't seem like they'll be bright enough for seeing imperfections

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I use two 4 foot flouesant lights mounted on a stand with wheels. I made the stand and the lights can be adjusted up or down independently. I also made a shelf on it to hold my supplies. Works good and is tall enough to shine on a roof of a pickup. The lights pick up imperfections easily.
 
Kevin Cullen said:
I use two 4 foot flouesant lights mounted on a stand with wheels. I made the stand and the lights can be adjusted up or down independently. I also made a shelf on it to hold my supplies. Works good and is tall enough to shine on a roof of a pickup. The lights pick up imperfections easily.
Click to expand...

Do u have the same lights i said i got? If not what kind? Also could u show me several pics of the stand u made cause I'll have to make one to. And I'd like to get some ideas.

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I can get some pictures. You will have to give me some time. I will Try to get them tomorrow after work.
 
Kevin Cullen said:
I can get some pictures. You will have to give me some time. I will Try to get them tomorrow after work.
Click to expand...

Ok that's fine. If you can get as many as you can. Like how the fixture is attached, how and what parts move etc.
Thank you.

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What a day! Finally done work. akj here are the pictures of what I use for my portable shop light. I made it out of 1 1/2 inch square tubing I had laying around. It needs to be taken apart, blasted and painted when I have time.

This is the overall unit with the two lights I have installed.
View attachment 17994

Here is a shot of the back that shows the shelf. I wired it so I plug in on one side and on the other side is a extension cord that I use for my polishers.
View attachment 17995

Both plugs are grounded for safety.
View attachment 17996
View attachment 17997

On both lights I installed switches so I can turn on each light independently.
View attachment 17998

The next two shots are of the sliding assemblies for each light so they can move independently. They are just the next size up of tubing with a hole drilled into them, mounted to the light and then a nut welded to it with a bolt to tighten and lock the light in place at the desired position.
View attachment 17999
View attachment 18000

The base has two wheels solid and two wheels the swivel and lock so it doesn't bump into a vehicle.
View attachment 18001

Finally the shelf, I attached it to the bottom light and it has enough room to put my towels, polish and my polisher when I am not using it. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the shelf to place a bottle in upside down so you always have polish at the spout of the container.
View attachment 18002
View attachment 18003


That's about it, other than it being quite ugly not being painted it does work very well and is mobile. I can place the light exactly where i need it and at the height that I need it. Feel free to use the idea to build your own. We are all here to share and grow together. Have a good one akj :)
 
Wow! That's really nice great job! I wish i could do something that good.
I stay so so busy I can't see any time I'm the future where I'll have time to build it. Do i asked a few people today if they could. And i was thinking mostly because it's what i have on hand. But building it out of wood. Although making it able to tilt and move easily being made from wood.

I'm still concerned about the lights themself. I tested them today and imperfections showed up ok i guess, better than my old halogen flood light.
The only thing that i wasn't completely happy with was the actual amount of light.
It just didn't seem to be as bright as i thought it should be for spotting swirls.

The bulbs specs are:
Dual 4 foot
T8
32 watt
5000 Kelvins
2600 lumens

I know the higher the lumens the brighter. But i couldn't find any t8 bulbs at between 5000 & 6000 Kelvins with more than 2600 lumens.
Any suggestions?

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I use the bulbs labeled daylight. You know I am not even sure of the specs. They work fine for spotting imperfections. Sometimes its the angle I am on or the placement of the lights that work the best.
 
Yes mine are also labeled daylight. But they just don't seem as bright as i thought they'd be

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akj,

Easy enough to attach a fixture to the side of your detailing cart. Can do a quick release, or as simple as bungee cords.

Might want to look at an HO fixture. $54.97 @ Home Depot, 2 - 54watt T5HO bulbs in an wrap around fixture. (They are a little cheaper when the bulbs are uncovered.) You'll get more light out of two 4' HO bulbs than two (likely 3 or 4) 8' standard bulbs. Plus you get a truer white light. By switching to HO, yes they are hotter, but they are lighter with a smaller fixture.

Really I mean REALLY brighter light. :eek:
 
HO, huh? Never heard of them. Wish i would have 2 days ago. I will check them out for sure though thanks.

As far as a stand I got the old handy man who "lives" next door to see what i wanted. He built it in about 2 hours. A whole lot better than i expected. I just had a bunch of lumber lying around so i figured he would use it.
But he came back with (excuse my description best i can explain it)
2 2' 2x4's for the legs (like this shape + )
A metal plate mounted where they intersect with a place to fit in a 1" tube I'm the plate.
Then a 1" s alum tube about TEN FEET TALL! a bracket mounted to the tube that goes up vertically with another 1" tube mounted horizontally them on the end of that tube the light.
To move the light vertically just loosen the wrong nut on the vertical tube and slide as far up as 10'!
To swivel the light horizontally loosen same nut and swivel 360º.
To swivel the fixture from a normal horizontal position to a vertical position or any where in between loosen wing nut on horizontal tube and swivel 360º.
To tilt the light loosen wing nut connecting vertical and horizontal tube and change the angle the light points in vertically.

It's a beautifully simple design and i can position the light in any way at any angle by simply backing off just one wing nut.
It's simple small fully adjustable and will adjust to over 10' I'm the air.
And He only charged me $40!

Best thing about it i think is to mount more lights our just about anything really all i have to get is two $.35 brackets and one $1.99 1' of 1" alum tubing. I would guess i could mount up to 15 or 20 more lights like i have on it.
Sorry i didn't take a pic I'll post some tomorrow


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