Drop Light

[gunner3773]

I am looking to replace a couple of my drop lights that I use for working on my vehicles. Any suggestions as to LED or any others? I worry that the LED might not be bright enough. Also, if I am going to get an LED light, I am thinking about a rechargeable light. I am currently using corded incandescent and corded fluorescent drop lights.

 

[mrb]

i think you will find that you hate the LED. too much glare and not enough light.

 

[haugy]

I went with a plastic encased CFL. Drips don't hit the bulbs like an open incandescent. And if my miracle you break one, there won't be glass everywhere.

Mine is a dual bulb, two switch light. Very bright, light, no heat off of it, and I've dropped it tons of times.

 

[crewchief888]

i use (small) quartz halogen lights with a clamp/swivel. i can get them far enough away to not get burned, and still throw enough light.
i also have a slimline CM cordless LED thats surprizingly bright

 

[jarhead]

i think you will find that you hate the LED. too much glare and not enough light.

I just bought one for my Daughter for Christmas. I guess we will find out in a month, lol...

 

[moopa]

I went with a plastic encased CFL. Drips don't hit the bulbs like an open incandescent. And if my miracle you break one, there won't be glass everywhere.

Mine is a dual bulb, two switch light. Very bright, light, no heat off of it, and I've dropped it tons of times.

Have you got a photo of this, or link on where to see one, sounds interesting.

Mark

 

[ket-tek]

I've had a bunch of incandescent ones as that's what my dad always had around.

It sure ***** climbing all the way back to the short end of a nasty crawlspace and a bump of the drop light drop light breaks the filament and now you can't run the wire/pipe/whatever and you also now have to crawl out in the dark to find another damn bulb. I've burnt my hands on them plenty and there is the increased ignition possibility with flammables also.

You can put a cfl bulb in the housing which is a bit more durable and cooler.

I've got an LED one, and I don't like it at all. Blind me when I look at it but doesn't light enough area when working under the car.

I always go back to grabbing the encased florescent wand style light as it's totally durable and lights up bright and wide with out glare. (the typical yellow ones you see everywhere lowes, autozone, etc..)

Rechargeable is nice, to use out in the drive or misc household stuff. But working on car for hours in the garage, I just use the old plug-in and I don't have to worry about it.

 

[Vettman]

I was in Costco yesterday and noticed a Snap-On flourescent work light. It had a retractactable cord in a round red housing and featured a convienence elec. outlet on the light. I thought it'd look good mounted on the ceiling next to my air hose reel. I just can't remember the price. I think it was around $35.00.

 

[jay50]

I went with a plastic encased CFL. Drips don't hit the bulbs like an open incandescent. And if my miracle you break one, there won't be glass everywhere.

Mine is a dual bulb, two switch light. Very bright, light, no heat off of it, and I've dropped it tons of times.

Yeah, I have the 2 bulb cman with the 20 ft cord. Very tough.

Guys, don't use those open incandescent bulbs anywhere near a car. A local shop was burned to the ground along with a 3 year old caddy when a drop of gas hit the bulb.
Fire dept couldn't get there before the shop was nothing but a pile of ashes...

 

[kbs2244]

I am not a fan of them, but when I dropped mine and broke the bulb the last time, I relaces it with a curly CFL because that was the first thing I found.
I like it a lot.
Not hot, no glare, and rugged.
The drop cord itself is just a cheap no name.

 

[Auzivision]

Costco has a nice looking Snap-On 13 watt flourescent light with 30 ft autoreel cord for $40

 

[Jayincali]

Costco has a nice looking Snap-On 13 watt flourescent light with 30 ft autoreel cord for $40

Same as the one I bought from Costco. So far so good, used it quite a few times, no issues. I figured since it was only 40 bucks that if it breaks in a year I'm not out a **** load of cash. Mounted it to the celing behind the garage door opener.

<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/?action=view&current=photo-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/photo-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[ket-tek]

^^^^^What's with the pic above? Is the light wand disconnectable from the cordset?

Anyone got a Costco item number for this reel? Or a picture of the Light wand portion of it?

 

[Jayincali]

^^^^^What's with the pic above? Is the light wand disconnectable from the cordset?

Anyone got a Costco item number for this reel? Or a picture of the Light wand portion of it?

Yes the light wand is disconnectable from the cord. Another cool feature is the plug on the end of the cord locks whatever is plugged into it. That way you don't accidently unplug the two sockets while you’re working. You can see the red plug lock on the end of the black cord. Just slide the red locking plug back and it releases the plug.

I can take a pic of the light wand later tonight when I get home. It's similar to the yellow light you posted a pic of. I think the Snap-on light is a tad bigger.

 

[Jayincali]

Sorry for the crappy cell pics.

Pics of the light wand
<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/?action=view&current=photo5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/photo5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/?action=view&current=photo-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/photo-3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

And a pic of the light in a complete pitch black garage
<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/?action=view&current=photo2-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/jayinkali/photo2-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[AMCguy]

You can buy an incandescent bulb made for the rough duty a trouble light gets. They are coated with a transparent silicone membrane. This way if you were to break one it would not fragment. A drop of water will have no effect. Furthermore, the element is virtually impact proof.

 

[82_454_shorty]

I was in Costco yesterday and noticed a Snap-On flourescent work light. It had a retractactable cord in a round red housing and featured a convienence elec. outlet on the light. I thought it'd look good mounted on the ceiling next to my air hose reel. I just can't remember the price. I think it was around $35.00.

I bought the same light about a year ago and no troubles yet. It's not super bright but still does the job.

 

[CBradio]

I dont have a 'real' drop light. I bought one of the Blue Point small round swivel LED ones tonight. I'm fairly impressed by it. I also have a 3D cell mag light, a 2AA streamlight, and a Big Red pocket light. All come in handy.

 

[tfi racing]

I bought the same light about a year ago and no troubles yet. It's not super bright but still does the job.

I have one too,my only complaint is that it is a bit bulky and can be slightly awkward in a tight spot where you reaaallly need the light.As for toughness,I dropped the reel from my twelve foot ceiling working on my air line next to it,all it did was bend the metal bracket slightly,a few taps with a hammer and it was back in operation.

 

[Kevin54]

I have a corded fluorescent drop light and a rechargable LED that I picked up at Lowes. I like the LED and it has two setting for running either half the LED's or all of them. I also have two drop lights that uses a standard bulb and never use them. A friend burnt his garage down using one underneath the car while replacing a fuel pump and years ago I melted the carpet in one of my cars when the light dropped down and I was upside down under the dash. Not fond of the old style at all.

 

[eldirector]

I have an older Craftsman reel that I put a "rough service" CFL in. Works great: simple, bright, and I have yet to break the bulb (3 years and counting).

I got an LED drop light as a gift. It stopped working a few months later. I think the cord is now powering my band saw, and the light went in the trash. They are not repairable.

 

[hdossett]

Just bought the Snap-On "branded" trouble light from Costco. (same as photos above) Store sku # 922670

The price was $38.99

$29.99 after $9.00 instant rebate. (good through Dec. 22, IIRC)

Hung it yesterday, not yet used it. I have seen this light many times before, picked it up, read the box, ...., @$30, it just jumped into my cart!

Harold