I am doing inspections of hail damage to aluminum siding, aluminum gutters, soft metals on window openings.
I have been using a cheap light to find small dents in the aluminum (pair of CR 123A batteries).
I have met contractors using $400 flashlights that show the dents (small shadows) much better (powerstar by montster flashlight) and another guy had a $50 light that seemed to do almost as well (2000 lumen spotlight sold under various names at Wal-mart, Menards, etc Stanley).
I want something smaller that I can carry in my toolbelt, like the size of a banana with a small apple at the end of it. Ideally smaller.
We hold these lights parallel to the gutter or siding and the dents show up as shadows.
Can something smaller like Nitecore MH20 do what I want - or is there a reason to go with something that has a bigger reflector (along with quality LED)?
Is there a reason to go with multiple LED to light up the wall?
I think that MH20 would serve you well in that regard. The bigger reflector lights typically give you better throw, but for something like up close inspections you’ll be better served with a smaller light with a good XM-L2 led in it. Something like a Convoy S2+ or that Nitecore.
Gotcha.
A lot of what we do is up close, like inspecting an aluminum clad window for small dents the size of BB’s.
But - we also look at aluminum siding (during the day) and shine a light parallel to the wall, up 15 feet to see if there is hail damage higher up.
I know one of those bulky $50 stanley spot lights will do it (2,000 lumens) but I wouldn’t want it on my toolbelt banging around during the roof inspection.
do you think the MH20 (or something similar, not bulky) would throw light up the wall during daylight to show dent-shadows? that would be awesome if it worked
If you’re putting the light right next to the wall and shining it across the wall, then throw won’t help you, because it makes the beam narrower. And walls of houses aren’t long enough to need a thrower to reach the end of them. I don’t know if 1000 lumens will be enough or not. It probably will. But, if the wall of the house is facing the sun in its full strength, and the wall is light colored, it may be hard to see any of those small shadows. There’s no way to know that other than to try it. But I’d say go for it. Get that MH20 if that’s the style you like.
Hey, maybe you can draw the interest of one of our guys here that has aluminum siding that is light colored and faces the sun, and also has a 1000lm light, and is willing to test it for you. Stranger things have happened!
I know my little crappy light won’t show anything beyond 3 feet.
BUT I have done inspections with contractors that have that yellow Stanley (bulky, big reflector, affordable) and it does throw light up the wall pretty good.
And the guy with the monster flashlight (powerstar, over $350 when you add batteries) would throw the light up the wall and show dents along fascia metal, etc. I have seen it work.
I suppose my short question is - can something without the bulk do the same thing?
I can afford to spend up to $200 for a bright light. Maybe the bulky $60 Fat-Max / Stanley light is the answer for me, but I would love to find something smaller that could throw light up a wall in daylight.
Does it have to be bulky??
Well, I’m a newbie so had to look up what the CRI tint is…
and ran across this image, which kind of shows what I need to do.
Having dents show up when light is run across them, up to about 15 feet away.
I have seen big, bulky lights do the job. Is that mandatory? Will a small reflector high-lumen light do the same work?
That would be nice. I’m a newbie on flashlights, but like anything else I am sure things are over-rated. “million candle power” POS, etc.
But if a light has genuine known CREE bulb with known output, known good batteries, “does size matter” in terms of having to have big reflector, or multi LED on the head to light up a wall in daylight like this? Or is it just as simple as quantity of Lumens if the rating is realistic and not a clone piece of garbage?
Well if the Stanley is only putting out 2000 lumens, you can certainly obtain that in a smaller package such as the “banana topped with apple” size that you mentioned, and even smaller than that.
I don’t have a great recommendation for a 2000 lumen light but I am certain others will. There are many to chose from and much smaller than the Stanley.
Personally I find that aspheric lens lights cast the most crisp shadows. I would seek recommendation for a 2000 lumen aspheric light. Hopefully someone will chime in with a few suggestions.
Because you are using it outside, competing with sunlight, I don’t think CRI will make much difference, you need bulk lumens and a sharp beam.
I am thinking that a coloured light might be better than white, looking along a white wall in full sun for a very small light difference must be hard and take a lot of power to outshine the sun, would a red, blue or green light be better, then you are looking for a patch of white in a sea of colour :sunglasses:
Yes, a small reflector will work better because it won't make the light narrow. A Convoy s2+ has a very wide and smooth beam and will serve well for that job. You can read plenty good things about that light on the forum
A quick a dirty example of the difference in shadows (crispness) between a reflector light and an aspheric light. First is a small reflector (EE X6), second is aspheric zoomie (Generic, modded) in flood mode, both producing similar lumens. Hope this can be useful in your search for the optimal type of light.
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I realize that your application is much different than my hand shadow on a wall, but there is quite a bit of difference in the way these two lights cast shadows of any type.
how long runtimes do you need?
i’m thinking about a shadow jm35 perhaps? or a convoy s2+ triple? or maybe the new astrolux/manker quad if long runtimes aren’t that important
Those lights in post 8 are all small reflectors, and that is what you want, a large reflector means a higher angle making the dent smaller and harder to see, this will effect the closer dents more than those at a bit of a distance, the reason 4wd vehicles have lights on top is to see into the dips/holes, you want the opposite, light hitting the dent at as shallow an angle as possible.
I can’t help you with which design will make the shadows show up better, but most of the smaller 18650 lights I know of are putting out about 1000 lumens. The next step up might be the bulkier, but still small, soup can style SRK or similar lights. Those would get you 3000 or more lumens.
I have been, and is still eyeing Mountain Electronics’ modded Supfire M6. A very nice $40 light by a trusted vendor, that puts out 3000-4000 lumens.
I would order 2 or more radically different styles of lights with similar lumens and return the ones that are unsuitable. You may find that a certain reflector style is best for your use.
That looks like it would work, and I could carry it OK along with all the other stuff I have to carry on my toolbelt.
As far as run-time, I would only be shining the light for about 10 seconds to see if there are dents in the aluminum or not.
I am willing to spend more $$ to get what will work.
I would go with a single emitter light. Multiple emitters are going to cause multiple gradients in a single shadow, making it less defined and more difficult to detect. Many reflectors create this same situation due to the way they spread out the light from a single point source. Definitely try more than one light to find the perfect one.
I’d think a thrower would be preferred when used parallel to wall surfaces. In that application, the tight hot-spot turns into a very wide “oval” with farther reach/coverage. At the max distances and ambient lighting conditions in the OP’s application, a flooder might be a bit ineffective. YMMV there…
OK, so if money is not a huge obstacle - what is a great “thrower” that isn’t bigger than a banana with a small apple at the end?
I am a newbie at flashlights, and the ones I have been using are garbage.
I was intrigued by the “soup can” arrangement posted earlier, with multiple LED’s and multiple batteries in a SHORT light - but from what I could read those seem to be more “flood” than “throw”.
You folks have given me some great info, so I likely will pick up 2 different styles and see how they work. Mine is a DAYLIGHT application, which is likely a different scene than most light users. In order to show dent-shadows at 15 feet in daylight, seems I need to break the 1,000 lumen barrier
This photo shows a contractor’s light (the Stanley “rated” at 2,000 lumens) shining 3 feet away from the light. You can see a dent “shadow” to the lower-right of the one that I put chalk on.
This is a gutter helmet at close range. I would need that as a minimum in daylight to show dents up a wall
