# Headlights for work?



## spark999 (May 29, 2014)

Im an electrician, I havent found anything better than a cheap home depot Energizer 3LED that takes 3 AAA's. I know there is something out there I just need to find it.
Im also hard on them and they need to strap my head and hard hat.
Any advice?


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## KITROBASKIN (May 30, 2014)

spark999 said:


> Im an electrician, I havent found anything better than a cheap home depot Energizer 3LED that takes 3 AAA's. I know there is something out there I just need to find it.
> Im also hard on them and they need to strap my head and hard hat.
> Any advice?



What is it that you do not like about your current tool?

Do you want longer runtime? Do you want more light?

Are you satisfied with the way your current headlamp renders colors?


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## spark999 (May 31, 2014)

I am almost happy with my light, the runtime is okay but it loses flood power in an hour or two and than runs at a significantly lower light output for the duration of its life.
I am curious if there are better ones that run powerful longer, it would be ideal if some runtime was cut short for a longer powerful runtime.
I hope my blabbering makes sense.
Thanks


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## weez82 (May 31, 2014)

Lots of great headlamps out there that will give you the output you want with longer runtimes then the energizer. You have a budget in mind?


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## mcnair55 (May 31, 2014)

Look at Petzl range.


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## KITROBASKIN (May 31, 2014)

Definitely get lithium ion or NiMH batteries. The alkalines have that voltage sag and lousy output towards the end of their life. I have the Petzl MYOP with Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. Their warranty is for real. First time I had to return them was because the MYO was not initially set up for NiMH and the circuitry eventually failed. But then my 2 year old son broke the electrical connection where the wire enters the head. At that time the programmable MYO(P) came out, and they allowed me to give them a little more $ to get the newer headlamp as a warranty replacement.

That was some years ago. Now I like units with more horsepower. That can come in handy for you if your eyes are used to bright daylight but then you need to see somewhere in shadow or darkness. The extra lumens make it easier to get the work done. You might also consider an LED with better color rendition if color coded wires are a significant part of your work.

Many of us here (including me) at CPF like the user interface of ZebraLight. Armytek has a good warranty and claims of substantial durability. There are others. And maybe Petzl has what you need. Hopefully other members with more experience can contribute to this thread. Lithium Ion batteries can make a big difference. They need to be treated with respect and should last quite a while. NiMH could work just fine for you as well.


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## blah9 (Jun 1, 2014)

I'm a huge fan of the Armytek Wizard Pro. Armytek has come out with some other models recently as well. But it packs a huge punch when you want it as well as long runtimes in the lower output modes. The light is very floody and provides some nice even output all over the area you're working in, which also minimizes glare. I couldn't be more happy with the headlamp. The downside is price, but it's a very high quality headlamp.

And as just mentioned, it seems to be extremely durable as well which is nice. I often accidentally smash it into my car when working underneath it at night, and it has held up just fine through that and plenty of rain. It is rated for high durability and has a 10-year warranty.


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## Stefano (Jun 1, 2014)

For your work is essential the tint neutral withe.
I would recommend a Zebralight Headlamp
You work at close range, a good choice may be the model H502w (total flood) 
or model H52Fw (Flood enough but with more throw)
Both Headlamp use AA batteries (recommended use Eneloop)

If you want to use lithium batteries view model H602w or H600Fw

(Translate With Google)


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## Megatrowned (Jun 2, 2014)

I will second the vote for a Zebralight H600Fw. I too am an electrician, and this is the headlamp I use. It's quite floody. But still with good throw. And the color rendering is also good. It's is light in weight with good runtime, meaning you can easily wear it all day. The only possible downside is that it requires 18650's. My opinion is that it's totally worth making that jump for this light.


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## CamoNinja (Jun 2, 2014)

X3 on the ZL H600


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## rick oz (Jun 2, 2014)

I can also highly recommend Petzl.

I have been using the same original Petzl Tikka XP for almost ten years now for work (I am also an Electrician). I also use it for caving, hiking and pretty much anything else where i need a headlamp. I keep using it because no matter how many times it gets dropped, hit or bashed around and covered in mud in a cave it just never fails. 

I am not sure exactly which models are available from Petzl right now, but i know they make updated models with the same features:
- Water resistant (though mine has been underwater plently of times) 
- 3 AAA
- Lightweight yet very robust

The various Zebralight options look great and i have been very close to buying one, but after personally seeing two fail in one caving/camping trip I am not going to trust one for any serious use. One failed from getting water inside while hiking in the rain, the other dropped from pocket height on to a concrete floor and turned into a random strobe only light.

If you don't mind doing some modifications there are many older models from Petzl and other brands that can be updated to new emitters and drivers relatively easily.


