FLEX Swirl Finder Light Review

[Radarryan]

FLEX Swirl Finder Light Review

Disclosure: I received this FLEX Swirl Finder Light for free from Autogeek in conjunction with this giveaway. The only condition was that I produce a review, and it will have no bearing on my opinions given.



I was very excited to receive this light, especially since I have never owned a flashlight that most used for swirl finding, such as the standard-bearer Brinkman Swirl Finder. Rather, I have used a variety of LED flashlights, halogen work lights, and overhead incandescent/fluorescent garage lighting to assess and polish out defects.

This is the flashlight that I used most of the time to find defects:


This rechargeable flashlight has 80 LEDs that you can adjust to have the light hit the paint at the perfect angle. You can focus the light into one powerful spot, or have two spots at differing angles to help highlight the paint. Most of my opinions on how the FLEX worked is based off of this light, however more traditional flashlights, penlights, and work lights have all been used and were used in the past in conjunction with the other lights.

Before I get started I also wanted to say that I want to make this review as interactive as possible. I want people to be able to give certain tasks that they think would be beneficial and have me do it with the light and post it here – sort of a vicarious testing for you. But more on this later…

I first received the box of the FLEX Swirl Finder light and opened it up.





As you can see, it is a basic box with the flashlight and refill of batteries, as there are already batteries inside the flashlight, so it’s ready to go. The one thing I did notice is the box is ripped. I’m not sure if this is due to others using it before the giveaway or if it happened during boxing, but I wanted to note this in case people wanted a storage box that would last for a long period of time.



So, what is this flashlight, anyways?

“The FLEX Swirl Finder Light utilizes a 3-watt LED bulb that is able to illuminate swirl marks, spider web scratches, water spots, and other gloss-hindering paint imperfections. The focus of the beam can be adjusted depending on your distance from the surface. A three-stage tail switch toggles the beam between hi-power, low-power, and strobe settings.” Any other information on the FLEX Swirl Finder Light can be found here.

Here you can see the part of the light that can be adjusted, which changes the focus of the beam:


To turn on the high power, click once. For low power, turn the high power on, turn it off, and turn it on again. For the strobe light, turn it on, then off, on again, off again, and then finally on a third time for the strobe setting. It sounds difficult but it really isn’t that bad when you’re actually using it. Plus, I would imagine you would want to use the high power most of the time, so the fact that high power is first is probably no surprise.

I Found the Light… Swirl Finding Light, That Is

I wanted to be able to show you all the beam of light that the swirl finder produces. Because it is adjustable, you’ll see the differing shape of light in the pictures. I tired to be as consistent as possible throughout the testing, with 4 differing beams, a sort of 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 1/4 of full. I also took pictures with no flash or lighting and also with ambient lighting and a flash. All the pictures were taken in the garage.

4/4



3/4



2/4



1/4



For the next light test, I put the light on the roof of my car, pointed toward the wall. From there, I took pictures from two angles: head on and back to the right at a 45-degree. I will group these two pictures by angles.

At an Angle:








Head on:








Continued on the next page…

[Radarryan]

FLEX Swirl Finder Light Review, Continued.

Swirl Finding!

The subject for this swirl finding episode is my Dad’s Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, which now has some swirls, albeit light, due to some post-recall repair washes at the dealership. Rather than give captions to all of the pictures, I will explain it here. The pictures were at different focuses of 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 1/4 and captured at differing camera angles to give a true idea of using the light (since our head is never at the same angle at all times.) The color of the car is Onyx Black, which is their metallic black paint. Prior to work, the paint was wiped down with Ultima Waterless Wash Plus+.





















From here, I decided to go outside and see how the swirl finder worked on a car that is outside, trying to simulate mobile detailers that work under a temporary shelter. The subject is my Mom’s BMW X5, which is metallic black. I only took a few pictures, but it should give you an idea of how it works in an outside environment.







Post-Test Examinations

After I got done outside, I went in and starting looking at the flashlight again. I found this:



It is FLEX North America badged, rather than FLEX or FLEX Power Tools. I don’t know if this means that it is bought by FLEX North America who then slaps their name on it or if it is really made my FLEX in Germany, but I will say that on the FLEX Germany website I could not find any flashlight.

Furthermore, on the FLEX North America website there is a car-care catalog, which does not have any flashlight, though they do have a FLEX badged pad washer. Of course, this catalog may have been released before the light was released, but under the “New Products” tab I could not find the light, either. The complete product catalog did not have any flashlight, too, however it was for 2013.

I bring this up not to discourage anyone from the light, but just to pass along what I have read while doing the testing. I encourage anyone to do additional research if this is a deal breaker, prior to writing-off this flashlight.

The Actual Light Bulb – On

I wanted to show the camera what the light looked like, both turned on and off, so here it is.








Final Conclusions

I really have to say, I think this light could be the best swirl finding flashlight on the market today. According to Todd Helme’s review, this light, in his view, would be better on darker colors, which is why I decided to try it out on two black cars. If you haven’t seen Todd’s review, check it out here (Battle of Swirl Finder Lights: Rupes Vs. FLEX). It is superbly researched and executed, like all of his work.

I really liked how the focus is adjustable. It allowed me to really focus in on which beam of light highlighted the specific defects I was searching for. Sometimes the pencil thin would work best while other times the full setting yielded the best results. I’m partial to products that allow you to adjust for different conditions, and you may find that different focus settings work better on different paint colors. Indeed further testing may have shown that a particular beam, probably more narrow, would have worked best in outside, or more lit, environments.

