# Swirl Spotting Light Test



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

A little test here of four light sources for spotting swilrs and other defects in paint work, to show a comparison of the different lights.

The contenders:

> Brinkmann Dual Xenon: infamous in detailing, widely considered to be *the* light for swilrs!
> 3M Sun Gun: less well known in detailing, but used widely in bodushops for checking colour match.
> Toureag Torch: little cigarette lighter torch

So we take out test panel with medium swirls and general marring. A pic of the swirls before machine polishing was taken, after machine polishing and a 50/50 pic for each of the light sources to get a fair idea of the performance of each light. Here we go...

_Brinkmann Dual Xenon_

First up was the trusty Brinkmann. A pic of the swirls:



The bright light of the Brinkmann ideally pics up all of ther deeper looking and light swirls. Works best when held quite far from paintwork to get a more general picture of the condition of the paintwork. The spread of the light is also quite good, so you can view the paint over a large area.

Now, a pic of the corrected paint:



The Brinkmann here shows the paint to be near flawless after correction, wioth no evidence of hologramming or swirls... The finish is actually free from holograms but there are a few light swilrs remaining in the finish which the Brinkmann has failed to pick up, even when sweeping the light around looking for them. It shows a good approximation of the paint condition, but misses out light marks that can hide from you.

A 50/50 pic:



There is good definition between the treated and untreated areas, a bid difference is shown to have been made by the polishing stage.

Overall, the Brinkmann performs very well and gives a fiarly accurate representaiton of the condition of the paintwork, but does miss out in lighter marks that would become evident when the car is rolled out into the sunlight. A good light though.

_3M Sun Gun_

Used by bodyshops to cheack out colour mathcing, this tool springs to mind as being ideal for spotting swirls.

First up, a pic of the area before polishing:



The Sun Gun produces a very bright and large area of light. In the centre, where the light is at its most intense it is hard to make out much about the condition of the paint but in the far spreading wings of the light, the condition of the paintwork is made fantastically clear by the sheer brightness of the light, which made the Brinkmann before it seem like a night light.

A pic of the corrected paint:



This clearly shows the paint finsih to be well corrected but is also highlighting the odd lighter marks that has remained. Only the camera flash was able to pick this mark out also. The brighter light of the Sun Gun has also proved itself through use now to show up more light imperfections and is ideal in my eyes for getting an absolutely spot on finish as far as removing light marring and very faint hologramming goes.

A 50/50 shot:



The 50/50 pic shows huge difference between polished and unpolished sections, the difference being clearer than any of the other light cources owing to ther brightness of the bulb.

In summary, this for me is the ultimate light for detailing thanks to its ability to pick up the lightest of marks which is ideal when you cannot rely on what is the worlds best light source - the sun! Gives the truest representation of the finish from all of the lights tested.

_Toureag Torch_

Bit of an odd ball this - a bright light that charges in your cigarrette lighter, but a very neat design.

Pic of the swilrs:



The light is bright enough to pick put the swirl marks there with ease but the spreadnof the light is far too small for this top be practival for me to thorougholy check a car. Ideal for little spot checks, but for me, not good for getting the bigger picture - you'd have to scan the light backwards and forwards far too laboriously compared to the other two lights.

Pic of the corrected paint:



Shows the corrected finish well, but even thoroghly scanning the light it failed to pick up any of the very light marring left that the Sun Gun picked up.

The 50/50 pic:



There is a clear difference here but less obvious than the other two lights and again the small beam size is a bit of a pest for getting the bigger picture... but does show the difference nicely.

All in all, the little torch is a very neat design and does show the majority of the swirls but misses out on the lighter ones... Ad a detailing tool though, its certainly not for me, the light beam being far too small to sensibily get the big picture on paintwork, required for checking to see if there are any faint holograms.


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## leistrum (Feb 10, 2007)

Oh Dave I've only just got a Makita and now there's something else I ought to get along with the ab lance etc!


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## Refined Reflections (May 12, 2006)

Great report Dave. For me doing the M3 CSL in silver I compared the Brinkmann and the Sun gun, the brinkmann only showed the bad marks however the Sun Gun allowed me to see all the swirls and defects, the ones that the owner said he saw a couple of times when the sun caught the panels just right. The Sun Gun on that job proved its worth and also allowed me to proved the finish the owner was hoping for, he has since told me he has looked and can't find the marks so is very happy.

Sun Gun all the way


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## richie.guy (Apr 10, 2006)

One thing which will be a deciding factor on purchase is the cost.

What's the difference in cost of them Dave?


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

What a great well written report :thumb:

The Sun Gun is amazingly bright


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## Wozza (Mar 3, 2007)

Nice write up, still happy with my Brinkmann :thumb: . You are right about light swirls being difficult to pick up with a Brinkmann, my other halfs Clio has quite lot of them that can only really be seen in bright sunlight, my Brinkmann (or even a Halogen) dont show them up.
I think that only serious Pro`s or weathly hobbists will invest in a Sun Gun (not cheap), but good to see a comparison. How does it compare to a 240v Halogen and Sunlight ?


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## TangoMan (Jul 28, 2006)

Excellent writeup, thanks Dave.


