What Halogens Can Hide!

For those machine polishing their cars, a suitable light source for highlighting swirls and marring is key, especially for evaluating the removal and also the quality of the finish achieved.

A great many light sources exist on the market, and one of these is the 500W Halogens which are readily available from the likes of Screwfix and (where I bought mine) Lidl! They are undoubtedly very effective at highlighting swirls and marring, as this picture clearly shows:



And also, severe marring as this pic shows eek



However, I would urge caution in relying on these halogen lights when it comes to evaluating the quality of the finish achieved... The large light area, with little spread of light leaves these open to hiding light to medium holograms, as this example shows:

Finish evaluated under 500W halogen:



Looks very good. Swirl free, would pass as LSP ready... But is it? Not a chance, look at the holograms...



Another example, the deep scratches are clear to see here and there's evidence of a hazing around the light source with the Halogen:



The true quality of the finish achieved though is rather shocking...



Now, I am not saying that the halogens are a bad tool - far from it. They are great for general swirl spotting and assessing you correction level (and for keeping your polish warm in the winter), but I would certainly urge caution when using them to assess the full quality of the finish achieved.

The best light sources I have found for spotting holograms are the sun (not exactly reliable! :lol::lol, and the 3M Sun Gun, using the dimmer areas away from the main spot of light. Bright light can mask hologramming, its the spread of light that picks it up most clearly IMHO... And, strangely enough, the best source of light for highlighting the true quality of a finish I have found thus far is actually a camera flash - a very bright flash of light that will pick up even the faintest hologram. Not practical for using on the job, but great for showing off the quality of your machine finish.

 

eace: Thanks Dave for the info!!

 

Great write up !!! Thanks.

I use halogens, but always pull the car into direct sunlight when possible. I am going to look for that 3M light myself.

Cheers !!!

:applause:

 

Dave again you have excelled
I totally agree, halogens are great but I rely on camera flash, sunlight and the sodium vapour lights in the ceiling (probably 15 of them)

Every time I have checked my finish under the sodiums and seen not one mark, when taken outside for an inspection, the result is the same

Thankyou dave for reminding us about this

 

Hmm, I wonder how the Infratech CM5300 holds up to your case Dave. Guess I'll have to see for myself, hehe.

 

ya great write up, thanks for that.

 

I have both the SUN GUN and the CM5300. Personally I think you should have both if you can afford it. I hate making compromises.

 

Very nice write up Dave :worship2: and I would have to agree with you, 3M Sun Gun is a great tool, not cheap but you get what you pay for :thumb: :thumb:

Thank you for the write up Dave, well done :applause:

 

I too have a Sun Gun, great tool, just cause you can move it to all sorts of angles and really check every pannel closesly at different reflection angles.

One thing I reccomend on the Sun Gun is a wrist strap. I've nearly dropped mine trying to contort my wrist to a weird angle to highlight an area...

 

Where is the cheapest place to get the sun gun?

 

what are the wattage on the sodium lights?


how many do you use?

can they be screwed into a regular light fixture?


do you use high pressure or low pressure bulbs?

 

this is scarily true!

as we speak, i am taking a break from PO85rd-ing my passengers side door from when I hit it up last week with SIP and yellow pad then followed with PO85rd on a blue pad (and expected it to get it all...why idk)

showed up perfect in the halogens like you said, but I actually spotted the holograms after I washed it the other night and looked over it with my Brinkmann LED light in the dark outside.

i think the sharper the light source the better you can evaluate your finish!

great pics and write up +1!

 

great write up... ive been contemplating if brinkmann would atleast compart with cm5300 ... does anyone here have both? im leaning towards cm5300

 

This thread is a perfect thread to use the new "Thanks" icon :thumb:

 

I created a huge discussion about this exact topic with the guys at candlepower forums and I found that this was a good solution.

Obviously the Sun Gun is the best choice, but it is pricey. The Sun Gun is particularly effective because of its extreme brightness, but most of what you are paying for with the Sun Gun is its colorfastness for paint color checking. In our profession checking color isn't as important as checking for defects, so I opted to go for a light that was equally bright but with a slightly different colored bulb.

This has a max light output of 225 lumens which is really bright, more than bright enough to highlight holograms when the halogens show a defect free surface. It also has the benefit of being extremely durable, and small enough to be easily portable. Plus it was only $80 or so.

 

great write up but unfortunately for now I can't afford the sun gun. I may go with J's suggestion. I wonder if this is the same as a surefire flashlight as I have a 6P.

 

I have no idea of the wattage but they would not be cheap to run
Nope they can't be
No idea, they were in the building when we bought it new

 

Thats too much of a gap between pads
What rpm ranges did you use the 85RD finishing polish on and did you burnish it down back to 600 to 850 rpm at the end

85RD on a black or blue pad should be run at 600, slowly but surely up to 1200 to 1300 then back to 1000, 900, 750 and 600 or at the minimum, 1000 then 850rpm

If you need to use a yellow foam pad with SIP, you might as well use a foamed wool with SIP

It will cut cooler, you'll be done in 25 to 60 seconds with the wool and get more scratches out

After yellow foam or foamed wool, I go to orange CCS with SIP or PO91L Intensive
Then white with 106ff, black with 85RD then driven auto polish and driven quick spray at 1000 rpm then 700 rpm with a blue ccs foam

Because the polish has some QS in it and the quick spray always stays wet, it is impossible to leave holograms

To make sure, finish with 85RD or something else like Zaino or Swissvax with an orbital

 

There go you, its a youtube video comparing the TK10 and other flashlights including your 6P.
YouTube - Fenix TK10 Tactical COMPARISON LED Flashlights - GlowGadgets

 

Hey J_edwards - I just received my Fenix TK10 today! hoping to try it out this weekend after i give my car a wash! It sure is bright!