Help me choose a Flash Light for swirl Finding??

[Rmd]

Scangrip without a doubt. I've bought a couple coast and tactical type flashlights before I got the big scangrip and it shows things that the others just didn't. Sent me down the rabbit hole chasing very minor defects, so there is that... the scangrip is a bit expensive compared to the others in the poll, but value doesn't always equate to price. Easy for me to spend your money I know, but I've always been in the camp that you buy good tools so that you only have to buy them once.

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Are the:

(Astro Pneumatic 50SL Sunlight 400 Lumen Rechargeable Color Match Light)
and the
(Scangrip detailing lights) the same thing?
One is for $60 and the other at $150.

They really look similar!

Tom

Only difference is the color temperature; the Astro is 4100K and Scangrip is 4500K. They're both fairly neutral, with the Astro being a bit more yellow.

Scangrip without a doubt. I've bought a couple coast and tactical type flashlights before I got the big scangrip and it shows things that the others just didn't. Sent me down the rabbit hole chasing very minor defects, so there is that... the scangrip is a bit expensive compared to the others in the poll, but value doesn't always equate to price. Easy for me to spend your money I know, but I've always been in the camp that you buy good tools so that you only have to buy them once.

I tried a Coast HX5 and that thing was worthless for showing defects. I currently have a Flex Swirl Finder, but thinking about getting the Astro.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FUNX650]

@OP:

•IMO:
-You'll find out that it may take
several different types of light(ing)
sources in order to see everything.

-The Sun is the final arbiter.

{You stated you detailed during the
day: you should take full advantage
of the Sun's ~5800°K (nearly perfect)
color temperature at every opportunity.}



Bob

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Are the:

(Astro Pneumatic 50SL Sunlight 400 Lumen Rechargeable Color Match Light) and the (Scangrip detailing lights) the same thing?


One is for $60 and the other at $150.

They really look similar!

Tom

The Astro is a cheap knock-off.

You can tell because it looks the same but cost a lot less. Thus cheap and knockoff are the descriptive words.


I spoke with Jason at SCANGRIP and he told me the back story about the Astro light. Jason purchased one and sent it to Kyle Clark for review and I remember speaking to Kyle about it and Kyle told me he used or tested it out but I don't remember ever seeing anything posted? At least not to the forum world. If he posted something to the Facebook world well then, here today, gone tomorrow.

I'll send him a FB messages and see if he ever did anything with it?



And really... over time most of us learn a very important lesson and over the course of our lifetime, I'm pretty sure most of us find the saying to be very true and accurate.


You get what you pay for

 

[Desertnate]

What in the design of the Scangrip lights makes them work better than the garden variety LED flashlight? Is the type/size of the LED used or the way they design the optics/lense of the light?

I realize the form factor of the unit is completely different, but I'm curious how the light being projected is different and how it would light up a vehicle panel differently from a compact LED flashlight.

The intent with my question is purely educational, I'm not trying to start/continue any arguments.

 

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

Some people frown upon the smaller inspection lights, Saying that they are over priced. However you just can not beat how compact and portable they are. I have larger inspection lights and you can not put them in your shirt pocket, inside your pant pockets. With the smaller pen lights you can keep it on you at all times, And that is very valuable IMO.

I find that you need different lumen inspection lights, Some lighter paints you want around 110-140 lumens, Stronger lights can drown the paint and make paint look flawless when in reality its a horror story.

 

[chrisg8p]

TBH using coast flashlights and a head light is cheaper and just as good

 

[Kinalyx]

I have a Coast HX5, a $12-$15 led light from dicks sporting goods, and a light i got at the dollar store that looks identical to the one sold by adams, with those 3 plus my flood lights, i can find nearly everything. Just takes different angles and making sure the background lighting is dim/off.

The scangrip looks nice, and while it may be better, how much better is the question. For those of us that dont do this for a living, having a flashlight that is 100% only used for paint correction, and costs that much just doesnt make sense.

Shawn

 

[mengelhardt]

What in the design of the Scangrip lights makes them work better than the garden variety LED flashlight? Is the type/size of the LED used or the way they design the optics/lense of the light?

I realize the form factor of the unit is completely different, but I'm curious how the light being projected is different and how it would light up a vehicle panel differently from a compact LED flashlight.

The intent with my question is purely educational, I'm not trying to start/continue any arguments.

Not for our intended uses.... which is finding swirls and scratches in clear coat paint.

If you were using these lights to do custom color-matching, then having a hi CRI light would make more sense, but for just finding swirls, it's not necessary.

