Shop Lighting Idea

Not mine. Popular Mechanics had an article on a pretty clever shop light for working under the vehicle.

Take one flurescent light fixture, flip it over and put it on casters. Now you have a light you can roll under the vehicle, and illuminate lots of area.

I like the idea. In all the spare time I don't really have, I just might build one, maybe two.

You might want to use an LED light bar/strip instead, they cost a little more but last forever, use a lot less energy and if you accidentally drop a tool on one, they'll be fine and there won't be glass all over the place or any health risk from the drop of mercury in a fluorescent.

I agree it's an interesting idea, although I would only use a fixture with a grill or wrap-around diffuser. I'd probably install tube sleeves as well for additional protection.

Yeah, battery powered LED lights are getting really good for the money. I prefer battery powered so I don't have cords tangling me up. Once you go to LED, you'll never want to go back to any bulbs with glass housings, that's for sure! I've had pretty good success with the Craftsman battery powered LED lights, which go on sale occassionally for really cheap. There are better quality ones, but for professional quality stuff there's usually a much higher price tag. My newest one has a magnet that can be used with it, which comes in handy at times. I tried seeing how I liked it on my creeper, but I'm still not sold on that.

Also, when I'm wandering a lot and needing light, those LED lights that you put on a headband that campers use are really handy. Worth their weight in gold when you need to do several hours of wrenching in the dark like emergency repairs or racing with poorly lit pits.

Bryce

Along the same thought as the head-band LED light, I have a couple of baseball caps with LED's built into the brim. The main thing I like about them is they provide a small amount of bump protection as well as keeping dirt and grease out of my hair.

ive been thinking about attaching the led light strips that they sell directly to my shop floor in three rows right around where the car is parked in the work bay. then i have instant undercar bright lighting.

anyone see a reason not to so this?

Bryce is right - LEDs and battery are the way to go...no cords, drop resistant, small and lightweight, last a while. I got one of these for christmas few years back, and use it all the time: Stanley brand, available at any big box store. Has 2 modes - high and low, so you can save battery and just use for ambient light, or power up and really get a focused area. Magnet on the base holds it in place (great for under the hood/under car), and a carabiner to hang up high if you need. Flexible body allows for different positions. I usually get about an hour on high from a single charge, longer on low. Its about the size of a tube of caulk or so - fits easy into a small tool bag. I usually keep it on top of my drill press as a task light, but it ends up under cars a lot too.

great light, would use again

Dusterbd13 wrote: ive been thinking about attaching the led light strips that they sell directly to my shop floor in three rows right around where the car is parked in the work bay. then i have instant undercar bright lighting. anyone see a reason not to so this?

thats pretty dang smart, but Id go with rope lighting - channel out the floor for it so it sits flush. Plastic tube skin protects the lights from dropped tools or creeper wheels.

If you make something with a cord connected to it, you might as well make it a surge protect/ power strip for plugging in other devices. Then some side bins for hold tools and nuts/bolts/beer/corn nuts.

after looking at ebay again, it IS rope lighting, but only like 3/8 thick. would you still have t channel the floor? if so, how would you do it and keep the cracks from filling up with debris?

My dad has one of those yellow flood lights mounted on a tripod from Home Depot and a $9 plastic door mirror from Walmart he sets on the floor under the edge of the car.

I went with a $39 LED rechargeable drop light myself, after finally flipping out at all the cords tangling me up.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Route a channel for the LED strips and embed them in place with epoxy.

I'm trying to figure out a way to replace my existing fluorescent lighting in my pole barn with something LED-based. I currently have about 10 or so big fluorescent fixtures with 4 48" bulbs in each one. I'm tired of them not working worth a crap when it's cold, the ballasts interfering with the radio, and changing bulbs 10' off the ground. Actually, I'd like to ideally purge fluorescent lights from my house altogether, but I'll start with the barn.

Anyhow, right now, my thinking is to just put standard screw-in light sockets in, and buy a bunch of LED floodlight bulbs. It would work, but those bulbs are big bucks, so I'm open to other suggestions.

I just slide a 4 ft fluorescent fixture under the car. No need for wheels.

Been doing this for years. but yes, you have to be careful. I have only broken one bulb when a wrench fell the wrong direction.

Maybe I need to get bigger cars, but on my stuff I'd be constantly bashing into something as a big as a 4' flourescent light fixture under there.

Some of the garage tile places were selling tiles with built-in rope lighting, but they were uber expensive.

After smashing a bunch of drop lights, fluorescents and being tangled in cords I got a couple of battery-powered led camp lanterns. Still hate crawling around under cars, but it's better with good lighting.

The article used an enclosed fixture with a smooth diffuser cover to protect the bulbs, better spread the light, and be reasonably easy to wipe clean. I suppose I should have mentioned that. Darned if I can find the article on their web page. I'd link it if I could find it.

I don't disagree that some of the built into the floor lighting in this thread is interesting. But I don't have that kind of money, or even a garage. Not sure it would work all that well anyhow, as I doubt I'd always position the car over the lights the way I wanted to. Though illuminating floor tiles could be interesting.

For all the lights I've tried used and owned over the years, I find myself back to my old incadescent bulb drop light. Just like I'm back to a simple safety razor (from another thread). It just works well. It throws lots of useable light, and that's what I want from a drop light.

That said, shadows are a pesky pain when underneath a car with a single lamp. Having a long panel of light could go a long ways to aleviating the shadows. Sorta like working in a shop with lots of lights, as opposed to one or two bright lights.

foxtrapper wrote: For all the lights I've tried used and owned over the years, I find myself back to my old incadescent bulb drop light. Just like I'm back to a simple safety razor (from another thread). It just works well. It throws lots of useable light, and that's what I want from a drop light.

I went through too many bulbs with those. Every time I dropped it, the filament would break.

There are special shop/garage light bulbs that are hard to break, but getting hard to find now..

Slight variation, the boss picked up one of these. Excellent for working underhood. It's a protected fluorescent bulb that can be hung from the bottom of the hood. It would work just as well underneath on the floor, I guess.

His is Snap-On so it's silly pricing, but there are few other options out there on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Central-Tools-Underhood-Light-13003/dp/B000K664U4/ref=pd_sbs_auto_5
http://www.amazon.com/ATD-Tools-80050-30-Watt-Underhood/dp/B002J8RTF0
http://www.amazon.com/Bayco-SLR-2120-Rechargeable-Under-Light/dp/B007CNRZI8/ref=pd_sbs_auto_1

Word to the wise do NOT get the bayco one of those lights. Complete junk and I have had more come back than I care to think about.

gjz30075 wrote: There are special shop/garage light bulbs that are hard to break, but getting hard to find now..

Yep. Though they are still at Carlisle and the like, by the case.

Otherwise, using a regular drop light under the hood is like working with raw eggs. Don't break it!

In reply to foxtrapper:

Or get weld spatter on it, or get a drop of water on it. E36 M3, I need to go hoard some good drop light bulbs before eco terrorists get those banned too.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Or get weld spatter on it, or get a drop of water on it. E36 M3, I need to go hoard some good drop light bulbs before eco terrorists get those banned too.

Don't worry, they make those useless CFL's in tough lamp grade too!

Risk of fire, mercury, etc etc. No thanks.

A big 120v light fixture at floor level where tools are dropped, fuel is spilled, etc is asking for trouble.

One exception- if they were at knee- waste height and on rollers they would make kick azz lighting for painting cars.