I was removing the gas tank in an OT vehicle to replace a bad fuel sending unit. I had pulled the fuel pump relay, and ran the engine until it quit from lack of gas to relieve the fuel pressure. I was under the car undoing the clips that hold the fuel line to together. When I pulled the clips, the fuel line connection blew apart and sprayed gas all over my hair, face, shirt, and my trouble light. Had I had an old incandescent bulb in the trouble light, it would have popped and set me the car and my shop on fire. I live out in the country and my wife was not at home. It would have ended badly for me for sure. Just a heads up, put a CFL or an LED bulb in your trouble light to save your ass if you do something stupid like I did.
You must be livin' right! Thanks for the reminder for all us lunkheads that are used to working with low-pressure fuel systems.
I have the LED replacement best 26 bucks I ever spent , like you had a gas spray incident and no poof ! plus the light has been dropped umpteen times and not have a flicker .
Lucky dude! And a good safety ti[p. I have used non-incandescent drop lights for years. Recently battery powered LED work lights. I got tired of tying myself up in the cords.
A good friend of mine died doing that. Had an incandescent drop light under the car. Dropped the tank on the light and the rest is history. He lived a few days but couldn't hold on. This was a guy who had run an auto repair business for years.
I personally use a craftsman led rechargeable stick type drop light in my shop. They typically sell for about $35, but I go on Black Friday every year and get a couple for $15. I give them out to freinds as birthday presents. Makes an excellent man gift. When new the batteries last about 5 hours and out out plenary of light. No burns on your arm or blinding you. As mentioned above, sooo much safer. As an added bonus, intake them camping, and use them for trick or treating. Usualy last about 6 months before I run over one, or forget it under a hood or something, melting it on a manifold. Other than blatant abuse they are pretty tough. I've got three plugged in now, with another two spared on the shelf in the box.
One little problem with the CFL and also normal globes is that if you happen to drop it or it gets caught on something under the car and breaks the glass envelope, you now have no light but also 115 or 240 volts at the teminals inside the bulb, ready to zap you or short against something, blow the fuse, and make you do the -I -got - a -little- poo -in- my- pants-dance. The LED are far superior, don't run as hot and the "active " part is only low voltage DC. Also, they fail gradually, so you will lose one "bank" of lights at a time, unless the AC-DC power supply inside goes, then it's trash time. After getting plenty of cooked hands after brushing against the old stlyle hot lights, I replaced them with LED lights.
I burned myself many times with the old incandescent work lights . Never thought of a fire until my buddy lost his shop, cars pickup trucks and big two wheeler along with a lifetime collection of automobilia after a similar incident described above. Luckily nobody was hurt and because he had a swimming pool- the fire department was able to save his house I threw my incandescents away and have graduated to LED- Buy them for your friends that don't know any better- you may save their life
I doused my incandescent drop light with gasoline years ago. Why the gas didn't ignite, I'll never know.. I replaced all the bulbs with cfl bulbs, which have the added benefit of being robust against dropping. I progressed to corded led and then to battery led lights. The slim led lights get into tight places but the light seems to be more directional. The old halogen work lights are useful in the winter when the shop is cold. It's like working under a heater. Bulbs have a short life, though. I also transitioned from an oxy acetylene torch to a plasma cutter for under car work after a close call with a torch and a plastic fuel line.
Um, are we sure you mean CFL? I think he means LED bulbs, which run cool and are almost indestructible. CFL bulbs run warm and can still break and make sparks. Anyway, the LEDs are great. I have quite a few scars from burns from my incandescent drop light.
I thought I would try a Cree LED bulb and found one at Home Depot that said it was the equivilant of a 70 watt incandescent bulb. I have dropped it many times without breaking and it is cool to the touch. I think it was about $10 and worth every penny.
I've been using florescent drop lights for years. Got tired of being in the dark every time I bumped or dropped the light. Also have a 3 inch long LED strip pocket light with a magnetic clip that is real handy when space is limited. Plan on getting me a couple larger LED strip lights to go with what I have now.
BJR -very lucky. know one guy that was lucky that a friend stopped by at the right moment that gas hit his drop light while under car and started a big fire. friend grabbed him by his feet and drug him out from under burning car. no true human injury but, car-shop major damage.
I seldom drop a tank in the garage. Unless it is extreme cold or wet they get done outside. You seldom need a trouble light when you do things outside and less chance of the garage burning.
I generally use my really old snapon florescent that is a bout 18" long & covered ends in rubber & clear plastic. Then there is the freebee from H F that is a magnetic LED that is pretty handy.
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