Lighting your work

Being able to see what you are working on is a huge time saver. Not being able to see your work can also have an adverse effect on the quality of the work. Over the years I’ve had a variety of work lights and flashlights. My go to light over the years has been a corded incandescent work light that is small enough to move around under a dash or engine bay.

With the cost of LED technology dropping, I’ve been keeping my eye out for an LED work light that is large enough to illuminate the work area but small enough to be effective in tight automotive spaces. There are several rechargeable models out there that are quite expensive. This is part of the reason that I have been slow to pull the trigger on purchasing a new light. I have seen models as starting at around $60 all the way up to $200 and even higher. Since I usually have AC power available, I was not convinced that I needed to go cordless. If I am going to spend the big bucks, I want to make sure it is going to work well for me. My friend from our local electronics shop, Orvac, here in Fullerton gave me this small magnetic flash light. This is great for getting in tight spaces. I absolutely love it. This little light convinced me that LED is the way to go, but I just needed something larger to compliment this.

Recently I was at Costco doing some Christmas shopping and I ran across this bad boy for only $35! I had seen a similar one at Sam’s Club for $30 but I didn’t buy it and next time I was there they were gone. That turned out to be a happy accident because this corded LED work light is the Bees Knees! It folds up flat for transporting and has two nifty folding LED panels that when folded up, protect the lenses of the lights. The best part though is when these are open they give you two additional LED panels that can be rotated independently of the main light to shine light on an area that needs it.

I have been working on wiring a 1935 Ford pickup and the first place I used my new work light was under the dash. It was small enough to not be in my way, yet threw light all up under the dash. Then moving underneath, I was able to easily and quickly move the light where I needed it. No more drop light rolling over right in the middle of making a connection.

But wait, there’s more! If all that wasn’t enough, it has two extra AC outlets and two USB charge ports. I can charge my phone and Kicker portable speaker while keeping my heat gun plugged in and handy for covering connections with heat shrink tube. KILLER!