2000 lumen flashlight

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wildwilly1

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Got a 2000 lumen led flashlight .wow thought my paint looked pretty good till i shined this on it now i dont know. This thing shows stuff the sun dont what to do. Is this light just too bright for paint work

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IMO nothing beats direct sunlight for spotting swirls. But a good light for side panels really helps, unless you can turn your car on its side to face the sun.
 
But thats just it .looks good in sun but light looks scratched up

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wildwilly1 said:
But thats just it .looks good in sun but light looks scratched up
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This kind of reminds me what Poorboy Steve said at one of his detailing days about the (then new) practice of shining high intensity lights at the side of the car to illuminate the defects. He said something like if you park your car at a car show and it looks good, no one says "yeah, but how does it look when you shine lights on the side?"

Or Henny Youngman..."hey doc, I don't like the way my car looks when I shine a 2000 lumen flashlight on it" Doc: "don't do that".
 
My kinda light :)

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wildwilly1 said:
Got a 2000 lumen led flashlight .wow thought my paint looked pretty good till i shined this on it now i dont know. This thing shows stuff the sun dont what to do.
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When inspecting paint, you want to use multiple light sources as different types of light will show different types of defects better than others.

I use

The sun
Swirl Finder Lights
Overhead Florescent lights

I think I have thousands of pictures on this forum showing all three sources above.




wildwilly1 said:
Is this light just too bright for paint work
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Could be.

I've never liked the Sun Gun as you can never please it.

Years ago I coined the name for swirl finder lights,

The Cruel Master




From 2009 - 8 years ago...



The Brinkman Swirl Finder Light, aka The Cruel Master, is one of my favorite tools, it's a must have for your detailing arsenal.

We also use it at every class we hold, it's indispensable for checking your results. I actually pack one with me wherever I go because I can help car owners see the swirls in their car's paint and sometimes this helps me to gain a new customer.

Most people are intrigued when they see you looking at their car's paint with this special light and that's all you need sometimes to open the door, especially if you want to go aver the Special Interest car market as a lot of people that own really cool cars don't even know what swirls are until you show them.


You can see us using it in this thread...


Pictures & Comments from October 17th, 2009 Saturday Detailing 101

Using the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light to show all the swirls have been removed.
SpaceCoast010.jpg



It duplicates what the sun does. It's invaluable for our classes, especially if it's an overcast day. Without the sun you can't see before and after results unless you have the Brinkman.

I give it two thumbs up!

:dblthumb2:
 
I just got the tac light it's pretty strong but worth it. It showed me that using rupes keramick fine gelled polish was causing swirls so I skipped that step and went right to the ultrafine sf 3800
 
Fightnews:

Which Rupes pads did you use with ultrafine 3800?

Would the Rupes Diamond Ultra fine similar to the 3800? (Just wondering)

Tom
 
yeah i think i will retire the light for house use . i would be a nutcase trying to get paint to look good using this thing thx guys
 
wildwilly1 said:
yeah i think i will retire the light for house use . i would be a nutcase trying to get paint to look good using this thing thx guys
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No need to retire it. As Mike said, it's good to have multiple inspection lights available because you never know when 1 will work better than another based on numerous factors such as the time of day, clouds in the sky, color of the vehicle, type of defects, etc.. IMO nothing beats the sun, but it's always nice to be able to get at least a couple different perspectives just to make sure where you're at.
 
I have a flashlight that's blindingly bright and it's only 190 lumens...I can't imagine what 2000 lumens is like.
 
Eldorado2k said:
No need to retire it. As Mike said, it's good to have multiple inspection lights available because you never know when 1 will work better than another based on numerous factors such as the time of day, clouds in the sky, color of the vehicle, type of defects, etc.. IMO nothing beats the sun, but it's always nice to be able to get at least a couple different perspectives just to make sure where you're at.
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Seems like now you know that it'll show you defects you'll never see under normal circumstances, all it would take is a little expectation calibration (don't stress about not getting perfection under that light) and you can figure out what level to refine to with that light so you get awesome results in the real world.
 
oneheadlite said:
Seems like now you know that it'll show you defects you'll never see under normal circumstances, all it would take is a little expectation calibration (don't stress about not getting perfection under that light) and you can figure out what level to refine to with that light so you get awesome results in the real world.
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No, actually I can get what I consider perfection while using that light to inspect results without a problem.. IME the sun is the king of revealing every last bit that can be seen.

Sometimes that light can be helpful vs. the sun on certain paint colors such as silver [which can be blinding in direct sun]... But 9 times out of 10 the sun shows more than that flashlight can, at least that's the way I see it.
 
Cool, thanks for the info. My last correction was done without any fancy lighting, and while I've got a variety of LED options for my next round I just haven't had time to break out the buffer.
 
oneheadlite said:
Cool, thanks for the info. My last correction was done without any fancy lighting, and while I've got a variety of LED options for my next round I just haven't had time to break out the buffer.
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LED lights are cool, I've also got this "oneheadlight" [pun intended. Lol] but it's nowhere near as effective as the flashlight at finding swirls..

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But it comes in handy for general stuff like keeping your place on paint and even better when doing the odd jobs such as interior details and of course those times when I'm running out of daylight. It's powered by the same 18650 rechargeable batteries and bright, just not as crazy bright like the flashlight.
 
The headlamps are great when cleaning interiors. You will not miss anything.
 
I see what you did there. :laughing:

I'm an auto tech by trade, throughout my career I've had a few lights... It's a bit of a weakness of mine.

oneheadlite-albums-cars-picture56706-lights.jpg


I've had others too, that's just what I had in my box that day. I've got the 4 bulb DIY LED light stand to put to use for polishing / washing in the garage and a couple different LED work lights to try as well. One promising work light I'm excited to try is a True Color item that can be acquired at your local big-box store made by a company with a Wisconsin city name. I've used it at work with good results, and it definitely shows the swirls on the customer cars here. (Though most cars that come through here you'd only need a lit match to see them... :cry: All we do is BMW/Audi/Mini)
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I have a flashlight that's blindingly bright and it's only 190 lumens...I can't imagine what 2000 lumens is like.
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Some lower lumens light shine brighter than a higher lumens light for some reason. Don't know if it's the bulb or the reflector, but the TK light beats most otc with higher lumens.

Maybe someone with some expertise in this area will shed some light, no pun intended.
 
Rsurfer said:
Some lower lumens light shine brighter than a higher lumens light for some reason. Don't know if it's the bulb or the reflector, but the TK light beats most otc with higher lumens.

Maybe someone with some expertise in this area will shed some light, no pun intended.
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It could also be that some lights are a bit over-advertised, eh?
 
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