LED work light

I'm looking to buy a LED work light. Like the rechargeable drop lights that just about everyone sells with 30 or 60 leds in them. The one I want deosn't have to be rechargeable, but I want something fairly bright with good runtime. I do a lot of underdash work on automobiles and I need something that doesn't get hot but will run at least 4 hours.
Here is a link to the freedom-lite,https://www.expeditionexchange.com/uview/indexmain.shtml these things are expensive and not very bright. Anyone interested in a mod or building me one?

I have done similar work and I have to say that the best light I have found for that job so far is a headlamp. Have you tried one of those yet? They are remarkably freeing of the hands.

Disclaimer: I have a commercial interest in this light. My team designed it.

www.centraled.net

The design is targetted specifically at the auto technician. You are looking at an actual measured 95 lumens in service, not an idealized number. Serious neodymium-iron-boron magnets on both bottom and back will hold the light anywhere there's some steel. Hook for placement anywhere else. Flexible neck so you can point the lamphead exactly where you need light, regardless of where the body happens to be. Engineered optics for a clean, uniform circle of light, no center hotspot (40-degree beam angle gives an 18" diameter area of light from 2'). Actual 4 hours runtime if you observe the correct (but simple) procedure for charging NiMH batteries. Regulated, no dimming until the batteries need charge. If you need to keep working, you can run the light off the charger which is supplied with a 15' cord. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for. There's nothing else like it, not even close, LED or otherwise.

Best regards,
Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.

Thanks for chiming in, Steve...and welcome to CPF. I was going to suggest the same solution.

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of the CentraLED light, since I had recently posted the press release for your CentraL.E.D.® 100+ Lumen Work Light on my site, FlashlightNews.org. It seems like a good solution to spot lighting problems faced by mechanics, repairpersons, and others. I figured it would be just the thing for ADDICTED2LITE's requirements.

But you beat me to it.

The centraLED looks a little awkward for underdashwork and I don't need paint-melting bright, I was looking for a stick-type light. i was hoping some one could mod the sticklight with a luxeon and a flood reflector maybe?

ADDICTED2LITE said:

The centraLED looks a little awkward for underdashwork and I don't need paint-melting bright, I was looking for a stick-type light. i was hoping some one could mod the sticklight with a luxeon and a flood reflector maybe?

Click to expand...

True, we didn't target the design specifically for underdash work. It's really a task light you can use anywhere on, in, and under the car (and many other places, of course). We've tested it underdash and we feel that it works quite well, but we are biased, of course.

Let me give you a word of caution if you're working underdash: commonly, this kind of work is electrical. This brings up the topic of color rendering index. Many LED-based lights, in the quest for maximum lumens or minimum cost, will ignore this important property. Poor CRI means you will struggle to tell purple wires from brown wires, gray stripes from green stripes, and so on. We've addressed this, with a CRI over 80%.

It's not LED-based, but here is one more shameless plug for a Central Tools lighting product:

http://www.centraltools.com/lights_4_watt.html


Best regards,
Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.

metalhed said:

Thanks for chiming in, Steve...and welcome to CPF. I was going to suggest the same solution.

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of the CentraLED light, since I had recently posted the press release for your CentraL.E.D.® 100+ Lumen Work Light on my site, FlashlightNews.org. It seems like a good solution to spot lighting problems faced by mechanics, repairpersons, and others. I figured it would be just the thing for ADDICTED2LITE's requirements.

But you beat me to it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the press release!

Quick note - if anyone is curious about the apparent discrepancy in lumen output, the 95 lumens I quoted is a conservative number, and "100+" is typical.

One other feature of the CentraLED that I neglected to mention in my previous post is the ruggedized construction. We've been building fluorescent-based worklights for the professional for over three decades (beginning with New Era Products in Cleveland, OH, which was folded into Central Tools in 1996). We know how these lights are treated in service, and we know how to design them to last.

Best regards,
Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.

Please forgive the shameless commecial plug, but I just wanted to mention that we went live today in the Herrington catalog for a price well below the full suggested list:

http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/t274.html


Best regards,
Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.

I just ordered one from the Herrington catalog. Great price!

Thank you, Steve,

All the best,

Marc

I've just PM'd marcspar and realized that I'd better post publically here too. I had completely forgotten I'd posted that link to Herrington's. Just this morning, Central Tools created a special online purchase deal exclusively for CPF members. Here's a link:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=117722

Sorry for the commercial posting in this forum but I wanted to steer everyone towards the better price.

Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.