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## Stefano (Jun 3, 2014)

@rick oz Perhaps you have seen a Zebralight unfortunate, I have 14 Zebralight and fortunately they are all waterproof. 
I was once surprised by a storm and I walked almost a hour in the rain with the Zebralight H600. 
The robustness of the Petzl plastic is known, but they are also heavier and bulkier 
I wonder if the Petzl has a neutral tint

(Terrible translation by Google Translate)


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## spark999 (Jun 3, 2014)

weez82 said:


> Lots of great headlamps out there that will give you the output you want with longer runtimes then the energizer. You have a budget in mind?



My budget would be around 25 bucks, I am very hard on things at work and destroy things often.


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## spark999 (Jun 4, 2014)

I will thanks for the advice.


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## spark999 (Jun 4, 2014)

Ok I will look at the Zebra right now. Man I want something thats very floody, When Im chasing conduit above a ceiling I want that whole place to be lit up, especially with free air fire alarm. They all start to blend together when my light is dim, and if you've ever seen the ceiling tile and rush of people at Portlands Airport PDX you want that thing to light everything. Taking those 7' by 3' ceiling tile down is a disaster, I dont care how smart you are.
Thanks for the info.


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## KITROBASKIN (Jun 4, 2014)

spark999 said:


> Ok I will look at the Zebra right now. Man I want something thats very floody, When Im chasing conduit above a ceiling I want that whole place to be lit up, especially with free air fire alarm. They all start to blend together when my light is dim, and if you've ever seen the ceiling tile and rush of people at Portlands Airport PDX you want that thing to light everything. Taking those 7' by 3' ceiling tile down is a disaster, I dont care how smart you are.
> Thanks for the info.



Portland has a great source for their drinking water: the mountains to the east. Back when I lived there, you could not even hike in that watershed. So sorry to hear about the boil order. 

Consider paying a little more for your illumination. Lithium Ion batteries are powerful.


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## spark999 (Jun 4, 2014)

KITROBASKIN said:


> Portland has a great source for their drinking water: the mountains to the east. Back when I lived there, you could not even hike in that watershed. So sorry to hear about the boil order.
> 
> Consider paying a little more for your illumination. Lithium Ion batteries are powerful.


Its funny that you say that because just 3 days ago they were on boil water alert for drinking, brushing teeth, cooking. I actually live just north of Portland in another state, Im sure you can figure that out. It was ecoli, nasty poop. Im glad I had finished at the airport before that nasty water came through. The mountains though have excellent and an abundant supply of water, it even tastes good. Im there now, just north not east


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## Vario (Jun 4, 2014)

I am also an electrician. 

I also destroy things. Especially power tools.


On my hard hat, I have an armytek wizard pro. It fell, crashed, sleeps outside in the rain in the box of the truck, worked in -40'c...
It's not coming off. If someone steals it or I lose it, I will buy the same thing again. 

I own other brands, models, the armytek is the winner on my hard hat.


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## BababooeyHTJ (Jun 6, 2014)

For electrical work I would go with the zebralight h602. No doubt about it. It's great for flooding a large area up close.


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## 07longbed (Jun 6, 2014)

My hard has has a Zebralight h51 on it- the floody aa version was too floody for me. It has to be on a higher setting to be effective then runs battery out too fast


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## drillbritz2ov (Jun 7, 2014)

Hello my working headlght is an AP PRO pro series 100 lumens max and fully dimmable down to 10% it also has twin red leds plus a hands free mode to turn it on and off and you can vary the focus from wide to narrow beam and its water resistant plus a 2 yr warranty UK price about £20.00 .the emitter is a cree xp-c q4 for your info and its powered by 3 AAA batts.its the best bang for the money i have found to date


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## spark999 (Jun 9, 2014)

BababooeyHTJ said:


> For electrical work I would go with the zebralight h602. No doubt about it. It's great for flooding a large area up close.



Are you a Gary Delebote fan, Bababooey? I love it!
I have a ton of replys to choose from.


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## mkphc (Jun 9, 2014)

Armyteck wizzard pro warm tint, 18650 
Zebralight neutral 18650 
18650 is a little big but the only way to go IMO 
I'm a plumber and I highly recommend both


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## knegolf (Jun 10, 2014)

Hi. 
I also work as an electrician and I decided to upgrade my headlight a while ago. The one I chose was the Armytek Wizard Pro because of its impressive specs and the compact size. If your budget is 25 Dollars then it is quite a bit beyond your range, but I can promise you that if you choose to go the extra distance and buy it or something roughly equivalent, you will have no regrets about it.
When it comes to durability, I have mine mounted to my helmet which does take quite some punishment on a daily basis, and since the headlight is the only thing protruding from the helmet it tends to take most of the abuse. So far it has collided with steel beams a couple of times when I was climbing some scaffolds as well as being dropped unto concrete from a couple of meters height. One time I used it to illuminate the engine bay of my car by putting it on the locking mechanism on the hood (Not sure what the right name is for the lock, but is is situated in the very front of the hood) which worked great because of the lights angled design. I forgot that I had put it there and slammed the hood shut and noticed that it sounded a bit different from all the other times I had slammed it shut and immediately started thinking of my poor light being smashed to pieces or at least having suffered a broken lens. But to my amazement it had barely received a scratch in the anodizing. In fact, nothing seems to be able to kill the damned thing.

