PUCK LIGHTS!

[SteveHGraham]

I suppose about half of the people here are way ahead of me on this, but then there are the old codgers who could use help with new technology, such as fire and the telegraph: today I bought my first batch of LED puck lights.

Years ago, my dad bought a box of battery-operated incandescent puck lights off a TV commercial. They were horrible. They were big and dim. Now that LED's are everywhere, those days are over. I just went to Home Depot and bought 3 new puck lights that attach with screws or two-sided adhesive pads. These babies are bright, they run a long time on 3 cheap batteries, and they're compact. Ten bucks for three, including Chinese batteries, which must surely be the finest batteries in the world.

I was having a hard time seeing the 52 dials on my Chinese welder, so I stuck a puck light on the underside of the cart tray above it. You can see how it looks in the attached photo.

This is sweet. No searching for the flashlight every time I want to adjust my amperage.

You can also get these with magnets on the back. They even come in corded versions, which seems to defeat the whole purpose.

[stevec]

Are they ON all the time? If so that would appear to be a drawback as well as a drawdown of those first rate batteries.

[NP317]

Are they ON all the time? If so that would appear to be a drawback as well as a drawdown of those first rate batteries.

The puck LED lights I have, simply turn ON & OFF by pushing the lens cover.
They make great trunk lights for my sidecar on my motorcycle.
~RN

[warmstrong1955]

Are they ON all the time? If so that would appear to be a drawback as well as a drawdown of those first rate batteries.

The puck LED lights I have, simply turn ON & OFF by pushing the lens cover.
They make great trunk lights for my sidecar on my motorcycle.
~RN

That's the same as the ones I have. Very handy for spot lighting, and like Steve says, you don't need a match anymore with the LED models, to see if they are on.
I also have one, not a puck, but about the size of a fat pen, with LEDs down the side, and a magnet on the side. It swivels on the magnet as well, so it can be aimed. It lives on my band-saw, to light up scribe marks.

Bill

[SteveHGraham]

I have one of those "pen" things. Mine is really dim, but it's better than nothing.

I would like to have some kind of gooseneck thing I can clamp to my welding table and mount an LED flashlight on, so I can aim it at joints.

[GlennW]

You must not have received my telegraph message suggesting that you scrap the auto darkening mask for now and try a standard flip down with a 4.5" x 5.25" lens.

I'm not so sure your auto darkening thing is working properly.

The other advantage would be the ability to try different color lenses.

[SteveHGraham]

As much as I enjoy blaming the tools, I do not think the mask is the problem.

[prlawiii]

Lee Valley Tools has an LED worklight on a gooseneck from a strong magnetic base. I have a couple and love them.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.a ... 3349,71189
that is the address for the US prices, etc.

Herman

[Marty Feldman]

prlawwiii - I am sure that your LeeValley lights work well for you, but I would respectfully invoke, in my own individual case, the 10-foot pole rule. Magnetic gooseneck LED lights in my personal experience and observation are lame and cheap substitutes for the sort of lighting I want for serious machine work. As in the ad you posted, the magnets are always advertised as being strong, but they are never strong enough. The goosenecks on these things are always advertised as holding the light rigidly and steadily, but I have never ever seen one that is not subject to maddening droop. LED lighting is always described as the cat's meow, but it strikes me as harsh, glaring, and restricted. The housing on these lights is, as in the LV link, described as "sturdy plastic", but it is steel that is sturdy in a serious shop environment, not plastic. My preference is for incandescent or halogen shop task lighting in a lamp of traditional Dazor or similar quality, and I consider it important enough that I am willing to pay for it and readily willing to have it running on 110 rather than on 2 AA batteries.

As I said, this is strictly a personal opinion, and I certainly respect what I suspect is the majority and contrary opinion.

By the way, Steve, my welder is a Miller 250A Dialarc, with a big front panel. That panel is, and has always been, and I'd guess always will be be lit by a reflector flood with a 150W bulb. I might have to change my handle to Tungsten Filament.

-Marty-

[Harold_V]

Marty,
You really lost me when you discussed halogen lights of any stripe. I've had many, and in various wattages, and have yet to find one I am pleased to own. The portable units are easily harmed by moving, and the heat from the filament destroys the contacts in short order.

I have low wattage (I think 75 watts, not sure) halogen lamps around the exterior perimeter of my shop. They're a bloody nuisance----some of them work if and when they feel like it (again, damaged sockets from excessive heat). I am no longer willing to use halogens, and wish my exterior lights were LED's.

I agree----these comments are highly personal in nature and may not reflect the views of others.

Harold

[earlgo]

I recycled one of the halogen desk lamps from my daughter's college boxes and mounted it on a grinder so I could see. Soon it started flickering, so I took it apart cleaned all the contacts and it worked... for a while. Now it is flickering again, and am beginning to understand why it was in the college box in such good shape. I just thought it was this particular lamp brand, Hecho in Chine that was the problem. Now I see that it may be generic.
While cleaning up I found a puck light from 30 years ago, AA flashlight batteries and a real incandescent flashlight bulb with reflector. Thanks to you, Steve, I am re-purposing it.
As far as non-drooping goose necks go, if you make one out of 3/4 or 1 in LocLine coolant hose it works really well.

--earlgo

[SteveHGraham]

I supplemented my puck lights with a gooseneck sewing light from China. You can get them for about eleven bucks. It has 20 LED's on it.

The quality is not great. When it arrived, the little panel containing the LED's was hanging out of the plastic shroud. I snapped it back in, but it really needs glue. The rest of the lamp is surprisingly sturdy, and it has a big rare earth magnet screwed into the base. When you put it down on steel, it's not going anywhere.

The light is disappointing. Instead of 20 weak LED's, how about one really bright one? It would be fine for a drill press or a sewing machine, but I would have preferred something brighter for welding. It's not in the same class as a small LED flashlight from Home Depot.

I got a corded version. It will always be used close to a socket, so I figured it was a good idea to avoid the hassle of dead batteries.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Mountin ... 0+LED+110v