Brinkmann Subsitute

[Paulyfe12]

Im in the market for a Swirl revealing sun gun. everyone and their mother uses a brinkman, but from what I have been told they aren't being made anymore. So does anyone know a good sun gun for a reasonable price and where to get it? reasonable being around what brinkmanns were, like under 50 or 60 bucks.

[FFguy808]

My $10 120 lumens LED flashlight does the job..I had a 190 lumens LED flashlight but that gave me eye sore because the intensity was too much for my eye especially on metallic paints

[281]

I personally have the old Brinkman and just picked up the Flex light - love the Flex light!

Brinkmann Tuff Max Dual LED Swirl Finder Spotlight, Brinkmann LED Spotlight, Brinkman flashlight (http://www.autogeek.net/brinkmann-dual-led-spotlight.html)

FLEX Swirl Finder Light (http://www.autogeek.net/flex-swirl-finder-light.html)

[Paulyfe12]

that flex looks perfect for what I need

[beamerstrumpet]

Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!

[281]

Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!

Got a picture for us?

[Tato]

Nice you accomplished that conclusion, I was opening this thread to post here I use a (very similar to) Flex swirl finder light and it works really well.

However, I feel the 'dual brinkmann' may allow you to put the light in 2 areas (before/after), having a better appeal for pictures purpose.

For the 'detailer' inspection, Flex Swirl finder light (or similar I use) is perfect.

If you can 'beat it', I mean, clean the swirls and perfect the finish under it's light, you can confidently put the car under the sun and will not have any unwanted surprise.

Good luck.

[rickylexus250]

I just bought a Brinkmann from eBay delivered from the US to Australia, it was about US$60.00 delivered. The delivery was US$25.00
ACTUAL COST:
Brinkmann US$33.86
Postage US$22.47
Delivered quite quickly from Texas and with batteries, I was wrapped, only disappointment was that I couldn't see any swirls on my paint (because there wasn't any).

[EVOlved]

Make your own 3M sun gun. total cost if you have to buy everything 40 bucks
following info found on google, this is what I did, but I bought a 20 dollar 12 volt drill at wall mart but used same light and connector. I would actually get a narrower beamed light for my next one I am gonna build. Ill tell you what this thing will light up my back yard like mad. If you want the pics just google DIY 3M sun gun.

10% of the original cost of a 3M sun Gun I have the exact same thing except I had the fun of building it myself lol

Its a cordless light that is widely known to the detailing community to be the best swirl finder money can buy,
Sadly these little buggers come with quite the price tag,
The retail on them is around $400,
To me that is ludicrous for a light,
So I decided to make my own following various other detailing enthusiasts ideas,

So where to start,
Well Firstly you need a 12v Cordless Drill, and 12v is very important,
18v is too high for the bulb, 14.4 is ok but 12 is ideal,
So First you need the 12v Drill,
Then you need the exact same bulb that's in the 3M gun,
The Solux 4700K Daytime light,
Then you need a holder for this light and then its pretty much plug and play,
I'll walk you through my steps,

First the drill,
a wonderful absolutely nothing wrong with run of the mill 12v Skil Drill,
(even came with its own case)
Next the Solux bulb and connector,

After which you open the drill,

and then take out the motor and chuck,


Test fit the bulb in the chucks grooves,

and wire the 2 very simple wires that come from the trigger to the bulb connector



Of course now would be a good time to test it before you put it back together,

Great!
Now simply put the case back together and your left with something that should look like this

and it fits nice back in its case with room even for a spare bulb!

I am on this like white on rice!! Thanks for the info!!


Got a picture for us?

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp223/slowboypowered1g/Mobile%20Uploads/a1ba6fcb9f4f731847191c13222d0bac.jpg

Pretty sexy!! Trigger works you get a case for it with the drill!! I am trying this!!

[EVOlved]

Beamerstrumpet does the walmart special come with a case as well??

[davey g-force]

Here's a really good thread from a couple years back, where one of the members here made his own sun gun from a cordless drill:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/43776-home-made-swirl-light-sun-gun-under-30-a.html

[Vengenz]

I just recently purchased a Brinkmann. Wasn't happy at first, but that's because most of my vehicles are new, metallic paint and minor minor swirls. It wasn't picking this up at all. Then went to a family members car that had been sitting for over a year. Jet black paint, worked out perfectly. For $35 shipped can't go wrong.

http://i61.tinypic.com/33mlq4h.jpghttp://i60.tinypic.com/nx757b.jpghttp://i61.tinypic.com/xfvryr.jpghttp://i60.tinypic.com/wu53zq.jpghttp://i62.tinypic.com/29pd6yw.jpg

[beamerstrumpet]

Beamerstrumpet does the walmart special come with a case as well??

No, no case but cases are not expensive, I just keep mine in the tool box with the DA. Here is what I have:
Ultra Steel 12V Cordless Drill/Driver: Tools : Walmart.com (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultra-Steel-12V-Cordless-Drill-Driver/24548905)
if you really need a tool bag,,: 25 Pocket Mechanic's Tool Bag (http://www.harborfreight.com/25-pocket-mechanics-tool-bag-61468.html)

[beamerstrumpet]

Got a picture for us?

I didnt wanna clog up the post ,, but here is the stuff from google, no pics of mine. I did end up using black RTV to hold the bulb into place as I had no clips. I plan on making another one and trying a different approach for mounting the bulb.

here is the link I used. Built my own 3M Sun Gun for under $40 :) (http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=654637)

[FUNX650]

For $10.93...
Another homemade version of the 3M Sun Gun:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/44267-per-wills-windowsandwheels-request-my-version-sun-gun.html

Bob