I was going to add a section showing the beam compared to a couple of my other lights, but ultimately thought that this wouldn’t add much substance since it is so subjective. I think that it is crazy to think that the camera can pick up the nuances and subtleties that the human eye can pick up, so if I showed a picture that looks the same but I go on and on saying that how different they are, well, that wouldn’t really mean much. That being said, if you want me to, I will, which brings me to my next section…

Interactive Testing

What I would like to be able to do is have people leave specific things they would like me to try to accomplish with the light, whether it be use it on this focus setting and this angle, or something along those lines so I can help make the review the best for you. I understand that doing things with cameras through the forum system may not work out, but I think it could and I am willing to try. I know that I have a busy week coming up, but I will try to get as many done as quickly as possible, so keep checking periodically to see if I’ve done it.

I want to make this a type of review that you would base buying the product off of, so if there is something you want me to do, please ask. The worst case is I can’t do it. It’s worth a shot.

Final Thoughts

This light retails for about $40.00, which many have commented is too expensive. Then again, I have also seen the new Rupes pen light north of $70, so compared to that it looks like a steal. You know, I cannot say one way or another if it is worth the money, but what I can say is I will continue to use this light and it will be the first one I grab. That’s something to be said, especially since I thought my prior swirl finder was the best swirl finder I had ever used. They both use some of the same principals, such as LED lights and adjustability.

In fact, I think that it’s the adjustability that separates this light from the rest. I think this is the third time that I have mentioned it, which should be a clue that I like it. There have been countless times where I constantly have to adjust my angle looking at the paint, the angle the light hits the paint, and the type of light I use to find the defects. While all of this may still remain, it is certainly lessened since you can adjust the beam of light on this one light and not have to grab a different flashlight with a different beam pattern.

Something that Mike Phillips says is, “Dial in a process,” or something along those lines, to allow you to accomplish your goals in a timely and correct fashion. While this is usually said while formulating a plan for polishing paint, the adjustability of the light allows you to dial it in to get the best results right away, rather than having to get another light out. It saves time, and time is money.

Another thing that many have brought up when this flashlight was first released was that this is just a rebadged flashlight and you can get a generic one for half or a quarter of the price through distributors on eBay from China. Well, that may be true (I have not tried to find this on any other websites so cannot verify that you can find this exact model from other distributors) but that is, rightly or wrongly, the fact of the matter with most items. I’m of the opinion that most of those people, if you would have a problem, wouldn’t provide any customer service, let alone in English, and it would be a real task to receive a RMA number.

For me, I rather buy from a distributor that I trust and know that the original manufacturer stands by their products. Even if FLEX or FLEX NA doesn’t manufacturer this product, they still slapped their name on it and I would bet that they stand by it. Why would they (FLEX) allow their name to be used on an inferior product? Many of us have bought the FLEX machines because of the name on the side of the product. In fact, when the parent company was sold to a Chinese firm, the first question was if the manufacture of products was changing location. Why would we ask that? It’s because quality is so important to us, which makes me think that this light, even if rebadged, is a high quality flashlight. I mean, why else would they allow their name to be on it?

Would I Buy It?

This is the real test, isn’t it? Would I actually put down my money to purchase this product? The answer is, YES! Let’s think about it this way… It’s 40 bucks (pre-discounts), which is a lot, no doubt, but only $10 or so more than the Brinkman Swirl Finder, which (if it is even still available) was great for some but terrible for others. I think this is a light that is much better quality. In fact, the dual-LED Brinkman on AG is the exact same price. So really this light isn’t more expensive than its competitors, and, at least from the ones I’ve experienced, better quality.

So, now we’ve established the price isn’t too much, what about how it works? Well, I would say that it works pretty darn well. As I’ve said, this is my new go-to swirl finder light, and I’ve had quite a few. There have been quite a few times (pre-this light and the one I showed you at the beginning of the review) where I would go to a store like Wal-Mart and throw just about every flashlight they had into the cart, only to return them all a few days later. If the batteries last a while then I’ll be really happy, which makes me think that the extra set of batteries is either quite kind or a harbinger of the battery life. Since LEDs are known to have excellent battery life, I’m thinking the former but it will definitely be something to watch as I do further testing.

So it is reasonably priced and works – exactly what we want and need. It is a no-nonsense light that does its job and does it well. Since I have seen so many people either comment that are going to or have already bought the FLEX light, I think that this is going to be a winner. I know I have enjoyed testing this light and I hope that it can serve as a guide if you are in the market for a swirl finder light. Please leave any questions, comments, including any possible tests you want me to try. Thanks for taking the time to read and, as always, happy detailing!

[Bunky]

Excellent Review!

BTW, Flex USA would be like Menzerna USA selling Power Lock. It is quite common. Geo subsidiaries cater to local market needs.

Time for some giveways !!

[EVOlved]

Nice review way to do the giveaway some justice.

[EvolutionDetail]

I am really curious on how this Flex and Rupes swirl find light differs from just any other high powered led flashlight

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Wow! Outstanding in depth review Ryan! Nicely done! I enjoyed reading every bit of it!

[Pats300zx]

Fantastic review. I recently picked up a Flex light as well. For a $40.00 swirl finder light it definitely execeded my expectations.

[Sizzle Chest]

Awesome review! Thanks for taking the time to do an excellent write up!

[281]

Awesome review Ryan!

[Wes Bremec]

Very in depth honest review.