# Need a cheap torch for spotting swirls



## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

As title says, after a cheap torch for spotting swirls in the daylight. Really dont want to spend more than £20 (i know, i wont get the best on the market), but after the best for upto £20.

Are any of these any good ? Any other sugestions?

http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~150733~Robert-Dyas-1-Million-Candle-Power-Spotlight-Torch

http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~151161~Rolson-12-LED-Working-Light

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Lighting/Torches/1 Million Candle Power Torch/d220/sd2490/p42392


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## JakeWhite (Oct 14, 2011)

There's a guide on here of how to make your own swirl spotter:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=205820

I made one, really really good and much cheaper than shelling out for the 3m version :thumb:


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

don't wast your time on that junk,i called this guy yesterday,he owns and operates this shop,fire him a call and he'll sort you out,best torch shop I've seen :thumb:

http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Make one, I did & it's great & not "junk"

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=3448468&postcount=687


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## masammut (Jul 13, 2011)

http://shinearama.co.uk/product.php?id=BRK-TUFF


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

Any comments on this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300711631931


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

Anyone?


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

for less than £20, worth a shot. i've got a DIY sungun and LED lenser P7, both good..


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

Spend a bit more and get a P7 lenser, build quality is excellent and will last a lifetime..
Very good at swirl spotting..
Torch direct is where i got mine..

Kev


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

spursfan said:


> Spend a bit more and get a P7 lenser, build quality is excellent and will last a lifetime..
> Very good at swirl spotting..
> Torch direct is where i got mine..
> 
> Kev


The difference between the Cree Led and the Lenser P7 is over +50%. I was hoping someone would tell me this is brilliant and i should even pay more cos its that good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300711631931?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

I'd recommend this one... I used to use the same one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-Q5-2...ing_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item2ebdd23795

its almost identical to the LED Lenser p7, not as good build quality but at 1/10th of the price that is to be expected..

heres a photo using it on a hologrammed surface..


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

CraigQQ said:


> I'd recommend this one... I used to use the same one
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-Q5-2...ing_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item2ebdd23795
> 
> ...


Is this any good for spotting swirls? My current car is silver and i'm having a massive headache trying to find the swirls on it.. I know for a fact they are there but nothing i'm currently using is helping me find them. Need to try the DIY sungun but don't exactly know which bulb to buy and where from so if this works for spotting swirls it could be perfect until I work something else out.

Cheers,

~Jord


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## cocos (Dec 28, 2010)

I have a cree torch, and it is god value for money.. my is about 500lumen and 1600l is POWERFULL! I got an extra battery and carcharger too


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Jord, it does spot swirls aswell.. however, silver is always hard to spot them on no matter what lighting you use.


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

Cheers bud, I think i'll invest in one as my mothers car is black and should be a lot easier to spot the swirls on it. 


~Jord


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## NMH (Apr 25, 2012)

I made one of the diy sun guns and it was fine....charge isnt as good as id hoped but on black cars it was perfect....curious as to why someone would think they are junk?!!


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

creative1 said:


> The difference between the Cree Led and the Lenser P7 is over +50%. I was hoping someone would tell me this is brilliant and i should even pay more cos its that good.
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300711631931?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649


worth £19 i guess, looks the biz so take a punt..


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## tangledmonkey (Apr 9, 2012)

spursfan said:


> worth £19 i guess, looks the biz so take a punt..


Did anyone try this out?


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## tangledmonkey (Apr 9, 2012)

I've ordered one of these for swirl spotting, and one of these babys for general use, camping etc.

I'll report back when they arrive and let you guys know


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

I eventuallybought a similar one. Found it hard to spot swirls with it. I know there are swirls as they are clearly noticeable under lamppost lighting 

I must be using it wrong. Any ideas?


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## scotty76 (Nov 12, 2011)

I bought this one CREE Q5 240LM but can't really see the swirls with it. Have saved it for camping. I think I need to stop being tight and buy some halogens.


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## josadler (Jul 14, 2010)

I bought the 4000LM 3x CREE XML XM-L T6 LED http://www.ebay.de/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221044535637&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:BE:3160


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

So what's the trick in spotting swirls using these small torches?


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## creative1 (Apr 10, 2012)

Anyone?


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## Danny_Leeds (Dec 28, 2011)

I would love to find a good light to spat swirl ls too soo had to choose 

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk


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## Clyde (Feb 15, 2012)

I'd looked at the P7 previously and I think that's worth a try. Don't have the time to mess around trying to make one.


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## JonnyG (Apr 16, 2006)

creative1 said:


> So what's the trick in spotting swirls using these small torches?


1. Put the car in a dark garage or wait until its night.
2. Hold the torch above your head (about 3 ft away from paintwork) and shine it at the paint until you see the round reflection and swirls ( if there are any)


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## rsdan1984 (Jul 31, 2009)

hi, I am also wanting to use an ordinary torch for swirl spotting as I can't afford a 3M sun gun and I tried to make a DIY one but my hairdryer had weird screws I've never seen before so couldn't get it apart!

