Projects Drop light Possession....... GGRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Got a haunted drop light story... I was a younger and much hotter tempered guy in my youth. I had a 1967 Camaro that was giving me problems. One day I needed to get under it to look at something. I had no garage and was working outside in the dirt driveway of where we lived. I plugged the light in and got down on the ground and slid under the car to check something. As I got under it the light went out. I went what the hell? Slid back out from under the car and it came on. Checked to see if the plug was loose or the bulb was loose? They weren't and it was staying lit. Got back down on the ground again and under the car and out it goes again! WTF! Get out from under the car and it comes on again! Three times in a row this happened! The fourth time I came out from under the car and took it by the cord, about 2 feet from the lamp, started cussing up a storm and swinging it around and smashing it against anything I could find. The ground, a tree, the granite step in front of the house. I beat that thing flat. Finally stomped on it till there was nothing left but a flat piece of metal hanging on a cord. Having finally stopped cussing, and standing there looking at the light, I hadn't noticed that my mom had heard the commotion and came out onto the porch. I had started to calm down by then and she looks at me and says, "Now what are you going to use for a light?" At that point I cracked up laughing...

 

Rusty, we don't have Menards in my area and I can't read the label in your photos. Does the label list manufacturer and model?? Maybe I can find them on Amazon

 

Never surrender !!! Those new fangled LED inventions are from the Devil. On second thought the old ones are too. Were doomed I tell ya, doomed !

 

I bought two "high impact " light bulbs from napa and they must have lasted me 10 years I'm not kidding. They were coated in some kind of plastic and you could bounce the drop light off the floor and they wouldn't brake. A hunk of molten metal from a cutting torch would take them out thou.

 

At Lowes

 

You guys are getting soft. When I was a kid, we didn't have any droplights. We didn't have any electricity, period. If you wanted to work on the backside/underside of the dashboard, you had to unbolt or unscrew it, lay it on your lap and work by the light of a kerosene lantern.

I had to walk 5 miles to school through hip-deep snow, after getting up at 4:00 AM to start the fire to cook my own oatmeal for breakfast and then milk the cows. If I was late the teacher would dust my ass with a paddle that had holes carved into it so she could swing it faster. I once caught a fish that was this big!
..

 

EXACTLY!!!!!!!! I hate them!!! I use LED if I can.

 

I like traditional things but the old standard drop light that has been around forever is not one of them, the bulb is guaranteed to go out the minute you get under the car, if you purchase the more expensive rough service bulbs they don't like being bumped and the will go out when you need it most.

I finally bought the 4 led light from the big box store which is extremely bright and it has been in service for at least 10 years and I have never had to replace a bulb. HRP

 

We always called them trouble lights, and today they are more trouble than they are worth. A friend's dad had a fire in his service station about 40 years ago, when they pulled a gas tank that had a sending unit/fuel pickup that had was loose. The fuel sloshed all over a trouble light, broke the bulb, went up in flames and killed the two guys wrestling with the tank, and severely burned 2 more. Be careful, be safe.

 

I bough my Led Light a couple of Year's ago, got it from
NAPA its about 1 14ft long & Rechargeable
Its the Greatest Light since the Wheel!
When working under the Dash, and other Places that you Need Light.

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

What amperage breaker is in the circuit that powered your reel drop light? Did it trip?

 

My wife found these online somewhere. The are damn bright, small, no cord, magnetic, and have a hook that folds up into the case and you don't know its there, the light part also swivels from the base so the angle is not a problem. She bought me one of them and I liked them so much I bought another six ( there cheap) usually stuck to the side of my tool chest so easy to find, no more drop light problems for me.

 

Sounds like most of us know someone who has burned down a garage because of a broken bulb in a drop light. I personally know two guys that had devastating fires from this. I threw all mine away years ago.

 

When I built my shop I installed 500 watt halogen lights thinking that they would light it up, sadly that wasn't the case.
Recently I replaced them with 15,000 lumin LED fixtures. They are expensive buggers but they put out so many photons that I think the walls bulge. They are bright enough that I can find all the stuff that has been dropped on the floor in the last couple of years.
I guess that there isn't any reason to return to the dark side.

 

I can have a drop light cord stretched out all the way across a bare floor, knowing that NOTHING is going to interfere with it. Then I crawl on my creeper, slide under the car and the light cord will wrap around the closest thing it can find, usually the wheels on the creeper, and stop me. Then it's roll off the creeper, bang my head on the bottom of the car, crawl out from under and untangle the mess, all the while cursing the mother of the guy who invented the drop light.

