Sometimes it's just gotta' be an incan.

I really thought that LED technology had for the most part caught incans on brightness and especially runtime. Great improvements have also been made in throw, especially if you consider what MAg has done with the Mag-led dropin and other leds that really use a reflector well.

What I didn't realize is just how poor a job Led's do in bright sunlight looking into dark areas. Recently I was working on the car trying to get repair jobs and maintenance done before my big vacation at the end of the summer. I was really having a tough time seeing under the hood as this has proven to be one of the toughest cars to replace the upper and lower heater hoses on. To be brief, my problem was eventually solved by using a high speed cutting bit on a Dremel and cutting off the high tension lower GM heater hose clamp. It was vital that I be able to see well deep into the engine bay on a 100 degree day and I was shocked at how INEFFECTIVE my 3D Mag-led was. This is a light that throws like no other LED I own. Blows away My SL PPL on a dark night. Yet I could barely see what I was doing using this light during the day. I switched to my Brinkman Maxfire and WHAT a difference.

Interesting it is that this happened just when I thought that 3 LED lights were all I'd ever need in the car. I almost replaced the Maxfire with an LED. Definately wrong on that. I'm now thinking of even switching my Mag-Led back to the Xenon bulb. Runtime won't be there, but I'm really wondering just where or when I'll find another LED shortcoming in a critical situation.


MB

Mykall,

Sometimes, it just has to be an HID!

Larry

I too have noticed that when there is quite a bit of ambient light out the incan is the most effective light to use. The LED's seem washed out.
As much as I have begun to really appreciate LED's for efficiency and runtime I think they will never actually replace the incan.

It's probably due to the spectrum of the light.

I just did a test with a red LED (from a two color Coast light), white LED (Fenix L2P) and an incandescent (Pelican Supermitylite) on my black computer case.

While black is supposed to absorb all colors equally, the case really sucked up the red and white light, while the yellowish color of the incandescent illuminated the case better than the others. I think the spectrum of the incandescent light is better for reflecting back off of certain black surfaces than other lighting sources, and because incandescent light is closer to sunlight (slightly yellow) than a white LED light, your eyes might respond to it better.

I've used my L2P before to illuminate an engine bay in a dimly lit garage, and it worked very well, but the spectrum of an incan is even better.

LOL, a HID under a car will BLIND you for good.

led's colour tense to be washed out as they are higher in the tempreture colour(aka more blue)

the sunlight's colour is lower. around 5500k to 6000k which results in the golden yellowish white we see.

NotRegulated said:

I too have noticed that when there is quite a bit of ambient light out the incan is the most effective light to use. The LED's seem washed out.
As much as I have begun to really appreciate LED's for efficiency and runtime I think they will never actually replace the incan.

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The funny thing is that some people complain about yellow and green tints on their Luxeons. However, for color rendition on objects OTHER than white walls, an off-white or yellowish tint will generally work better than the highly desired snow white LED =)

tvodrd said:

Mykall,

Sometimes, it just has to be an HID!

Larry

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Maybe, but isn't a HID just a bright incan?

MB

mykall said:

Maybe, but isn't a HID just a bright incan?

MB

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Yes, and no.

Both HIDs (metal halides) and incandescents use black body radiation (matter emits visible light when it gets hot enough) to produce light. In an incandescent bulb the hot material is a resistive filament, while in a metal halide bulb an electric arc excites metal vapor to produce light.

I have made the same experience:

When I had been looking for a "new" car (about 10year old Opel Astras :laughing: ), the first day I took a Surefire L4 with me, but the next day I changed to the E2e, similar brightness in the dark, but the E2e had been much better for looking under the cars in the sunshine!

Basically I'm with amanichen on this. A real lot of the difference is in the colour temperature. My warmer LED lights work much better in actual use.
I'm sure there is also some difference that is inherent in the way they produce LED's. A look at the spectrum of light that comes off one shows that it is very different from daylight or incandescent. I'm amazed they work as well as they do!
Greg

This is why I really love the V1 tint ... ... vanilla ...

I noticed the same with HID car headlights vs incan ... where the HIDs will be not as visible in bright daylight as the incans on cars that drive the opposite direction than me ...

bernie

NotRegulated said:

I too have noticed that when there is quite a bit of ambient light out the incan is the most effective light to use. The LED's seem washed out.
As much as I have begun to really appreciate LED's for efficiency and runtime I think they will never actually replace the incan.

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I always EDC an optic LED and a reflectored incan....
LEDs doesnt washout, they simply blend in....without sufficient contrast, you cant tell whats down the road without going down there first.. incans however..heheheh
My main utility lights are the G2 and the Scorpio...but problem with incans is the runtime doesnt get over a couple of minutes....while my LED lights are for "Wow" factor I have them around as backup lights...

and no, they will never replace incan, theres just no other substitute for it.

LED will replace incan, it is just a matter of time. We can only hope that by that time, LED will be good enough to replace incan in a satisfactory manner.
bernie

I use the SF A2 as car light, Pila GL3 should also be a very nice car light. Incan for the outside and LEDs for the inside.

Hello MB,

It is interesting what you find out when you actually have to use your lights...

I had Don build me a custom HD 45 (tightly focused "warm" 3 watt joker) that works very well in high levels of ambient light. Next in line is my customized Aleph 3 (reflector modified for tighter focus), but it has a smaller hot spot. After that I grab my 8NX or TigerLight.

Trying to illuminate something in a shadow in a high contrast situation is one of the most challenging jobs for lights. You need something that is well focused, but still has a decent sized hot spot.

Tom

SilverFox said:

Trying to illuminate something in a shadow in a high contrast situation is one of the most challenging jobs for lights. You need something that is well focused, but still has a decent sized hot spot.

Tom

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Well, as far as LEDs go I thought that my 3D Mag-led had all that. It throws like a monster at night. However, it couldn't do a thing with it's purplish/faint tint inside the engine compartment. This is why I really believe in some respects that LEDs have a long way to go. I now see why the LEO prefers incans.

MB

mycall,

there is a lumen difference between your Mag LED and the Maxfire, probably about a 30-40 lumen difference (just to be fair in the comparison). However, I agree with you that for working on an engine in broad daylight is best with an incandescent. I've thrown my LED lights and pulled out my A2 many times while looking in the engine.

'tis why along with several LED lights, there are a bright and a BRIGHT incandescent in my truck!

I too find the warmer tints to be nicer to use.

I find very little to dislike about the Lambda LUXIII that I edc....

mykall said:

I was really having a tough time seeing under the hood

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Interesting. Looking under the hood in daylight has always been my test for an EDC flashlight. I don't actually look under many hoods, but much of EDC usage for me is during the daylight hours - like looking under the fridge or whatever - and the hood test is a good measure.

cheers

This why I have a SL TL-3 Incan to accompany all my other luxeon LED lights... It is the brightest and longest throwing (at 9volts using 3 cr123a's, it better be) of all my lights and the only incan in my arsenal of flashlights.