I saw this on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220924847201?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

and quite liked the look of this one from earlier in this thread:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300711631931

the first one is listed as a swirl spotter so i assume it will do the job. i'm suprised that some of you are struggling to spot swirls with small torches - is this an issue with small torches? i don't want to spend the money on a torch if i can't use it for the primary reason i bought it! the other torches in this thread are all in the order of 200-300 lumen and that second ebay link is 1600 lumen ie quite a big difference. could this be too powerful? is there an optimum power level?

TIA


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## mikehoneyman (Apr 13, 2011)

Definitely check out the LED Lenser P7. Worth every cent IMO. I use it for all my details and would be lost without it.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Beam angle Ian very important for swirl spotting along with not being too bright. DIY sun gun or any 12v-14v supply with the solux bulb is the answer!


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## A.B (Feb 8, 2010)

I use a lenser p7 or Led lamp


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## Detail Doc uk (Apr 27, 2007)

Realistically you should look for a light source that has very poor colour correction. A SOX lamp (sodium orange coloured street lamp) would be the best which has an RA of <20, so it will show up all of the inconsistencies, particularly if you have a silver car.

The best trick for seeing if a silver car has been re-painted and if any panels have been touched up is to park it under a SOX street lamp (the old style very orange type). Due to poor colour correction it gives an almost mono-chromatic light which means it cannot pick colour out well, so net result is that you see imperfections. I find the best other way of doing this is to use a strip light (fluorescent lamp) as they will have about 60-70 RA so again you can see swirls, inconsistencies. Failing that an LED torch with a 5-6000 kelvin LED would be good. The richer the LED (3000K being what a dichroic halogen lamp gives out in your house) the higher the red spectral content, so colour correction is excellent so harder to tell inconsistencies. 

I find my Brinkmann is good enough on the fly but when working, it has to be a fluorescent lamp when I need to really get the best idea of what I am looking at. 

I hope that helps it terms of how light works on a surface :wave:


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## TigerUK (Apr 1, 2012)

a lot of people are going for the DIY route, but th DIY route isn't cheap at all. Sure if you hyave a worshop and all the parts at hand it's cheap, but if not all these little transformers, bulbs, cordless screwdiver and other bits and bobs will end up costing a fair bit. I just priced up the items on a DIY thread it came to £35. They were also using aweful methods like glue gun to fasten bits to the case which will get melted from the head of the bulb at some point


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

TigerUK said:


> a lot of people are going for the DIY route, but th DIY route isn't cheap at all. Sure if you hyave a worshop and all the parts at hand it's cheap, but if not all these little transformers, bulbs, cordless screwdiver and other bits and bobs will end up costing a fair bit. I just priced up the items on a DIY thread it came to £35. They were also using aweful methods like glue gun to fasten bits to the case which will get melted from the head of the bulb at some point


Have you tried it? And have you realised that for £35 you get, to all intents and purposes, the same light source that sells for 10x that much?

You don't need a workshop - I did it on my breakfast bar. And you can do it for less than £20 if you want. As for 'awful methods' and things melting... not many reports (none that I'm aware) of that and hundreds have been made. It's certainly better than original DIY version of 230v through a hairdryer without the correct light source.

A lot of effort by a lot of members went into designing that thing and it's one of the most popular threads on the site. I've personally put a lot of effort into keeping the thread going and answering questions that come up.

Well over 100000 views, 741 replies and 75 pages... not to mention that amount of people who have linked to the thread across the internet.

I'm not sure your post is accurate or helpful but thanks for being part of the community that is DW. I look forward to the value you're going to add to the forum.


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## rapidTS (Feb 24, 2010)

DIY route is the way. for 30£ you got the same light source than 3M
sun gun. 

DIY is 3 x better by far than a 10 £ led torch.


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## rapidTS (Feb 24, 2010)

Detail Doc uk said:


> Realistically you should look for a light source that has very poor colour correction. A SOX lamp (sodium orange coloured street lamp) would be the best which has an RA of <20, so it will show up all of the inconsistencies, particularly if you have a silver car.
> 
> The best trick for seeing if a silver car has been re-painted and if any panels have been touched up is to park it under a SOX street lamp (the old style very orange type). Due to poor colour correction it gives an almost mono-chromatic light which means it cannot pick colour out well, so net result is that you see imperfections. I find the best other way of doing this is to use a strip light (fluorescent lamp) as they will have about 60-70 RA so again you can see swirls, inconsistencies. Failing that an LED torch with a 5-6000 kelvin LED would be good. The richer the LED (3000K being what a dichroic halogen lamp gives out in your house) the higher the red spectral content, so colour correction is excellent so harder to tell inconsistencies.
> 
> ...


orange street lamps are just murderer. very good for hand polishing at the end of summer


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