Heat from worklights...

[kleraudio]

Can the heat from your worklights cause your paint to get too hot to polish? If so, how far away to you guys keep your worklights, what angles, etc...?



Seems today that my 1000W halogens were making my paint hot and drying up my polish pretty quick.



Thanks in advance!



Jim

[Brian_Brice]

yeah i know those suckers get hot they kept my van warm while i was working on the interior this freezing winter, keep em far away if you can, youll be able to see what you need to see from a considerable distance.

[imported_Denzil]

Don`t need them too close, hehe.

[SVR]

My two sit six feet away from the paint. I can feel the heat on my back but paint doesn`t warm up.

[kleraudio]

Sweet thanks guys, I think I had the lights about a foot or so away, above the paint and facing right down. Im pretty sure thats what was causing my polish to dry up on me after 1 pass and start smudging everywhere.



Thanks for the help. If I can get out today, I will put them about 6 feet away and see what happens.



Jim

[Accumulator]

FWIW, I don`t always find that close proximity equals good, functional illumination.



For seeing marring, I often do better with the lights a ways away. And for general illumination, issues such as heat (and safety, don`t burn yourself) can be just as important as how brightly the surface is being illuminated.



I can`t think of a single time that I`ve ever had halogens within a yard of the paint I was working on. Much more likely for me to have them at least as far away as SVR does it.

[AMDin93103]

I might add, the farther away the tripod is, the less opportunity for the whole thing to topple over against the vehicle. Whatever has the slightest chance of happening, can and will happen if you do something long enough.

[kleraudio]

Thanks guys, Accumulator and SVR, can I have an example of where you would put your worklights when working on the hood of an SUV?



How bout the roof, trunk, sides...??



I had them about 1 foot away from the paint, raised on the tripod and lights shining down on the *panel* I was working on... I betcha thats why my polish dried up and smudged on me.



Thanks for the help everyone! This is the first time Ive had a real worklight with 2 500 W halogens on a tripod, so Im still new to this as well.



Jim

[coupe]

You have them way way way way to close

[kleraudio]

Yea man I figured as much, too bad I thought of it *after* I left. I didnt realize they didnt have to be so close, always thought they had to be right over what you were working on, so you can see the polish breaking down, marring, etc....



Jim

[coupe]

As long as you have enough light to see the polish/compound flash your fine. If its so close its heating the paint then that is way to close.

[kleraudio]

Yea I will try to get out there tonight just to test that alone, Im pretty tired so i dont know yet, thanks for your help though everyone!



Jim

[joshtpa]

get a portable A/C unit, like the one I picked up. It keeps cold air flowing.

[fjames]

I just used a single 500W halogen on a tripod to defrost my dog`s freezer. It was standing as close as I could get it, aimed down with one tube extended. It worked great btw, but several minutes after turning it off, cleaning up, I happened to touch the (snow white) front of the unit and it was pretty hot. Took it`s temperature and it was 122º F. The front was basically directly below the light, maybe 2-3 ft - I didn`t think it threw that much heat straight down. On further inspection, the sides are very hot as well. The freezer is 27" wide and 22" front to back and the light was centered across the front. So the light baked all exposed sides even though it was "aimed" into the box.



The other night I had it on for a few hours in a closed garage while I played with a door and fender. Maybe 6ft from the car, but in a closed room for hours. JW Prime Strong dried almost instantly. I`d never used it before, and I`m guessing it dries pretty quickly, but still ...

[kleraudio]

I dont think that would do anything to reduce the heat from my worklights onto the paint. I just have to move the lights back, that should fix everything.



Jim