Magic lamps for the workshop

Magic lamps for the workshop

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Many automotive technicians can still remember the time when they had to rely on their sense of touch when working under the vehicle or in an engine compartment full of components, as they were practically groping in the dark. The flashlights with neon tubes available at the time were cumbersome, dim, difficult to attach and, moreover, connected to the socket via a cable that was easy to trip over. Drop it once on the floor and the funzel was over. If you were lucky, you would find a replacement tube in the cupboard, but as is usually the case, the light lets you down at the most inopportune moment, especially when it comes to urgent repairs.

TECHNICAL ADVANCES

The latest generation of hand lamps for the workshop eliminates almost all of the negative aspects of older lamps. Two key inventions are responsible for this: the compact battery, which can be accommodated in the lamp and therefore makes it independent of a power cable, and the LED, which brings brightness to the darkest corners with its high luminous efficacy and low power consumption. Most lights are equipped with useful mounting solutions such as a rotating and fold-out hook for attaching to the hood or a rod. Most lamps also have a magnet integrated into their base that they use to stick to ferrous metal surfaces. Another useful feature is a display of the charging status, which is displayed in a window with 8 bars on the Hella Gutmann HL 4.5-190 model, for example. To charge, the handy light dispenser is simply plugged into a charging cradle, which is connected to the power source via a USB plug or power adapter.

HARD TO TAKE

Since hand lamps have to stand the test of time in the harsh conditions of everyday workshop life, we subjected them to a rigorous test. Each one had to survive a fall from a height of two meters onto the hard workshop floor and was then run over by the rear tire of a BMW 5 Series. A special 5 Series, by the way, because we borrowed a BMW Alpina B7 Turbo from the neighboring workshop “Werginz Motorsport”. The sedan, built between 1978 and 1982, has a 3.0 liter turbo engine developed by the Viennese engine professor Friedrich Indra, which produces an impressive 300 hp. At the end of the 1970s, the Alpina, which was only built 149 times, was the fastest production sedan in the world. Underneath its hood is the undisguised view of a masterpiece of engine engineering, which we tried to put in the right light from all sides using hand lamps. As with our work shoe test, Katja Haller was available as a competent advisor and at the same time as a photo model. The 20-year-old from Vienna is currently completing her third year of training at Pappas Wiener Neudorf and has already gained a lot of experience with hand lamps in practical use during her previous training as an automotive technician with a special system electronics module.

“All lamps passed the drop test from a height of two meters with flying colors.”KATJA HALLER, AUTOMOBILE TECHNICIAN

CONCLUSION

All of the hand lamps survived our test ordeal brilliantly. Neither rolling over nor hitting the concrete floor disturbed the lamps, although the drop test was repeated several times at the request of professional photographer Erich Reismann. The luminous efficacy of the workshop lamps, which were mostly equipped with spot and panel lights, was excellent in every case. We particularly liked the lamp from KS Tools, which is equipped with a bendable light nozzle and also made it onto the cover of this issue. The small penlight from Magneti Marelli, which is equipped with a UV light spot for checking air conditioning systems for leaks, also stood out from the competition thanks to this original feature. Our tester Katja Haller personally prefers the small, handy flashlights because they are the best way to illuminate the hard-to-reach regions of the chassis and engine. Overall, all models did a good job of putting the scope of our young automotive technician in the right light.

“The luminosity of the latest LED hand lamps reaches into the darkest corners.”

Authors
Peter Seipel & Lukas Klamert