Good light for auto technician

I've got the itch to buy a new flashlight. The problem is I can't decide what to buy. The real problem is I don't need another light. I have a Surefire U2, McluxIII-PD, and Peak AAA lug. I EDC the Peak and Pd. I'm an auto technician and I use my EDC some at work. I was thinking of getting a light to EDC at work. My PD just seems to nice to use for work purposes. Some of the lights I'm looking at are Peak Glacier Bay, Peak Caribbean, Peak Kino Bay, Surefire E1L, Surefire E2L. I also like the Surefire L1 but it won't except rechargeables and that is a must. Seems like when I use a light at work most the time it's under the dash a little under the hood. We use florescent lights 95% of the time. I want to keep it either Peak or Surefire. The next concern would be how will I carry it. The PD can't be beat for clip carry.

sbebenelli said:

I've got the itch to buy a new flashlight. The problem is I can't decide what to buy. The real problem is I don't need another light. I have a Surefire U2, McluxIII-PD, and Peak AAA lug. I EDC the Peak and Pd. I'm an auto technician and I use my EDC some at work. ...

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You already have a cool collection... Perhaps you need a flashlight that is both Nichia whites _and_ UV selectable for leak detection! I was looking for an a/c leak in the dark (in my wife's car) with our UV flashlight and bumped my head on the hood and had an idea, at that's when the Automotive Edition was born

Piers

xenopus said:

You already have a cool collection... Perhaps you need a flashlight that is both Nichia whites _and_ UV selectable for leak detection! I was looking for an a/c leak in the dark (in my wife's car) with our UV flashlight and bumped my head on the hood and had an idea, at that's when the Automotive Edition was born

Piers

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I have a UV light that runs off the car battery for leak detection. :nana:

Most valuable light I had when I rebuilt my Samurai was a headlamp... A Petzl Myo5 to be precise.... That way both hands were free.

In fact, using a headlamp was such a help, it inspired me to build my ownLuxeonIII/ Nichia 18K dual level headlamp with a belt battery pack rather than one on the headband, because the weight of the battery pack on the Myo kept pulling the whole thing off my head when I was on my back under the vehicle.

I'd go with a nice white LED for mechanic work. Better color rendition is also helpful.
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Cool idea about using the UV leds for leak detection. I have been thinking of including a few into my next headlamp for prospecting for UV minerals... Never thought about it being useful for automotive ! :goodjob:

If you hadn't limited yourself to Surefire or Peak, I would have suggested the Streamlight Jr. Luxeon. It's 2 AA with a clip and thrives on rechargeables. My cousin is an auto body technician and really likes the Jr. Lux for work.

LightObsession said:

If you hadn't limited yourself to Surefire or Peak, I would have suggested the Streamlight Jr. Luxeon...

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Ditto that. I love my Caribbean -- so small and bright -- but not sure it's optimal for a service technician environment.

It puts out so much light and beam is a little tight, that up close it might be too much. Also it's a twist switch, which is a little harder to turn on than a tail clicky.

The Streamlight Jr is tough, puts out plenty of light but in a broader beam, has a pocket clip and a non-tactical tail click switch. Good runtime. It is a little large -- size of a MiniMag.

A smaller, slimmer option in the same tail click penlight form factor is the Nuwai TM-311H; uses 2 AAAs:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/nuwai_tm-311h_2aaa.htm

Edit: the TM-311H (the River Rock equivalent) is available at Target for $9.99:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92186

Hello Sbenellie,

The engine compartment and underside of automobiles seem to suck up any available light and things still end up looking dark.

I have ended up using two different lights, the Aleph 3 and the SureFire 8NX. Of the two, the 8NX gets more use in higher ambient light conditions, but the Aleph 3 comes very close.

I also find the PT EOS headlamp very useful as well.

Tom

I've been helping my father run his auto repair shop, so I might have useful info...

I EDC a modded LED Lenser V2 3w (2x 123) light, and a 3-watter with a SO17 reflector will provide adequate light with enough sidespill to really get up into the darker crevices in an engine compartment. (The techs tend to use Makita flashlights but my light holds its own with them and is MUCH smaller.)

Just about any well-built 3-watt LED flashlight will be ideal, and smaller sizes will lend themselves well to the application. The only concern will be batteries - you'd be better off with an AA-driven 3-watter for the sake of cheaper operation. (<Shameless plug> Unless, of course, you hit up Battery Station for their wonderfully reasonable prices on 123s. </Shameless plug - Note: I don't have any affiliation with them aside from being a customer>)

oO

I want to let everyone know I'm considering all ideas that have been mentioned.

Here is something I was considering. The Vital Gear VB1 with KL1. I know the KL1 has little side spill but don't know if I need alot of side spill for what I'm using it for. This could clipped to my pocket just like my PD. I'm also looking at the Inova T4 to have when more light is needed.

I have several LEDs but the most useful one is Streamlight Jr Luxeon. Very practical. REaches any dark spot in the engine bay where others fail. I do get a spare set of batteries if extended work is projected.