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I find as my years pass that I like having more light for working on projects. Flip side is that I don't need all that light for just casual use like walking through, washing the car, or sweeping the floors. At the time we built, the LED flourescent-tube replacements were just not that bright, so more conventional T8 fourescent tubes are installed. There's a total of about 600W of that in the workbay now. At some point the economies of LED's will balance against the costs of using what I have installed. Then I might swap to LED's.
The biggest lighting challenge is adequate light under the car on the lift. As others suggest, portable tripod-mounted LED panels are a great solution so long as they aren't in the way.
For those of us with two-post lifts and maybe for the four-posters, the solution may end up being the LED panels with a magnetic base that could sit on a lift part. Risk is always dropping the car or lift while a light is attached. The lights in the floor look interesting until you think about the shadows.
If I had a four-post lift I'd have LED strips with magnets on the back. They come in 5m lengths or about 16.5ft, almost perfect for sticking to the ramps. They run on 12- or 24VDC, so would need a power supply, but that's hardly a big challenge these days.
I looked up the specs on the last set of LED strip lights the wifey had me put in her Greenhouse a while back.
2700K light colour
48W power consumption
5150 Lm light output
96 individual LEDs in a 46" long strip, the strip is about 2" wide and about 1.5" tall
You can put up to eight strips on a loop, more than that and you add another loop
They weight maybe a Lb, or so, each
They have a built in reflector made of a solid aluminum extrusion
They come with simple mounting clips.
I am doing, or hope to do a new 3 car garage, in a new summer home now in the design/permitting stages. We are still bogged down with the county as to how close we can build to the lake. So time will tell if we actually go ahead, I sure hope so. Then I would have the same problems as the OP, and all the info given in this thread will help me decide. But if you hear of a crazed Canadian holding hostage an entire Development Permit office in southern BC, you might just know who that is.
This looked like a good shop lighting thread to bump. I want a modern LED under hood light that mounts to the hood itself. I did some browsing at Harbor Freight today and was looking at this one: https://www.harborfreight.com/2100-l...ght-58990.html
I noticed most of the other ones they offered had a minimum width that was too wide for the narrow hood of the 928. Then I started wondering if this would even stay in place on our cars since the hood is aluminum and it seems to mount partially with magnets. Anyone have any experience with these or good recommendations? My garage lighting has been upgraded but still could use more light directly under the hood.
I put lighting as a top priority and like many others, abandoned polished floors as they looked like crap, were outrageously slippery and ate up light like crazy. Ended up with a light grey Poly Aspartic that seems to be tougher than nails and cleanable. I'll know more in a few years if it passes the test. I never have a problem finding for fasteners that I drop (frequently because I'm a bit clumsy). Also light seems to come from everywhere so there are few shadows and light reflects up and under the cars as well.
Every defect on cars in here is easily detected - so it keeps things brutally honest.
Every one of these LED Hi Bay lights is 30,000 lumens. Sometimes it seems too bright... but when you are doing detailed work it is fantastic!
As I recall, I set the requirement at 2,500 + LUX anywhere on the floor with the exception of the mezzanine where the pool table and piano are in a chill area...
For actual mechanical or inside work on cars, I always find myself needing a headlamp. Might be an age thing. They're a lot cheaper than trying to provide enough general lighting (for which my attempt in my new garage was a failure, anyway).
They're so cheap, just get a bunch of them so there's always one that 1) you can find, and 2) is charged up. I have three. If you have one that uses AAA batteries, throw it away!
This looked like a good shop lighting thread to bump. I want a modern LED under hood light that mounts to the hood itself. I did some browsing at Harbor Freight today and was looking at this one: https://www.harborfreight.com/2100-l...ght-58990.html
I noticed most of the other ones they offered had a minimum width that was too wide for the narrow hood of the 928. Then I started wondering if this would even stay in place on our cars since the hood is aluminum and it seems to mount partially with magnets. Anyone have any experience with these or good recommendations? My garage lighting has been upgraded but still could use more light directly under the hood.
Well I bought the Harbor Freight underhood light bar and I love it. You will need to buy a second light separately for $54.99 to mount to the bar for maximum brightness. This is going to make this intake refresh job much more pleasant. It does fit the narrow 928 hood just right, be aware their 2 cheaper options will not. About $150 all in.
Well I bought the Harbor Freight underhood light bar and I love it. You will need to buy a second light separately for $54.99 to mount to the bar for maximum brightness. This is going to make this intake refresh job much more pleasant. It does fit the narrow 928 hood just right, be aware their 2 cheaper options will not. About $150 all in.
Lighting is so important because humans receive over 80% of their information from vision.
I do not like shadows or trying to work with directed light (otherwise called shadows). Too many holes and a lack of vision right where you need it. Best to find everything with reflected light from many sources.
06-01-2017, 05:18 PM