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

great write up Dave


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Good write up, i'll be sticking with my Brinkmann! The sun gun doesn't seem overally impressive compared to the Brinkmann


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## CK888 (Apr 23, 2006)

Interesting comparison test there, cheers Dave:thumb:


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## Seano (Feb 24, 2007)

Good concise writeup Dave......:thumb: where can those little torches be got from...? could be handy to keep in the car.

Sean.


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## Lespaul (May 23, 2006)

Seano said:


> Good concise writeup Dave......:thumb: where can those little torches be got from...? could be handy to keep in the car.
> 
> Sean.


Any VW dealer :thumb:

Nice write up Dave, be interesting to see how a halogen compares to the rest aswell, I'll be sticking with the Brinkman though for now as it's still a hobby for me 

Darren


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## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

Great write up Dave and HOW bright is that Sun gun!!! 

:thumb:


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## Beeste (Oct 25, 2005)

Sun gun looks the dogs nads - but I think I'll stick with the brinkman for now.
Great write-up!


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Interesting write up Dave. I think that the cost of the Sun Gun would be prohibitive to all but the pros and the very wealthy though.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

richie.guy said:


> One thing which will be a deciding factor on purchase is the cost.
> 
> What's the difference in cost of them Dave?


In the UK, I have found the Sun Gun retailing at anywhere between £350 and £450. However, I work with Bryan, so it was sourced for us cheaper than this - from USA. It is a lot of money for sure, but the way the Sun Gun picks up all of the smaller lighter marks and faint holograms that the Brinkmann misses makes it worth it in my eyes... its the closest light to direct sunlight, which we all know to be the best for spotting marring, only you can angle the Sun Gun to realy highlight even the lightest defects.

As RR states above, on lighter colour especially, this tool is invaluable.


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

Nice post Dave, enjoyed that.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

13yearoldetailer said:


> Good write up, i'll be sticking with my Brinkmann! The sun gun doesn't seem overally impressive compared to the Brinkmann


Have you tried them side by side on a light colour Gaz? You'll be surprised what the Brinkmann "hides".


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## maesal (Nov 24, 2005)

Great as always !!


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## TangoMan (Jul 28, 2006)

Dave, shut up PLEASE, I cannot afford the Sun Gun and I am already fecking looking at it :lol:

Okay, after me; Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkman, Brinkman


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## TangoMan (Jul 28, 2006)

Damn, now look what you have gone and done;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3M-PPS-SUN-GUN-COLOR-MATCHING-LIGHT-AUTO-PAINT-SPRAY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63702QQihZ010QQitemZ200117094805QQtcZphoto

And they ship worldwide


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

Mine turned up and then I just notice this post today.

Great write up Dave and all the confirmatin I need to say I havent wasted my money :thumb: 

I'd like to add that the halogens arnt much cop either, on the Porsches bonnet the other day they showed a spotless finish (as did the brinkmann) but once the sun got on it I could see the odd spider web here and there.


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Excellent Dave!!

Now where do I buy a sun gun!!!!!


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Brazo said:


> Excellent Dave!!
> 
> Now where do I buy a sun gun!!!!!


PM Bryan mate, he got ours so he knows where to buy them from. :thumb:


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

Dave KG said:


> PM Bryan mate, he got ours so he knows where to buy them from. :thumb:


Or ask Neil_S to sell you his


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## wfenix (May 13, 2007)

thanks again dave ordered last night from the states brinkman light, this detailing is taking over my life


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## gtechrob (Sep 11, 2006)

are any of them any good at showing up machine lines? on the very softest of paints we sometimes have problems (microfibres can even mark the paint) and even under our daylight adjusted light rig they can be hard to spot - only direct sunlight a few hours either side of midday can they be picked up.


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Alex L said:


> Or ask Neil_S to sell you his


Is he bored of it already 



loboil said:


> are any of them any good at showing up machine lines? on the very softest of paints we sometimes have problems (microfibres can even mark the paint) and even under our daylight adjusted light rig they can be hard to spot - only direct sunlight a few hours either side of midday can they be picked up.


Do you mean buffer trails?

If so a brinkman or similer light source waved or moved from side to side will reveal any trails:thumb:


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

Brazo said:


> Is he bored of it already


He's still in london and his is sat in my frontroom waiting to find swirls lol.


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Alex L said:


> He's still in london and his is sat in my frontroom waiting to find swirls lol.


Or ready cash !!!!!!!!!!


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## gtechrob (Sep 11, 2006)

Brazo said:


> Is he bored of it already
> 
> Do you mean buffer trails?
> 
> If so a brinkman or similer light source waved or moved from side to side will reveal any trails:thumb:


hmm - buffer trails/machine lines/holograms - whatever you call them - most light sources pick up at best 90% - only direct sunlight works for us - so far.

the 3m one is a single light source with a kelvin value similar to sunlight? we use metal halide spots and fluoro strips - all 9200 kelvin - ie near as you can get to daylight. very easy to work under - but still not as good as direct sunlight. is the brinkman one the one with teh double light source? why is that - does that help to show defects?


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

You have to play tricks with the Brinkmann to get it to show up these kind of defects - angle it correctly, and I sweep it from side to side and light holograms will then show themselves as the light reflection will "jump" a little like its going over a water wave.. The effect is small but noticeable and was the technique I was always using to evaluate my finishes...

Though the 3M gun does highlight the lighter marring easier, without the need to really play tricks and is apparently very close to normal day light in intensity (>99% IIRC).


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