# Workshop Lighting for Paint Defects



## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Hi, i may well be after some new lights to show paint swirls and scratches. The pair i have owed me nothing and were Halogen bulbs, A friend of mine has got the LED equivalent version and just doesn't seem to show the defects the same in my eyes. 

Just after knowing if anyone else has experience of one being better than the other. I know the LED are better for the electric bill and doesn't seem to blow bulbs as the Halogen one does reasonably often. 

I also find the tripod type suited me with a cramped garage as could adjust the height to suite rather than keep moving it all the time, there is another car in the garage that doesn't run so space is ok but slightly more limited than it could be 

help and suggestions are greatly received :thumb:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

If you have the money then scangrip lights.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Mirror Finish Details said:


> If you have the money then scangrip lights.


They do look good, like you say they are not cheap. See the Sunmatch 2 and the Multimatch 2 are the most common detailing ones.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

I have the Sunmatch 2, which I bought after seeing a Sunmatch owned by a pro detailer (from here). I had bought various LED torches, which were all very bright, but for some reason just didn't show the defects as well as the Scangrip.

I also have a tripod worklight with two LED lights on top. I suspect this will do a good job of showing defects as well, but am yet to test it out.

Currently my car doesn't need a special light to see the defects, it's almost matte from them!


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

If you are that interested in detection/inspection, I second the Scangrip-2.
It really is the dogs botox.
They give you the two setting 4.5k and 6.5k outputs which is needed for dark and light colours.
Steer away from cheap sites though.
Search and you can get their Pro detailer set, DCM kit, tripod, bracket, extra MM2 or DM2 at a great price.


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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

Take a look at the Sealey Colour Match range. Come in various outputs, mains or lithium powered. Think I paid sub-£40 for mine, bought a cheap lightweight photographic studio tripod off eBay, job's a good'n.


































There's also a Ring branded equivalent which I suspect has the same emitter in it. The reason your cheapie Screwfix-style units don't work too well, I presume, is because they don't cover a decent bandwidth of light frequency. So instead of the full ROYGBIV making up white, it could be just RGB, for example. I have a decent LED torch with variable focus, which is great for seeing in the dark with, but totally useless for showing up defects. It's a funny one.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> Take a look at the Sealey Colour Match range. Come in various outputs, mains or lithium powered. Think I paid sub-£40 for mine, bought a cheap lightweight photographic studio tripod off eBay, job's a good'n.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good shout. Did you go for the wired or wireless version? Do you like it?

If you have the wireless version, can it also be run from the mains? Or battery only?

Thanks!

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

MBRuss said:


> Good shout. Did you go for the wired or wireless version? Do you like it?
> 
> If you have the wireless version, can it also be run from the mains? Or battery only?
> 
> ...


Mine is the battery one, lowest output. It's helpful not having the cable trailing around, and I've not run it out of juice on a job yet. Used in on a two day machine job, charged overnight and during tea breaks. That being said, I'm not a professional and it's not on 24/7.

It will still illuminate when plugged in, although the book warns you not to but gives no explanation. Read into that what you will. I like it, it's well built (mainly ally, with a decent rubber edge), but a bit lacking in power when fighting the high output LED strip lights I have on lighter coloured paint. I'd say for occasional use it's more than good enough, the price feels about right to me.

Hope this helps!


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> Mine is the battery one, lowest output. It's helpful not having the cable trailing around, and I've not run it out of juice on a job yet. Used in on a two day machine job, charged overnight and during tea breaks. That being said, I'm not a professional and it's not on 24/7.
> 
> It will still illuminate when plugged in, although the book warns you not to but gives no explanation. Read into that what you will. I like it, it's well built (mainly ally, with a decent rubber edge), but a bit lacking in power when fighting the high output LED strip lights I have on lighter coloured paint. I'd say for occasional use it's more than good enough, the price feels about right to me.
> 
> Hope this helps!


Thanks, I'm also looking at the 20W and 50W wired ones on eBay.

I like the freedom of wires, but a wireless light will be useless after a number of years when the lithium battery bites the dust. A wired light could last my lifetime.

However, the 10W one that you have is under £33 on eBay, so I'm tempted to get that and either the 20W or 50W wired one.

Not sure if 20W will be enough or not. I currently can only detail outside.

I also wonder if 50W is too much for swirl finding. It's 4000lumens!

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

MBRuss said:


> Thanks, I'm also looking at the 20W and 50W wired ones on eBay.
> 
> I like the freedom of wires, but a wireless light will be useless after a number of years when the lithium battery bites the dust. A wired light could last my lifetime.
> 
> ...


The 10w is useless outdoors, I wouldn't bother. I'd probably go for the big one, as you can always turn it down or move it further away.

On the battery, it looks to have an easily opened cover, I don't think it would be too much hassle to source a battery or change. But I get your point.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> The 10w is useless outdoors, I wouldn't bother. I'd probably go for the big one, as you can always turn it down or move it further away.
> 
> On the battery, it looks to have an easily opened cover, I don't think it would be too much hassle to source a battery or change. But I get your point.


I went for the 10W battery and 20W cabled ones.

The best price I could find for the 20W battery one is £95, whereas the 10W can be had for under £33, which makes the 20W version less of a throwaway purchase. (Not to mention you could have three 10W ones for the same money.)

