Spotlight on Portable Lighting 2005-10-021
 ITRENDS - KAIHATU FEATURE
Spotlight on Portable Lighting

Today’s professional-grade flashlights are compact, powerful, and long lasting

BY
WALTER KAIHATU

Having the right kind of tools at hand is critical for inspection professionals to do their jobs effectively. Frequently, having just the right flashlight can make all the difference, speeding inspection time, pinpointing hard-to-spot problems, and, in general, increasing overall efficiency.
   
With recent advances in lighting technology, inspection professionals have a wide range of high-performance flashlights available — from lightweight, hand-held rechargeable lights that deliver bright light wherever it’s needed, to specialized lights for specific tasks. Typically, those performing inspection tasks keep several flashlights handy.

Rechargeable vs. Battery-Powered Lights

Fig. 1 — Rechargeable flashlights such as this are both ultracompact and super powerful, while offering significant savings by avoiding the cost of disposable batteries.

The first step in selecting the most suitable flashlight models for inspection use is to understand the latest trends in battery technology. Innovations such as the lithium ion battery have established new benchmarks in rechargeability, substantially reducing a flashlight’s size and weight. Flashlights with lithium ion batteries are as much as 50% lighter than their rechargeable nickel-cadmium predecessors. Rechargeable lights also tend to shine brighter than those that use disposable batteries.
   
Rechargeable lights offer an additional benefit — savings. While their initial cost is generally greater than lights powered by disposable batteries, the lifetime savings for rechargeables is significant because they can be recharged up to 1000 times — Fig. 1. Studies have found that rechargeable flashlights provide an average savings of $240 in battery cost over a four-year period.
   
As popular as rechargeable flashlights are, however, disposable-battery flashlights also are widely used by industrial professionals. Under frequent usage, disposable batteries, such as alkaline and lithium, will last for approximately two weeks. Non-rechargeables also offer generally longer run times than rechargeable models. Understanding how frequently a flashlight will be used is thus key when selecting between a rechargeable or disposable battery flashlight.

The Power of Light

Fig. 2 — The Streamlight Stylus® UV penlight helps spot leaks and other problems in hard-to-reach areas.

The amount of power a light delivers, determined by its candlepower and run time, is another major consideration when purchasing a flashlight. Portable lights are capable of generating enormous amounts of illumination, from relatively low-intensity beams to blinding streams of light. A flashlight’s run time, the period of time a light can continuously run without replacing or recharging the batteries, also varies depending on the light source and battery type used.
   
Xenon, krypton, and halogen bulbs are among the most popular incandescent varieties used in flashlights. The alternative to these filament-based bulbs is light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which have become popular in recent years.
   
The advent of LEDs has elevated flashlights to a new level; flashlights that utilize LED technology shine longer and are more durable. LEDs are virtually unbreakable, so they are better able to withstand the rigors of daily usage. And, unlike typical bulbs that eventually burn out and need replacing, LEDs can last for up to 100,000 hours. That translates to roughly 11 years of continuous usage, significantly longer than incandescent bulbs.
   
While a drawback of LEDs is that they are less bright than incandescent bulbs, Luxeon® LED technology offers the long life and reliability of an LED with the brightness and range of a conventional bulb — up to ten times brighter than a standard high-intensity LED. Innovative manufacturers also have combined both types of light sources — incandescent bulbs and LEDs — into a single flashlight. These lights can toggle between LED and incandescent mode, giving users the ability to choose the degree of lighting their task requires, either ultra-bright using the incandescent bulb or battery-saving low-level light with the LED.

Specialized Jobs, Specialized Lights

Fig. 3 — Polymer casings such as on this Streamlight 3C ProPolymer® Luxeon® are nonconductive and protect against electrical shock.

Special needs call for special tools. For detecting leaks and other problems in hard-to-reach areas, new ultraviolet penlights give inspectors visibility where other light detection tools can’t reach — Fig. 2. And, having isolated the general leak area, these lights further illuminate dyes with their state-of-the-art 375-nanometer LED, which offers the power of a high-intensity, ultraviolet LED lasting 100,000 hours.
   
More and more flashlights are being manufactured with the end-user in mind. Technicians working with water pipes or in potentially wet environments should opt for flashlights that are waterproof or O-ring sealed. These lights are less likely to be affected by moisture, oil, grease, or other liquid to which they may be exposed. Another consideration is the flashlight casing itself. Inspectors should opt for flashlights with a nonconductive, polymer casing to protect against electrical shock — Fig. 3.

Hazardous Environments
It is imperative that inspection professionals understand the types of environments in which the light will be used, and select flashlights with the appropriate safety ratings.
   
International third-party testing organizations, such as Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL), and Factory Mutual Research (FM), certify the safety of products when operated in specified hazardous environments. Flashlights certified as safe for use in indicated hazardous locations are awarded “approvals” or “listings.”
   
Ratings are based on the conditions of specified hazardous locations, as defined by the National Electrical Code (NEC) using the following four terms: Class, Division, Group, and Temperature Code. The Class of a hazardous location is defined by the possibility of an explosive atmosphere. Class I indicates a situation where flammable gases, vapors, or liquids could possibly be present, such as in a propane tank. Class II indicates a situation where combustible dusts are possibly present. And, Class III indicates a situation where there is the possibility of ignitable fibers and flyings, such as a manufacturing facility where metal shavings are airborne.
   
The Division of a hazardous location is defined by the likelihood that an explosive atmosphere is present when equipment is operating. Division 1 is an environment where an explosive atmosphere is likely to exist under normal operating conditions such as inside an oil or gasoline tank, or in certain confined spaces. Division 2 designates an environment where an explosive atmosphere is not likely to exist under normal operating conditions, such as at a manufacturing facility where a flammable substance like gasoline is flowing through pipes. In this instance, the explosive material is only present if something goes wrong, such as bursting pipes.

Ensuring a Good Investment
Lighting technology evolves with time and consumer demand. More and more professional users are requiring long-lasting, lightweight, and compact flashlights. So, the next time you think about purchasing portable lighting equipment for inspection use, be sure to select flashlights that offer the right combination of features for the job.
WALTER KAIHATU is Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Streamlight, Inc., Eagleville, Pa., (800) 523-7488, www.streamlight.com.