I use an OxyLed MD50 LED flashlight that uses a CREE XM-L T6 emitter. Avoid earlier emitters like the XR-E Q5, that only do 500 lumen max (like the Coast HX5)
The flashlight can run on a variety of power sources;
(3) rechargable AAA's run 3.6v
(1) 18650 rechargable runs 3.7v
(3) alkaline AAA run 4.3v

It has adjustable output, LO-Med-HI, so you can use the right amount of light for the job at hand.
This flashlight puts out about 700 lumen on hi using a 3.6v/3.7v source and about 800 lumen using alkaline AAA's (4.3v)
It is waterproof, comes with a padded box/carrying case, and comes with a rechargeable 18650 battery and charger for only $10-$15. (amazon)

I paid $9.99 for mine when it was on sale and have since purchased a few more for other uses too.

 

[mengelhardt]

I have a Coast HX5, a $12-$15 led light from dicks sporting goods, and a light i got at the dollar store that looks identical to the one sold by adams, with those 3 plus my flood lights, i can find nearly everything. Just takes different angles and making sure the background lighting is dim/off.

The scangrip looks nice, and while it may be better, how much better is the question. For those of us that dont do this for a living, having a flashlight that is 100% only used for paint correction, and costs that much just doesnt make sense.

Shawn

I see the Coast HX5 light has been mentioned a bunch of times, but that light is using an old LED emitter at this point in time.
The Coast (and similar lights) uses the old XR-E Q5 emitter which only puts out about 500 lumen MAX.
The newer XM-L T6 emitter will put out almost 800 lumen with the same power source.

Check out flashlights like the OxyLed MD50, Thorfire C8, Convoy C8, etc.... just make sure it has a 'real' XM-L T6 emitter.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

What in the design of the Scangrip lights makes them work better than the garden variety LED flashlight? Is the type/size of the LED used or the way they design the optics/lense of the light?

I realize the form factor of the unit is completely different, but I'm curious how the light being projected is different and how it would light up a vehicle panel differently from a compact LED flashlight.

The intent with my question is purely educational, I'm not trying to start/continue any arguments.

The light their lights put out is originally intended for painters in body shops to match the paint color to be sprayed to the paint color already on a car.

There's a science to this type of thing.

I care not about matching paint, I just know their lights work great and we sell them on Autogeek.

They are all I use now for the three things I originally stated in my first review of one of their products here,


SCANGRIP Sunmatch Swirl Finder Light - Product Review by Mike Phillips


Here's just a small portion from the review I've linked to above,

Not just for your eyes

I actually need a light that does 3 things, not just 1 thing...

1. Reveal swirls
2. Capture swirls with a camera
3. Capture swirls with video

Most people want and need a swirl finder light so they can see the true and accurate condition of the finish on a car. I need this too of course. But I also need a swirl finder light that enables me to capture the swirls with both my camera and on video. The SCANGRIP Sunmatch works perfect for pictures and video.

This is where most of the other swirl finder lights don't have the right type of light as well as enough power. They work fine for your eyes but getting great pictures or video of paint completely lit up showing swirls has been a struggle. This is very important too because the power in the after shots is created in the before shots. I even have an article on this topic here.

That's just me though....


Good questions, there's some science behind lights but every person will figure out what works best for them.

For some of the new members posting in this thread, my guess is they have not read the forum rules, kind of like I explained about people that buy their polishers somewhere else besides Autogeek but them come to AutogeekOnline.net to learn how to use it.


:laughing:

 

[RippyD]

Not sure how you want us to pick from among a bunch of lights most of us have probably not used. There are a few factors to consider: the color of the light, the color rendering index (CRI), the brightness, and beam angle (how wide/narrow the beam is). Also, do you want a small penlight or something larger? Or a headlamp? Of all these factors, I think the brightness is the least important. In some very informal testing I've done it seems that over 500lm starts to get too bright and gives a hot spot. Of course that's also a function of beam angle - 500lm with a wide beam has less of a hot spot than 500lm with a narrow beam.

It seems like the lights that work well for paint correction have very high CRI (over 95) and are probably around 5000K in terms of color temperature, which is close to color of sunlight (approximate - varies with location and time of day). The Scangrip Sunmatch 2 has a switch for different colors: 4500K for lighter colored cars and 6500K for darker colors. So they've clearly determined that different colors of light work better with different colors of paint. Something to consider.

Of the lights you asked about, I suspect they're all likely poor for checking swirls and they're almost certainly all low CRI.