And I figure of the two wired ones that 20W ought to be enough, even outdoors. Indoors the 50W would probably be too much. Again price played a factor though and the 50W wired was about £28 more than the 20W wired. (The difference being close to the full price of the 10W.)

So I paid a few quid more than the 50W to get the 10W battery AND 20W wired, which was also less than if I had just bought the 20W battery.

If I find more power is needed then I could always go for the 50W wired at a later date, given that the whole lot can be had for less than the price of a single Scangrip version.

However I usually polish towards the end of the day when the light is less intense, having washed the car during the day, so the 20W ought to be enough.

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## lowejackson (Feb 23, 2006)

There is a video somewhere by Osren where in their view the ideal position is to have spot lights and fluorescent tubes. The fluorescent are good for deeper marks and the spot lights are better for lighter swirls.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Can the tubes be LED? If not, is there a reason florescents are better?

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## lowejackson (Feb 23, 2006)

I am not sure, I think it is to do with the diffuse light hitting the paint which highlights the deeper marks rather than the specific type of buld. I should say it was a couple of years ago when I watched this video so I may have got a bit confused


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Yeah, that's what I'd have thought - so if the tube is frosted it ought to be the same, LED or florescent.

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## lowejackson (Feb 23, 2006)

This is the video


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

lowejackson said:


> This is the video


Thanks. I'll have a look later.

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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Let's give this a go then...









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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> The 10w is useless outdoors, I wouldn't bother. I'd probably go for the big one, as you can always turn it down or move it further away.
> 
> On the battery, it looks to have an easily opened cover, I don't think it would be too much hassle to source a battery or change. But I get your point.


How are you attaching your lights to the tripods? Got any pics?

Thanks.

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

MBRuss said:


> How are you attaching your lights to the tripods? Got any pics?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


Easy... this is the tripod, has a rubber lined clamp for attaching a round boom to. Leg bit of the light in the jaws, crank 'er up. I'll sort you a picture when I'm home later today.


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## Chris Donaldson (Jun 26, 2016)

What is the sealey one like? Have you tried it yet?


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

The sealey seems like a good option for £55


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Chris Donaldson said:


> What is the sealey one like? Have you tried it yet?


I've done nothing more than turn it on to check that it worked. Hard to tell how bright it actually is until I get it outside and use it on the car.

In terms of quality, it feels really well put together and solidly built. No less quality than my Scangrip stuff.

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

Pictures of tripod for you Russ.


























Minimum height:










5/6 maximum height:










The mounting boss on the foot isn't the most secure location to clamp against, but provided you counterhold the foot when changing the angle of the lamp it's fine.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> Pictures of tripod for you Russ.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cool, thanks for that. It looks pretty secure. Moreso than I thought, but then the stand on the lights is very stiff, so I can understand why you'd need to hold it as adjusting. I'll probably pick up one or two of these. Are they fairly stable at full extension?

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

MBRuss said:


> Cool, thanks for that. It looks pretty secure. Moreso than I thought, but then the stand on the lights is very stiff, so I can understand why you'd need to hold it as adjusting. I'll probably pick up one or two of these. Are they fairly stable at full extension?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


They're about as wobbly as they look at full stretch. They may not want to be outside in a stiff breeze, but I reckon you'd get away with it. Drop them down a bit so each section is say 15% overlapped and it's quite good. IIRC they do a 3m version as well, which likely has a wider footprint. It's the upright that has the play rather than the base.


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## CTR247 (Aug 11, 2013)

Russ please let us know how you get on with led066 and would be good to some pics of it in action as I’m considering this item too but would be using outdoors so not sure if this would work so well outdoors


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

ttc6 said:


> They're about as wobbly as they look at full stretch. They may not want to be outside in a stiff breeze, but I reckon you'd get away with it. Drop them down a bit so each section is say 15% overlapped and it's quite good. IIRC they do a 3m version as well, which likely has a wider footprint. It's the upright that has the play rather than the base.


Thanks. I appreciate the effort you went to, getting the photos.

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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

CTR247 said:


> Russ please let us know how you get on with led066 and would be good to some pics of it in action as I'm considering this item too but would be using outdoors so not sure if this would work so well outdoors


Will do. Probably won't be until next weekend now though.

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## ttc6 (Oct 31, 2017)

MBRuss said:


> Thanks. I appreciate the effort you went to, getting the photos.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


No probs!


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

OK, so the lights work pretty good, but could be better in direct sunlight. In the meantime I ordered the 50W light with the 10% eBay discount yesterday, so hopefully that'll be better outside.

Nevertheless, they work really well in lower light and the 10W battery is really handy for moving around to see defects.

Below are some pics.

































































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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

They work very well dont they. Good job.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Yeah, they do a good job. Even the 10W was useful outside.

I have a 50W coming, so will see what that's like when it arrives.

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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Taken the plunge and ordered the Scangrip Multimatch 2 and Tripod with wheels. Been an expensive week as this has been the second order of the week with CYC. Came at a price i couldn't find any cheaper so happy with that. Having another car in the garage that doesnt run means the cable free part will make work slightly easier for working on without always having to have a trailing wire about

Thanks for all the input :thumb:


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