A friend of mine wants a flashlight for his work as a mechanic (vehicle inspections and whatnot), flood > throw.
He specified wanting:
* Durability
* Run time (It will probably see 30min to 2 hours of total use per day)
* Reliability
* Small/pocketable
* Around $15
* Li-ion/NiMh
I was thinking C8, maybe a tube light? Anyone have any recommendations?
I’m fine with building it if needed; I’m decent with basic wire soldering to emitters. I’m not great with tiny soldering on a driver.
If flood>throw, stay away from C8.
It's great for a evening jog/hike but close up work means the hotspot would in fact make things harder to see.
Try something with a small reflector (maximum of a P60 size) that's OP textured.
Maybe a maximum current of 2.4A? A Panasonic NCR-B would last a good 2 hrs in that.
Check out the Convoy range here. Anything in the 'S' range would fit the description.
They seem to be the bet quality 'budget' stuff around.
And then there's always the Solarforce L2 range.
Get a body, and make your own P60 drop-in.
You'd still need charger and batts, though.
Agree with Ramblings on the Convoy S series, the Solarforce L2 is also nice but bigger and will have more throw which isn’t needed for a mechanic. I think something like a Thrunite Ti on Eneloops would be good as it would be easy to hold in the mouth so both hands would be free to work. The reason I say that is because I have a friend/mechanic who holds a P60 flashlight in his mouth all the time and he looks ridiculous. Or a headlamp.
If you’re willing to take the risk with Fasttech just get an Ultrafire C1. Good O-rings where they’re needed to be at least splash-proof, belt clip, finish that’s halfway decent, 1.7A 5-mode driver and all for $16 free shipping. It’ll provide plenty of light in a dark place even on a lower mode. Lack of heatsinking does mean it gets hot on high but again, medium is perfect for underneath a car.
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10005135/1403905-ultrafire-c1-cree-xm-l-t6-1-mode-700-lumen-white
Depending on how you work you may need something that tailstands though.
Don’t not buy from Lightmalls. I speak from personal experience. Took 3 weeks to ship the wrong product and responded to communications with the pace of warm tar.
off topic: So, if it had a big beefy heatsink inside, the 'sink would cause the heat to evaporate into a parallel universe, and not get transferred into the body of the light? A light that gets hot on the outside is a sign of poor thermal performance?
And if you replaced an aluminum pill with one made of asbestos and the light no longer got as hot on the outside, what would be happening to that poor abused LED in there?
I am very confused now! :~
—- I’m thinking more in terms of handling. My dad used my C1 to work on the kitchen faucet assy. and leaned it in the corner on high. When he went to pick it up he had to hold it by the tail. “Heatsinking” on this forum tends to be used to mean absorptive mass and/or dissipation fins, and the C1 will not dissipate heat as quickly as say a…Convoy M1/M2. I’m suggesting that if you’re going to hold onto it for more than ten minutes at a time, use medium… v_v
The Convoy S2 looks like a decent front runner, diy from FT then I can show him some tints if my emitters ever make it here.
Tail-standing is probably a big plus.
C1/502b are up there too.
Solarforce would be a decent contender (Love my L2i even with the old, old cheapy dropin), but they’re bloody expensive.
Anodizing on the S2 is rather weak. S3 is the right beam pattern, but no removable head makes it hard to work on and it doesn't have the best knurling pattern for slippery hands (and adding a pocket clip requires drilling). S6 with something like a XML2 3C & 6x7135 would be the best bet, probably. A pocket clip can be added by bolting to the original lanyard holes, as lanyards are generally useless...
One of the best mechanic’s light out there is also one of the cheapest. I’m talking about a Sipik68 or clone whose driver can run 1 x AA @ 1.2v NiMh, 1.5v alkaline, or 3.7 - 4.2 Lion 14500 or even 10440 with AAA- AA adapter. Of course all these permutations can also run AAA in any chemistry configuration in a pinch with those adaptors.
Now why do I say this?
Well I know zoomies aren’t too popular with plenty of folks here but one of the great things about them is that they can laser-in a hotspot with very little spill. That little hotspot is excellent for specifically focusing on small tight areas of a car, especially around engines, trannies, etc. That big reduction of spill when needed also saves a mechanic’s eyes from glare when all he really needs to see is something and only something. And then when he needs more spill to see a larger area, or point something that’s bigger out to somebody, he has that flexibility.
Light weight and size is important too. Heavy flashlights don’t work well with teeth. They tend to chip them in fact. Big flashlights get in the way in confined work spaces. Pocket clips come with Sipik68’s and clones. Guess why a mechanic would like to be able to just clip a powerful yet dimmable light to his front shirt pocket? Guess where many times he finds himself? Yup, on his back. Guess how that clip comes in handy when he needs to hold the hot spot on something at a weird angle? Yup. Hat bill or lapels, or a wire or cable.
