keeping them running
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Trevor Longcroft Recently I have had the opportunity to try out the Translight, a fluorescent tube hand-lamp available from K.R. Marketing Ltd, 815 Green Lanes, London N.21, and I found when working under a vehicle it gave me a very reasonable, localized light.
The lamp itself is 17in.-Iong and incorporates a rubber-grip handle and a rubber tip; the tube is protected by a Perspex guard. A 25ft lead is attached to the lamp and a 1-i-lb transformer is located about 30in. from the "plug" end. The lamp casts no shadows and as the tube generates very little heat there Es no danger of burning oneself.
I found that the position of the transformer made it impracticable to plug the hand-lamp in any position other than within 2ft of the ground: the reason was that if the transformer is not supported it tends to drag on the plug ,connections and this could conceivably break them.
I was told that the Translight is a robust item and I treated—or rather tested—it as such. Repeatedly, the rubber handgrip and tip absorbed the shock when dropped on a concrete floor. However, when I knocked the Perspex guard on a step the tube shattered while the guard remained undamaged. Of course, in the normal course of events it is unlikely that the lamp would be treated this way.
As well as the mains version as tested and which costs £4.96, there is a 12v dc unit available at £5.25.