Headlights

[SailCat]

Hi Guys,

I have a question regarding headlight refinishing. I have been thinking about adding this to my business (maintenance contractor). I live in an area with lots of high value vehicles and noticed many had great exterior maintenance except for ugly corroded and yellow headlights. I bought 4 different kits from various suppliers to compare results but have not had the time to test them yet. I also have a friend/customer that was the head pilot for a fleet of corporate jets and will tap his brains soon on that market (windscreens).

I have also noticed that the smaller used car dealers have rows of potential work just waiting to be fixed. When you throw in the police, fire, and trucking industry there seems to be unlimited possibilities. The other angle is it's all very "GREEN" which seems to be the Holy Grail of business these days.

Question one is regarding lumen output of headlights. It seems that a slam dunk contract could be had by demonstrating to a corporate, municipal, or even individual that their lights do not meet minimum federal or local code.

Is there an instrument to measure light output cheaply, quickly, and convincingly?

Thanks for any input,

J

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Just a guess, a light meter from a photography store? You will need to have the vehicle in a dark garage without any other ambient light sources. You can then measure the light output at a given distance (10 feet?) in different areas of the light beam. Compare to a new or refinished light and you have them sold.

[SailCat]

c
Just a guess, a light meter from a photography store? You will need to have the vehicle in a dark garage without any other ambient light sources. You can then measure the light output at a given distance (10 feet?) in different areas of the light beam. Compare to a new or refinished light and you have them sold.


You may have the simple answer here. This need not be fancy. Perhaps a cheap digital light meter and some light-proof cloth with a quick tape job could be the answer. We are after a COMPARISON after all, not an exact measurement of lumens or candelas. If the bad light is significantly dimmer than the control light, we have all the proof we need. Whether the light is 2 feet or 200 feet from the meter should be irrelevant as we have demonstrated a significant difference in output which would logically only get worse at increasing distances.

Thanks for the input!

J

[pricha00]

Couldn't you just spot meter with any quality digital camera and judging by the shutter speed you will be able to qauntify the increase in light output without any special equipment.

Pat.