inspection lamp recommendations?

Stephen gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

_Damn_ sight better when you need to change a wheel down an unlit lane at night in the pissing rain.

There are now heaps of LED lamps about. Rechargeable or battery powered last a considerable time. These are safer than mains powered types glass bulbs don't break either.

The plasticky Halfraud 12V one are good - I had one and it lasted for years and years without the bulb breaking or the plastic melting. I'd recommend them over LED ones anyday.

McK.

If you wish to run it from the car battery, you'd be best with something more efficient than a filament bulb. Unless you're only using it for short periods.

Mains filament bulbs tend to be delicate - a low voltage one of the same wattage will be more robust.

LEDs of all varieties give a poor light quality. This may not matter for just changing a wheel - but can be a pain when trying to trace wire colours, etc.

But I do keep a re-chargeable LED one in the car for emergencies. With its car charger, obviously. ;-)

At home, I have a fluorescent strip light mains one. Both came from Lidl.

Have you noticed that the lighting in garages/workshops always seems to be poor?

On Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:34:07 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) boggled us with:

Yes, I used to help out in a one-man garage in the school holidays way back. He had a mains filament inspection lamp. One day we changed the fuel gauge sender unit in a MK2 Chavalier. Some petrol got spilt in the pit - the owner said it was nearly empty - it wasn't.

Anyway, he'd got his lamp hung on the exhaust.

He forgot about it, started the car, the lamp fell off into the pit and shattered. The sparks from it ignited the petrol. I've never moved so fast in my life. I don't think he had either..

Yes - its a disgrace. Easy to fix as well.

I thought they might have been a gimmick. I would have used a torch in a lane but I suppose torches can be flat when you need them and would not be as bright, so may be I will get one of these after all. Is there anywhere cheaper than Halfords for the bulbs?

Thanks, Stephen.

I had not planned to use 12v, I was expecting to use 240 but the advice here was you could use 12v when you had broken down. I'm open to suggestions on which voltage is best.

Strip to me suggests something long. Is it? Or is it a small tube that you could dangle into the dark corners of an engine?

Thanks, Stephen.

they make little light sabre type inspection lamps that are barely bigger than the tube with a clear plastic tube for protection, so yes they poke nicely down corners of the engine bay. Aldo or lidl often sell them at about 7 quid. I have only seen mains ones, but you could always have a little inverter in the car for roadside use, I have one and it has often saved me a lot of time.

Overall length including handle about 12 inches. 1.5 inch or so in diameter.

I find a LED head torch best for those occassions - both hands free to work with and the light is where you are looking.

I've got several of those, handy for various jobs in dark corners around the house too, especially when the lights fuse! I think I know where two of them are . . . 8-)

ALDI have them from time to time at a silly price.

My metal cage mains powered inspection lamps have lasted for years!

I read that you can still by rough service bulbs. You need to use these rather than normal filament bulbs which break to quickly.

I found that using a small CFL (in a metal cage inspection lamp) is a massive improvement on rough service bulbs and probably far cheaper. I have dropped my lamp a couple of times recently and the cfl just keeps going, whereas in the past a rough service bulb would have blown with the same level of shock.

They are more robust, but even lower efficiency than a normal GLS lamp. Low voltage are even more robust and more efficient too. However, as MrC says, a CFL should be the easiest replacement.

That is what I use - more light, fewer shadows, less 'eye burn' and more robust.

Poundland have had 5 led lights that clip to a cap peak.

Thanks, I can picture it now. I was thinking of a 4' tube previously ;)