I know a top tier mega-experienced master-mechanic. I mean probably one of the best in CA from what I hear from other master certified up the wazoo dealer mechanics who call him when they get stuck.
I gave him a Sipik68 clone that I modded a touch but a stock one with 3 modes will do. He doesn’t use his expensive Streamlight rechargeables anymore. He’s in love with the thing. :bigsmile:
And btw, you don’t need to run 18650’s for a mechanic staying real happy. Keep him with AA-size stuff. Too much weight, and too much too much for what he needs a light for the majority of the time - close in work. AA-size batt is plenty.
At first I was going to recommend something from convoy’s s series, but I think notawhackjob got it right with the sipik 68. A good compact light with a clip that can zoom or flood and will take either primaries or lithium batteries will do everything he’ll ever need under a car and it’s cheap enough to get mixed in a pile or tools and picked up with oily hands.
I’m a mechanic - I use a Solarforce L2 with neo magnets attached extensively.
I’m running a nanjg 3A driver with two modes. It’s about as big as you’d want to go carrying it in a pocket all day.
I also have a 18650 Sipik zoomie with magnets & clip, which is great to attach under a bonnet in flood mode for extended periods.
As nottawhackjob said above, the AA lights offer a more compact solution, & if you don’t need max power/runtime, they may be a better solution.
…just be careful if you go the magnet route - it’s real easy to forget & leave the thing stuck under the car… happened a few times in my workplace…. 
I’m not a mechanic by trade, just a hooked DIY car guy, but my main purpose for a light is auto inspection, and what I like is NOT a flood, I have other lights for flood with cords and lots more watts and light output.
Semi spot, lots of light to overcome daytime ambient light levels when snooping under the hood. What looks best to me is the Zebralight SC52, in your price range a SK68 clone.
That said, most mechanics I know are not that fussy about a light in terms of absolute output, but it has to be VERY forgiving and convenient to use, which means something you can stick in a charger instead of swapping batteries. I use a 14500, not a chance my mechanic friends would put up with the details of using Lion.
For $15 get two lights, Nebo Larry light for flood, Sk68 clone for spot work.
What I like best about spot is that you move the light to inspect specific areas, helps focus attention on details which is usually what inspection is all about.
Been turning wrenches for over 20 years now and have found that throw is much more usefull than flood on the job.I always try a new flashlight at work for a while but end up going back to my SB spark, usually before the end of the day!A mildly driven XP-G works well for inspecting brakes and working under a dash.I run the spark with 2 AA eneloops on med. most of the time.It clips into my off side pocket so I can use it with my left hand and the batteries last 2-3 weeks before charging!
I work under vehicles daily. my own set up is an edc18650/convoy s3 lanyarded to my work trousers with a bayou clip as back up. an oem d4/convoy m1 in a holster for general work. both of these use 4c emitters for now. The edc uses an ld25 driver, the d4 uses a reylight blf a8 driver. I also use my oem d5 with qlite and 5a1? xm-l2 and an a8 clone with the same emitter/driver. All the 18650 lights will happily sit in a niteize headband which is how I tend to use them. I found 4c is good as the more neutral tint reduces glare from components. However, the 80cri xm-l2 is a million miles better for this reason, then consider your friend may be working with wiring looms, that is where the higher cri really comes into its own.
The a8 clone is used for flood and longer jobs as it is a 26650 tube that tail stands nicely very very useful.
Also remember, though the qlite can deliver 3a on high, you do have modes, I rarely if ever use high on a job, but its useful to have it available.
I’ve used cheap zoomies and c8’s, the c8 if properly specced is a very very good headlight for long drawn out jobs as it handles the heat better, the zoomies were absolute crap, like they are in any other application - crap tint, never give the “right” kind of light and generally give tint shift in you peripheral vision, its extremely distracting. they are also either pathetically underdriven or cook their emitters.
no, zoomies are not the way forward.
An op c8 with qlite/80cri xm-l2 would be my upper limit in size and my preferred size is 20 –30 mm reflector with a decent amount of mass, depending on the exact job, he may need high more than you think, he may never need it at all.
The other thing with the qlites and ld25 is the pwm is almost undetectable, that’s important around moving machinery as again, you tend to pick it up in your peripheral vision and it can be bothersome.
I wouldn’t worry too much about ha2 vs ha3, its going to get banged up whatever coating it has, fmc’s magnet conversion is also well worth looking into, very very handy mod.
I’am with gords on finding a light with a good led tint. I would be looking for a good tint as well as a good host.
I carry a small light with a Nichia 219B, The visibility and color rendering is so much better with a high CRI led. Its really close to natural sunlight.
If you like a particular light better than some others but the tint sucks, I would consider modding it with a high CRI led or let someone here mod it for you. The difference when working on something close up, is like night and day between a high CRI led and say a cool white led.
