Brinkmann Subsitute

Paulyfe12

Paulyfe12

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Im in the market for a Swirl revealing sun gun. everyone and their mother uses a brinkman, but from what I have been told they aren't being made anymore. So does anyone know a good sun gun for a reasonable price and where to get it? reasonable being around what brinkmanns were, like under 50 or 60 bucks.
 
My $10 120 lumens LED flashlight does the job..I had a 190 lumens LED flashlight but that gave me eye sore because the intensity was too much for my eye especially on metallic paints
 
Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!
 
beamerstrumpet said:
Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!
Click to expand...

Got a picture for us?
 
Nice you accomplished that conclusion, I was opening this thread to post here I use a (very similar to) Flex swirl finder light and it works really well.

However, I feel the 'dual brinkmann' may allow you to put the light in 2 areas (before/after), having a better appeal for pictures purpose.

For the 'detailer' inspection, Flex Swirl finder light (or similar I use) is perfect.

If you can 'beat it', I mean, clean the swirls and perfect the finish under it's light, you can confidently put the car under the sun and will not have any unwanted surprise.

Good luck.
 
I just bought a Brinkmann from eBay delivered from the US to Australia, it was about US$60.00 delivered. The delivery was US$25.00
ACTUAL COST:
Brinkmann US$33.86
Postage US$22.47
Delivered quite quickly from Texas and with batteries, I was wrapped, only disappointment was that I couldn't see any swirls on my paint (because there wasn't any).
 
Last edited:
beamerstrumpet said:
Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!
Click to expand...

I am on this like white on rice!! Thanks for the info!!

Got a picture for us?
Click to expand...

a1ba6fcb9f4f731847191c13222d0bac.jpg


Pretty sexy!! Trigger works you get a case for it with the drill!! I am trying this!!
 
Beamerstrumpet does the walmart special come with a case as well??
 
I just recently purchased a Brinkmann. Wasn't happy at first, but that's because most of my vehicles are new, metallic paint and minor minor swirls. It wasn't picking this up at all. Then went to a family members car that had been sitting for over a year. Jet black paint, worked out perfectly. For $35 shipped can't go wrong.

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Bob, Thanks for bringing that wonderful thread back to "light"!

I often reference Will's tool when this topic arises. Great engineering!
 
That is a great thread,, but for those of us with out the stuff he used,, The 40 dollar alt is the next best thing. (and its also using a solex bulb)
 
going to lowes right now to buy what I need. thanks guys
 
Paulyfe12 said:
going to lowes right now to buy what I need. thanks guys
Click to expand...

I'm not sure you'll find what you need at lowes. The cheapest 12v drill is $35 or$40 and they do not carry the solux or honestly any 4700-5000k mr16 bulbs. But if you find them let me know
 
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