Best light for a plumber?

I am in need of a troublefree flashlight. I will start off by stating I do not know much about L.E.D. or the others so I thought I would speed up the process and ask the people that know this stuff.
I am in need of a light to do these things.
1. Must be waterproof.
2. Must have atleast a 4-5 hour run time.
3. Must be reliable as I hate being in a crawl space and the light dying.
4. I would say the size of a double C cell would be a size limit, but I would love a AA size light.
5. This light will be used heavily and be punished daily as I am in mud and crawling most every day.
6. Rechargeable

I would appreaciate all replies as well as the best place to buy it.
Thanks

The Streamlight 4AA Luxeon light will fit your needs. I don't recall if it meets your #6 requirement or not, but it will fill all your other needs.

Pelican's 2C Super Pelilite was designed for workmen who need a laserlike beam in a carryable size. It's waterproof and costs under $30. I used to own one. Its highly focued, pencil-thin beam could really concentrate light where you needed it.

Right now, it appears that eBay sellers have this light in yellow only. But Brightguy-- a highly regarded dealer--has it in yellow or black for under $20.

Another contender would be Pelican's 2C Pocket Saberlite, which includes a built-in pocket clip. This is the kid brother of the 3C Saberlite, long used by Navy SEALs.

If more close-up work is the norm, and a flood needed, the UK 4AA LED is a great light. I think it is water resistant, but you can place it on a standard UK4AA body and it will be waterproof.

Oops--almost missed the rechargeable part.
I think since the UK is fully regulated, you could use rechargeable AA's. Should still have a very long runtime.

Bob

Hi Plumber guy-

Welcome To CPF.

I know what your light will be exposed to, and it ain't pretty. Your entire list is going to be difficult or impossible to comply with.

First, I know of no rechargeable light that will run with any kind of usable output for 4-5 hours. If you really only need it for 1-2 hours at a time, you might get by with returning it to a 12V charger in your truck between uses. The other issue with a rechrgeable is than when the charge is gone, you are looking at about 3 hours for the fastest of them to recharge.

I like this_is_nascar's suggestion of the Streamlight Propoly Luxeon 4AA. It will probably give you about 4-5 hours of somewhat intermittent use on 4 cheap AA batteries.

You might want to upsize to the 3C version of this light for the extra runtime. A little bigger but 5-6 hours easily. Both are rugged, waterproof, resistant to most chemicals and solvents and being LED lights there is no bulb filament to break at the worst time.

Here is a link to the Streamlights: 3C PROPOLYMER® LUXEON®

I understand wanting to save the money on batteries, but I just can't think of a rechargeable light that will meet your size and use requirements. Somebody else on CPF might.

The Steamlights are available many places. Personal favorite is Bright Guy:Bright Guy

Mark

Another vote here for either the Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA or the Underwater Kinetics 4AA eLED. Both are reasonably watertight, relieable due to LEDs, and can be fitted with rechargeable batteries (be aware, though, that they both loose their rating for hazardous environments is you use anything besides Alkalines). The SL runs for 4.5 hrs with alkalines and is brighter, the UK 11-13 hrs with lower brightness than the SL. Runtimes when using NiMH should be about the same.

There's a rechargeable version of the UK 4AA out there, which can be fitted with the eLED lamp, though it gets much more pricey (the normal UK and SL you'll get for $20-$30, the UK rechargeable is $70, and the eLED lamp alone is $25 from Brightguy). The only advantage of the rechargeable version is that you don't have to remove the batteries to charge.

I agree about the SL Propoly Lux 4AA and C. They'll take the abuse and keep going. No bulb to break or replace, ever. Regulated to maintain output as batteries fade, unlike Maglites that produce an orange glow for most of their battery life.

If they get scuffed or gouged, so what. They're not finely machined works of art, and they'll still work. If it gets lost or destroyed, you're not out $100 like the fancy lights.

Beam is a little narrow on the Propolys, but spill is good. If you do much work in a crawl space a narrow beam isn't always bad -- you often want to see a distance and don't want backscatter from a wide beam blinding you.

Oops--I missed the "rechargeable" requirement.

From the below thread you can use NiMH rechargeable batteries in the PP Lux 4AA. They give even longer run time than alkalines, 4.75 hours:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=94482&highlight=propoly+nimh

My Dad is an HVAC contractor. I picked him up a PP Lux 4AA a few months ago and he loves it. I'm pretty sure he's still on his first set of batteries.

Streamlight Propoly 4AA Luxeon. Can use rechargeable AA's. Great light.

I know of a flasholic plumber that uses an ARC4+ with tailcap mod daily. know for a fact he's got all sorts of high end lights to chose from.

stands on end for all sorts of dutiesl. locator flash to find in case you drop it under a house. supports R123 li-ion and std cells.

Surefire L7 Rechargeable kit. Comes with 2 batteries each with a runtime of 2.5 hours and its a Surefire which means theres nothing more to say.

Wow!

Thanks for all the replies I really appreaciate it. I will be going for the Stream Light Propoly 4AA. I trust your judgement. Thanks.

I have been working under the kitchen sink last week, I used my Tikka Peltz LED's headlight with great success.

The Princeton Tech Aurora that I have will also have worked as good.

I said the Streamlight Poly pro 7 LED's or the UK 4 AA ELED at about $20.00 will be good lights for the other chores.

But if you are a plumber I recommend that you buy "the Beast" from Surefire, after all plumbers can afford that and more!!!

Well, to minimize the "Plumbers crack", I would avoid using a light that clips on the belt, this will add more weight to your pants and could expose up to 1.5" more crack when bent down under a sink.

-PSM

Ahh yes, the old "Plumbers Crack" joke yet again. PoliceScannerMan, someday you will need a plumber and you will pay dearly $$$ to see that crack.:naughty:

Plumber guy said:

Ahh yes, the old "Plumbers Crack" joke yet again. PoliceScannerMan, someday you will need a plumber and you will pay dearly $$$ to see that crack.:naughty:

Click to expand...

LOL, I know, I just couldnt resist!!! Welcome to CPF!!!! :buddies:

-PSM

Another vote for the streamlight prolopy 4AA - just be sure you get the Luxeon version - the 7 LED version would probably be a disappointment.

I use mine in the workshop all the time. Things I like: Bright yellow color is hard to misplace, 4AA form factor makes it slim enough to easily slip in a back pocket, tough plastic housing doesn't make you cringe when it falls to the concrete floor, and of course it survives the fall, works fine on NiMH rechargable cells, bright, good battery life, inexpensive.

Plumber guy,

For up to 5' in distance I would use the 7-led 4AA Stream light,it makes a good flood.Due to the flat shape of the body it is extremely easy to carry in your pocket and what I think the best feature is, you can hold it in your mouth.Ya,I'm sure there will be some remarks on that statement but I have done many,many hours of work under car hoods holding a light between my teeth.In fact,I like the 7-Led Stream light so much,I have 5 of them (yes I have a few other lights to compare with,from the Maxabeam on down,90+ and over $10K worth-yes that is a lot of beer$).The light is so easy to carry in your pocket,carry an extra one.I guess I should add,I use this light,as much as half of my other lights combined around the house.The light is cheap enough that if it is lost,it will only cost you 1/2 hours pay to replace it (had to say that).