 

In the trade since '57...before I had a drivers license. Yep...'Trouble light', 'drop light', etc. Got burned by that damned thing under cars, hoods, and in the shop.
Years of 'snake wrangling', ('grab it by its head, can't bite ya that way!') taught me it was a defensive set of moves that validated use of the Viper Light!
Last encounter with the dreaded 100V heat-encased drop light was out front of our previous home, (1994) my wife and I were installing the German black carpet in my F100. Had it all done, but when I walked in the garage the damned light 'dropped' onto the new carpet, the hot metal shield burned a hole 3" diameter right behind the heel pad, in front of the drivers seat!
Agggghhhhhh!
I saw a light bulb in the Snap On truck, 'NEW!' so the sign said... It was an incandescent light bulb, BUT! It was powered by 12 volts D.C. And stayed 'cool'.
I bought it on the spot, went into the shop and snipped the plug off my drop lamp cord, fit 'em with a pair of alligator clamps...the bulb screwed right into the former AC socket!
Hooked it up to my battery...It was bright, and stayed cool...I used it until the new L.E.D.s came out...now I play with those all the time.
But I DID buy a fluorescent 'stick' light with A/C cord around '96, had it (still have it, sometimes pick it up out of habit)
L.E.D.s are it, guys. The 'headlight' is great, I can use it with my reading glasses...Makes the trip under the dash like a new adventure! (satire...)
In my F100, under the removable rubber floor mat...there is STILL that danged German black carpet, with the 3" round hole...just a reminder...

 

I think my last drop light got converted into an extension cord. Never had a fire, luckily, but broke plenty of bulbs and scorched a couple carpet sets. Won't ever use an incandecent bulb again. Halogens are just as bad for heat. LED's all the way for me now.

 

I guess I like being "old school", "traditional", "cheap" or "dumb". Take yer pick! I have three of them evil drop lights because I can't see a damn thing anymore and I'm too lazy to carry just one light around with me so I just place them around the area where I'm working, under the car or up under the dash! Trouble is, I get tangled up in all those electrical cords and I have burns all over my arms and hands. The wife bought me one of them fancy 6 l.e.d. lights that clips on the bill of your cap, it's bright as hell but I keep knocking the cap off my head in tight places and then I blind myself trying to find it! What's a guy to do? Hot Rods are my life...

 

Got rid of them years ago after melting carpet (twice), getting burned etc. LED rechargable lights for the last several years.

 

I have a battery powered led with a magnetic base and it works ok most of the time, but I was working on something inside my car and I dropped a very small set screw. I gave up looking for it after about 1/2 hour and naturally didn't have one the right size so I had to go out and buy one. About a week later I went to use the light again and guess where the damn set was?

 

LED’s ain’t traditional......no burn no gain, sissy (jk)

 

I haven’t used an incandescent drop light since high school. I put a fluorescent drop light in my garage when they came out. Worked ok, less dangerous than the old metal ones, but still kinda hot.

Two years ago, I picked up this headlamp:



While it doesn’t seem that bright, it’s bright enough and works really well. It also lacks the “features” I’ve hated on other headlamps, like red LEDs, blinking, and controls that are hard to operate with gloves on.

Last year I converted my fluorescent drop light to LED using this.



Take the stupid short 3’ cord off, attach it to the cord reel, and done. The magnet is somewhat handy. The dual hooks work well to hang it from radiator support rods under the hood.

Most recently I added this one.



Because the current coupon book has these at $20. Not sure if I’m going to like it yet, but it does seem to work well under the dash. Magnetic base has lots of things to stick to under there, and the folding hinge seems pretty good at putting the light where I want it.


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

With the notable exception of a fire, I have experienced every mishap related here with drop lights. I have 2 of the long, folding lights that you hang under the hood, side to side, which works great for under the hood on most modern cars. Doesn't work well with my hiboy roadster, or my '40 coupe though. Hadn't thought about using LED screw in bulbs in my drop light, but several years ago I got a deal and bought a case of 24 rough service incandescent light bulbs and my Scotch/Irish heritage makes me cringe about not using things I've bought and paid for. But I'll be more careful when working with flammables.
My shop uses 8' twin tube fluorescent fixtures for lights and as they burn out the ballast I'm going to replace the tubes with 8' led strips, which hook up straight to the 120V current without a ballast. The cost is no more than replacing the ballast in a fluorescent.

 

A harbor freight coupon free-be is a 3" x 5" x 1" thick led light with any purchase...
I taped one into my coupe's trunk, If I need it I can tear the tape and carry it as a flashlight...
also taped one just inside the side door of my garage in case I need to get something at night, lets me see to get at the main light switch...
I gave 1 of them to the youngest and 1 to the oldest members at our family reunion...
great near the crib or top of the cellar stairs etc.
without the coupon they are about $4.00 … no fire extinguisher needed...

 

I have one of those led headlamps taped to the chin of my auto darkening helmet... do it !

 

I've had the same rotten experiences that you all have had. I still have and use an old drop/trouble light, but I also have a newer flourescent light I also use.

As long as we're reminiscing, holding the light for Pops was the first job I had helping him work on the cars. I learned so much from him over the years, but it all started with holding the light for him. Then my mind would wander and I'd look away, and sure enough I would aim the light somewhere else and he couldn't see, and he'd scold me and I'd point it back where he wanted it, until it happened again...

 

Me too! It was 5 miles to my skool too....up hill... both ways,coming and going!
6sally6

 

No old drop lights for Mr. Ledsonly. No burned cheeks either.

 

My son brought me a pair on safety glasses with built in LEDs on each side. I thought nice thought, but what a piece of crap. Well, they work great for under the dash and working in tight dark places. Wouldn't trade them off now for anything......almost.