You could look for a flashlight that's about 5000K, high CRI, and variable output and see how it does. There are lights that have a variable beam as well, however these tend to give an uneven pattern of light. Some may work - hard to know without trying them. Or you could get a light that's designed to find swirls and be done.

FYI, I don't have a good light for correction yet. For now I rely on the sun.

 

[idriveblackcars]

I use the Rupes pen but nothing beats pulling the car out into the morning sun

 

[chrisg8p]

Not sure how you want us to pick from among a bunch of lights most of us have probably not used. There are a few factors to consider: the color of the light, the color rendering index (CRI), the brightness, and beam angle (how wide/narrow the beam is). Also, do you want a small penlight or something larger? Or a headlamp? Of all these factors, I think the brightness is the least important. In some very informal testing I've done it seems that over 500lm starts to get too bright and gives a hot spot. Of course that's also a function of beam angle - 500lm with a wide beam has less of a hot spot than 500lm with a narrow beam.

It seems like the lights that work well for paint correction have very high CRI (over 95) and are probably around 5000K in terms of color temperature, which is close to color of sunlight (approximate - varies with location and time of day). The Scangrip Sunmatch 2 has a switch for different colors: 4500K for lighter colored cars and 6500K for darker colors. So they've clearly determined that different colors of light work better with different colors of paint. Something to consider.

Of the lights you asked about, I suspect they're all likely poor for checking swirls and they're almost certainly all low CRI.

You could look for a flashlight that's about 5000K, high CRI, and variable output and see how it does. There are lights that have a variable beam as well, however these tend to give an uneven pattern of light. Some may work - hard to know without trying them. Or you could get a light that's designed to find swirls and be done.

FYI, I don't have a good light for correction yet. For now I rely on the sun.

I already chose the COAST 375 one and it's fantastic 3 light settings zoom in and out great led so all that bullshit on getting that fkn stupid expensive one it out the window I see al the swirls as I would see when I pull out my car so you guys need to stop reaching saying you need the stupid scangrip

 

[Hammer77]

WOW. You are a class act!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I already chose the COAST 375 one and it's fantastic 3 light settings zoom in and out great led

so all that bullshit on getting that fkn stupid expensive one it out the window I see al the swirls as I would see when I pull out my car so you guys need to stop reaching saying you need the stupid Scangrip

This forum is for discussing products sold on the AG store. That's what it says in the forum rules. When you registered with the forum you accepted the forum rules.

So coming onto the forum to ask about products not sold on the AG store was your first mistake.

Your second mistake was how you worded your reply above.

We don't ban anyone on this forum - a member bans themselves by the actions the take or in your case the way you wrote your post above. We just don't tolerate that type of talk nor that type of person.

So while you're not banned you are in what is called,

Time Out


:nomore:

 

[mengelhardt]

It seems like the lights that work well for paint correction have very high CRI (over 95) and are probably around 5000K in terms of color temperature, which is close to color of sunlight (approximate - varies with location and time of day). The Scangrip Sunmatch 2 has a switch for different colors: 4500K for lighter colored cars and 6500K for darker colors. So they've clearly determined that different colors of light work better with different colors of paint. Something to consider.

Of the lights you asked about, I suspect they're all likely poor for checking swirls and they're almost certainly all low CRI.

You could look for a flashlight that's about 5000K, high CRI, and variable output and see how it does. There are lights that have a variable beam as well, however these tend to give an uneven pattern of light. Some may work - hard to know without trying them. Or you could get a light that's designed to find swirls and be done.

FYI, I don't have a good light for correction yet. For now I rely on the sun.

How or why would a hi CRI light make for a better swirl finder?

 

[Cruzscarwash]

the higher the CRI the closer to actual sunlight it is, so we all know that the sun is the ultimate swirl finder. also I think the highest CRI on the market is 97 out of 100 and I think that scangrips are at 95 out of 100.

 

[mengelhardt]

the higher the CRI the closer to actual sunlight it is, so we all know that the sun is the ultimate swirl finder.

A 60w incandescent bulb has a CRI of 100.
So does a candle.

How come nobody is recommending them for finding swirls?

 

[Cruzscarwash]

A 60w incandescent bulb has a CRI of 100.
So does a candle.

How come nobody is recommending them for finding swirls?

a others have stated its because of the lumens and the angle of the light among other things all play a part, you can have just one but that's not going to make it perfect you need the right combination of them all to get a better swirl light, which is why the top ones on the market cost so much, I have plenty of high lumen lights but they don't touch the scangrips or other dedicated swirl finder lights I have, do they still work.. yes but there is a differance