Intrinsically Safe LED

I'm looking to purchase Nitecores D20. It's a gift for my son who works at the Gas Company. This light has just what he needs, 150+ lumens, the right length at about 6'', powered by AA's since he's supplied with freebees at work, etc. The deal breaker is when he told me before I surprise him with a replacement for his tired out old mini mag light, to make sure that it's 'Intrinsically Safe". Being in homes and attics with gas leaks.... Can't have any sparking flashlights about.

Is this Nitecore safe??

Is there another light like this one that is??

Thanks,
~Steve~

Is the D20 "safe"? Yes, BUT, it is not rated to be "Intrinsically Safe", but neither is his minimag.


Working in such ares, has he considered a headlamp for hands free work?

This one is rated to be Intrinsically Safe.
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/mshd3aa.pdf

Personal, non-professional opinion: I would trust one in that environment unless I was doused in gasoline. However, I'm sure that there is certification required for this type of application and it would be an issue if there ever was an explosion.
Here's the google results I got, lot's of brand sites selling that specific type of light. Probably gonna cost a bit more than a Nitecore.
You'd have to let the O-rings get pretty bad for enough gas to get by them, and you wouldn't be able to breath with that high of concentration....but....
Looking around I saw a couple for less than $200. Some were afraid to list the price and you have to contact them for pricing. LOL!

there are certainly very specific certifications that need to be adhered to in this case, you really dont want to take any chances in that sort of environment. i use only rated streamlights when firefighting for this reason.

see this thread, might help.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/229230

The gas company was fixing a leak in my neighborhood a few nights ago. I walked down there with my new 3D Rebel Mag to see what all the noise was. There were 3 gas company employees, one working the backhoe and two shining yellow drugstore flashlights into the hole. I shined my Maglite into the hole and they all stopped working and made comments about the sun rising. I offered to leave it for them but they were finishing up. Pretty sad that a regular guy out walking has a light 10x brighter than the ones their company supplies, and they're risking their lives digging for gas leaks in the middle of the night.

Funny part is I asked if they had special teeth on their backhoe so they wouldn't create any sparks while they dug for gas leaks. They said nope, and I decided it was a good time to head home. They would have looked at me like I had 3 heads if I mentioned "Intrinsically Safe". :thinking:

Most of the metal lights are not gonna be IS-rated without some "IF and ONLY-IF" conditions. Main reason why durable poly-material are used in most of the IS-rated lights.
It is a basic requirement that the equipment do not create any kind of sparks when drop or come in contact with other materials. Some safety manual actually require the light to be securely attached to the user at all times.
IS equipments will need to be periodically check and maintain as any change in condition, even a small crack-line will void the equipment's IS rating. Sadly, this is often overlook due to cost issue. :green:
Btw, fwiw, one not supposed to do any battery change while in those hazardous zones (e.g. Zone 1 or Div 1) :devil:
my 0.02 lumens

to OP, no, none of the current NiteCore offerrings are IS-rated. You will be better off with Streamlight or Pelican and look for those with Class 1 Div 1/Div 2 approvals.

You can buy the ATEX rated flashlights from barbolight too. A bit expensive, but bomb-proof.

You're going to be a bit disappointed with your intrinsically safe options. First, most of these lights can't be metal because dropping them can cause sparks. Second, they can't be very highly powered because that causes unsafe levels of heat in an explosive environment. You're not going to find one that puts out 150 lumens. I'd suggest a Princeton Tec EOS II headlight. It's got a 50 lumen high and a 10 lumen low. It's class 1 division 1 rated. It will still be brighter than his maglite.