Best light source for spotting defects?

I know the natural sunlight is the best light source...but what is the best artificial source of light for spotting defects?

Halogen? LED? Fluorescent? Incandescent?

Is there a "best"?


I really want to build up a lightbox of some source, kinda like a partial light tunnel type of thing. Anyone ever do something like this?

I hate working with a halogen work light because it gets so hot.

I want this!:

 

Wow that looks cool. I would imagine it gets pretty hot in there. I barely started detailing but I use LED lamps and I think they do a good job even though they were meant for indoor/office use.

 

Fluorescent does not get hot. Even to the touch after a few hours

 

IMO, both LED and Metal Halide are best.

@ this point in time, I cannot find any led's that cost effective to light an entire garage.

FWIW, my favorite light is a metal halide that I purchased from Home Depot in their industrial lighting dept. I "hot wired" it with an extension cord, and it works excellent all for around $100.00.

 

Went to dinner with the rents in our bright blue Tacoma and noticed how well I could see swirl marks in the tungsten parking lot lights.

Strange how different light sources show things better.

On this note; I'm curious if simply changing color temperature has the same effect. In theory...could you use an LED light with different filters to create different hues?

 

It depends on the type of fluorescents...we just installed a bunch of new lights in our service dept. Each unit has four 4ft bulbs. Our techs were complaining that the work bays were hot, they used a laser heat reader and the lights were reading 168 degrees.

 

Halogens work great but they do get too hot. I love 'em during the winter when they heat the garage for me.

I have found different lights work best on different colors of paint, so I'm not sure a single type is the answer. The light tunnel looks cool, but light from too many angles will cancel out each other when it comes to showing defects in paint in the same way clouds do. To get the most revealing light it it best to eliminate all but one source to ensure the angle of reflection is not cancelled out by another light source. (To test this, try inspecting in a garage with just a flashlight and not other lights on, then open the garage door during the day. You will notice less contrast in the reflections of swirls and scratches.)

 

I like my Brinkman most of the time. I takes just a few seconds to aim, look, and evaluate. It is easy to point, hold, etc.
The sun does not cooperate at times for some reasons and halogens are hot and you have fiddle with the stand to get the right angle to see them. If you could get them on casters it would help (did put them on bucket dolly once). Fluorescent can work if you can get the right angle but if they are overhead they are useless on the sides.

 

Don't think there is one perfect type of lighting, even sunlight.
Sometimes you need diffuse light, sometimes direct, sometimes a combination of hand lights and overheads, sometimes halogens do great, sometimes fluorescents....

On a side note, that pic is from NWAS, they are just north of Seattle. You could put a call in there and ask for Blake and he would probably tell you about that 'light tunnel' setup they have. I will have to stop by there for sure next time I am in!

 

Couldn't agree with you more on this topic ...

I think the key is being able to move the light around the panel to try to find defects at different angles. Back when I worked for GM, all stamping plants had tons of these light tunnels. The key to find defects on freshly stamped panels was to place a panel in car position on a cart-on-wheels. I was encouraged to move the panel back and forth and at different angles in order to find areas that "bent" the light.

 

I'll answer your question this way:

If there was only 1 light source left in the world for me to choose to do every correction for the rest of my life with, I would choose the LED.

I am not saying its superior in every single way but overall it is the most beneficial light source to use because you can spot regular swirls and marring as well as holograms and pigtailing etc. which is much harder for Halogens to catch.

 

Very true. The lighting I use has 6 LED's and it works beautifully. But when I use and LED with like 40+ LED's, it puts out way too much light and due to how the LED's are placed, it hides all the defects.