Reliable flashlight for workbench.

[greencat]

Hi I need recommendations for a small flashlight for my workbench.
I need to inspect small holes and parts on stringed musical instruments, 6 inches to 2 feet away.
I need a tight focused beam.
Must be very durable, resistant to metal filings, wood shavings and hopefully steel wool.
Prefer to buy on Ebay, or possibly a popular hardware store. I don't have Amazon.
Budget is versatile. $25-$100.
Size: micro, tiny or small.

I was originally looking at a Wurkkos fc11c, however I'm worried about the usb charging and debris getting caught in it. After some research and thinking, I'm not sure it's durable enough, and it looks like the mini Maglites have a tighter beam. I'm considering a Convoy t4 and Zebralight as well but know little about them. It looks like the zebra lights may have the durability but not sure they have the tight beam.

I would use the light at very short runtimes, just a few seconds to possibly a few minutes, however I would not want to stop work to have to change battery/recharge too often.

Thanks very much in advance.

 

[jacobd]

Convoy T6 with the SFT25r emitter has a VERY tight beam (tighter than the T4 and the Zebralight), and fits your criteria.

 

[PaladinNO]

Hi I need recommendations for a small flashlight for my workbench.
I need to inspect small holes and parts on stringed musical instruments, 6 inches to 2 feet away.
I need a tight focused beam.
Must be very durable, resistant to metal filings, wood shavings and hopefully steel wool.

Budget is versatile. $25-$100.
Size: micro, tiny or small.

I was originally looking at a Wurkkos fc11c, however I'm worried about the usb charging and debris getting caught in it. After some research and thinking, I'm not sure it's durable enough, and it looks like the mini Maglites have a tighter beam.

I would use the light at very short runtimes, just a few seconds to possibly a few minutes, however I would not want to stop work to have to change battery/recharge too often.

I cannot speak from personal experience yet, but from everything I can find, if you need the flashlight body to be durable and resistant against pretty much everything, you want a Titanium light.

Convoy T3 titanium glossy AA 14500 flashlight

Convoy T3 titanium glossy AA 14500 flashlight

convoylight.com

Titanium has worse thermal performance than aluminium, but it doesn't matter for short bursts. I intend to buy a Convoy T3 Ti very shortly.

As for the USB-charging of the Wurkkos FC11C (which is a great little light btw, I have 3 of them), I never use it. I don't want to run an unknown amount of current into what is by design essentially a hand grenade. The battery is always removed, and placed in a dedicated charger.

I don't want to say what type of you light you want, but from what I understand of your usecase, have you considered a "mule" light?
Those are the litteral opposite of a focused light, by having no optics or reflector at all.
Example:

These are usually fully custom lights, but you can get them with almost whatever emitter and tint colour you want, making them very customizable.
The example mule version is a custom order, but the base model is here:

Emisar D3AATI 14500 EDC LED FLASHLIGHT - LED Flashlights

<p><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: medium;">The flashlight works with button and flat top unprotected 14500 cells as well as NiMH AA cells. Emisar D3AA does not work with protected 14500 cells. No cell included in the price.</span></p> <p><span s

intl-outdoor.com

My personal preference is a mule / wide spread light for surface inspections, and a tight beam for deeper inspections, like checking the threads on lug nuts or anything where I don't want shadows cast from interfering objects. I build computers, and every time I do repair work, I got both a thrower and a floody light on hand.

 

[LEDphile]

I'd consider the 2x AAA mini maglite from the Spectrum series https://maglite.com/collections/spe...ni-maglite-aaa-led-spectrum-series-warm-white

 

[ghostguy6]

I cant really specify a light for you as there are thousands that will fit your criteria. I will however touch on some features you may want consider. Since you mentioned the light will be used for short bursts you should consider a light with a momentary on feature. This is a light press of the switch that makes electrical contact without locking the switch in the on position. In the long run it will save wear and tear on the switch mechanism. Given the fine metallic particles I would avoid any light that requires a twist activation as the particles will slowly work their way in along the threads with each activation. This leaves most MAG Lite's out unless your willing to clean and re lubricate the threads frequently. You don't specify the ingress protection against liquids but I would think this may be a problem on a work bench so I would suggest a light rated at IP67 or 68. The table below will explain the ratings if you are not familiar with them. Lastly I would avoid any light that uses AAA cells. They are more expensive and have much less capacity compared to AA so you will need to change them out more frequently. If you get a light that uses rechargeable cells like a 14500 or 18650 you may want to get an extra cell so you can rotate them, one in the light and one in the charger. Lights that need to be taken out of service to charge are a pain. So are lights that require a proprietary cell. I avoid Olight like the plague for this reason.

 

[greencat]

I'd consider the 2x AAA mini maglite from the Spectrum series https://maglite.com/collections/spe...ni-maglite-aaa-led-spectrum-series-warm-white

Thanks would you recommend buying from the site or is ebay better? It looks like ebay shows way too many different versions and prices, and the site charges shipping.

 

[DaveTheDude]

NiteCore MT1A Pro. Feed it a 14500 cell and your worries are over.

 

[Monocrom]

Thanks would you recommend buying from the site or is ebay better? It looks like ebay shows way too many different versions and prices, and the site charges shipping.

Look for the black ones on eBay with the silver tailcaps only.
Unfortunately pretty much everyone charges for shipping nowadays.