I just got a message from a friend who is looking for some new lights for the company he’s working at. They are loading/unloading 20 ft and 40 ft shipping containers, and need lights to work in them. This is what they are using right now. According to him it works okay, but the batteries are done for, and it was not really bright enough for them.
According to the Amazon listing I found for it, it has 3000lm and a 5200 mAh battery. Both values should at least be met, better yet exceeded.
Ideally replaceable batteries so they will not have to throw them out once the batteries are worn
Bright enough to work in a container with them
Charging with USB or some standard chargers (or chargers one can buy separately), so they won’t be left without a working charger when one gets lost
Price does not really matter much, it’s a company spending. So as long as they don’t cost a grand per piece, it’s okay.
These requirements won’t really be met by the usual enthusiast lights, as even a 21700 angle light would not offer enough battery life or sustained brightness, but maybe someone has an idea that is not “order random crap from Aliexpress and test what works”.
The Nitecore NWL20 has flood, spot, is magnetic or can hang with a clip. Uses replaceable 21700 battery. I bought one a while back and favorably impressed. You could match up a couple quality 5500 mAh cells with it.
I don’t believe the numbers.
It may indeed have two cheap 2600 mAh 18650s. It’s going to be cold white and I don’t believe the lumen numbers.
They would be better served with two separate 21700 angled magnetic headlights. One mounted a few feet in the door up high and a second one mounted halfway down the trailer up high. That way they don’t have to run them at the highest sustainable level.
Gotta be “premade” out of the box, or are they willing to slap together some stuff (eg, lights with brackets, powerful magnets with holes+screws, etc.)?
then wire up each to 12V-24V tool batteries so you can conveniently charge them, or just to a car battery.
The above lights draw about 17W constant, or ~1.5A from a 12V battery, so an 80AH battery would run 40hrs straight for 60AH leaving 20AH as a buffer to not run down the battery too low. So that’s 5 days of 8hr shifts, over 3 days of 12hr shifts, etc. Or just top off after each shift to keep the battery super-happy.
The lights themselves are hella bright, easy-on-the-eyes warm-white, and with the magnets above, will stick anywhere.
That looks interesting, thx! Bit small, but should get a decent runtime, and maybe they can just pop 3 or so in a container.
That’s a good point. The capacity I mostly believe, but the lumen are questionable. If that was “bright enough” but only had 1000-2000lm, that would open up a lot of possibilities.
Volterrex sadly only seems to have the “360° lantern” type, which is not what they need - too bad, the quality looks great. Olight Swivel I know of, but I saw a lot of reports of magnets falling out after mere weeks of hobby use - not some thing I would recommend. NWL20 looks a bit like a better swivel.
EDIT: I missed there are larger Swivels too… The Pro Max looks neat, thanks! 1000lm for 4h is solid.
Since they are a larger company and my friend is just an employee, boss wants something ready-made that work safety won’t bitch around if they ever come by for inspection - so sadly needs to be a finished product, or at least look like one
For now my favorites are to tell them to use a handful of Notecore NWL20, or just grab a bunch of Sofirn HS41 or similar 90° headlamps with magnet tailcap… Both can USB recharge which is nice, all they need is a multiport charger, and the swappable batteries mean they can quickly pop in a fresh cell if one runs out during a shift. Or, tbh, as cheap as they are, just buy 5 times the amount they need.
Okay, I just got feedback - multiple smaller lights are not really something they want.
The Meikee they used apparently ran for 4-5h when they were new. Let’s assume the 5200 mAh are legit, and their drivers are somewhat efficient, I’d say they get 800lm max.
The nitecore has a 5000 mAh 21700 and runs for 6 hours at 600lm. They need at least 4h on full brightness - that is how long one shift usually works without breaks in which they could plug in the old light, and grab a new one.
For now the Swivel Pro Max is their favorite - only gripe is the non replaceable cells.
I would assume 2600 + 2600 equals 4200.
Somebody there might think that one big clunky light is better because it doesn’t fit in a pocket.
Or they really think that one little tiny light is only going to put out 1/10 of what that big clunky light puts out.
Apparently the big issue is workers forgetting the lights in a container that’s shipping out. A single light is hard to forget, but if you have to collect 4 of them, missing one is easier
I know you’ve mentioned battery power but is mains definitely ruled out? It would be impossible to “ship” a light if it was connected to the mains .
The company Unilite does rechargeable site lights and a magnetic mount accessory, I’ve no affiliation nor have I got experience with their lights but they seem to be “plug n play”.
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