As for what really matters. The light pattern is very floody with a very faintly discernible and VERY wide hotspot which allows it to throw quite well for being such a floody light. It also has tons of spill that covers nearly your entire field of view which takes some of the eye strain and tunnel vision away. The battery life is excellent with an easy eight hours of constant use on the second to lowest output of 115 lumens (Manufacturers specs) which is more than enough for most of the tasks that I come across on a day to day basis. Turning on the highest mode (1010 lumens) is an absolutely awesome experience in that it feels like having and old fashioned construction floodlight attached to your head. This mode has some surprisingly cool uses too.If you twist the headlight upwards so that you can bounce the light on the ceiling you will illuminate medium sized rooms enough for everyone present to be able to do their jobs without difficulty.

It is hard to describe just how much this purchase has been worth it. I feel much less tired after a days work from just being able to have great lighting available at all times and not having to strain my eyes for hours on end. In short, it makes life easier. And it kind of feels quite awesome to have become the bringer of light. Or a god amongst men (People running around with their 37 Lumen Petzl lights)


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## blah9 (Jun 10, 2014)

Very cool endorsement. It's nice to hear from people who have abused their Armytek Wizards more than I have. Mine's taken a few hard hits but not too many. The Zebralights make me nervous because of reports I've seen about their lack of waterproofing.


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## knegolf (Jun 10, 2014)

Thank you blah9. 

I don't want to hijack the thread and make it all about the wizard. I did however forget to mention two details that might be interesting. The first is that the on/off switch is very stiff which might prohibit you from turning it on or off while wearing thick gloves, this is not something that I have found to be a problem since I never really wear thick gloves most of the year, except while working outdoors in wintertime when the temperatures might reach -20-30 Celsius and the sun can't be bothered to come out until 9 in the morning. During this time however I imagine (I have yet to have the opportunity to try this in the field) I will have the light running more or less constantly which eliminates the problem of having to cycle it on or off. Just don't misunderstand me, the switch isn't crazy hard to toggle, just a fair bi harder than others, and a bit recessed for protection.
The other thing is a bit of a design flaw and has to do with the way the mode switching is designed. The only thing that doesn't work properly is the battery test function which is accessed by pressing the button four times in a row. The light then starts blinking to show what voltage it is currently operating at. (3 blinks, pause 4 blinks means 3,4v etcetera) The problem is that while accessing this mode you will without fail go through the high mode which is accessed by pressing the button twice, and if the battery is too low to be able to handle this it will immediately cut off and the light will shut down. This isn't a big problem, it is irritating at most. I have however not tried this with unprotected cells which don't automatically cut off on an overdraw at low charges so I can't comment on how the Wizard is able to regulate itself through this issue.

If it would be of interest, I might be able to take some photos at work today to show damage from five months of abuse as well as performance.


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## ledluxor (Jun 26, 2014)

Hey guys, I came across this post as I was doing product research. The products suggested here are all good products. If I may, I'd suggest adding a product I helped develop, The Halo Light, to your list for consideration. Per the initial requirements of spark999, The Halo Light completely floods the task area with up to 276 lumens of light, it attaches to any hardhat, lasts over 12 hours on a single charge, and it's built tough (on YouTube you can see it get driven over with a jeep). It's a more expensive product upfront, but it'll last longer and has a rechargeable battery pack so you'll save on the cost of batteries long-term.

This is an electrician in Redmond, WA using the product.


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## Amy sunshine (Jun 26, 2014)

spark999 said:


> Im an electrician, I havent found anything better than a cheap home depot Energizer 3LED that takes 3 AAA's. I know there is something out there I just need to find it.
> Im also hard on them and they need to strap my head and hard hat.
> Any advice?


does your light's battery is non removable or removable? if it has long runtime, does it mean that the light will be very heavy? what kind of light will you prefer to replace the former?


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## Outlander (Jun 29, 2014)

BababooeyHTJ said:


> For electrical work I would go with the zebralight h602. No doubt about it. It's great for flooding a large area up close.



I'm an electrician and this is what I use.


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## ryguy24000 (Jul 19, 2014)

I use the Spark SD52 with Duraloop AA rechargeable. 70 lumens for 8 hours. floody. mode memory. durable have had mine for2 1/2 years.


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## HUNTER10 (Aug 1, 2014)

I've heard good things about the nite core hc90vn ........I just ordered one and can't hardly wait to get it


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