Straight talking prompts Wolf to take off some weight - the WL-50
Straight talking prompts Wolf Safety to take off some weight - the New WL-50 Mini Worklite
The maintenance manager looked Wolf Safety’s UK Sales Manager Matthew Mear right in the eye. “Look,” he said, “we like your rechargeable ATEX Worklights. They do a great job for us and take whatever we throw at them.
“But sometimes we need something lighter in weight that’s easier to carry round the site, up and down ladders and through tight spaces.
“Don’t change the beam, it’s perfect and the charge seems to last forever. And it’s got to be battery powered, with no heavy cables to carry around or trip over and no transformers to set up; we don’t have time for that. We want to walk in, turn the lamp on, do what we have to do and get out – job done! So what can you do for us?”
This was exactly the feedback we love and Matthew passed it straight on to our Research and Development team in Sheffield.
Following 12 months of intensive work the result is the Wolf Safety WL-50, a rechargeable ATEX and IECEx certified Mini-Worklite™.
At just over 9kgs it is less than half the weight of the larger Worklite making it highly portable, though it’s just as strong and robust.
The WL-50 is also fitted with the same 18 LED lamp panel and emits the same 3,100 lumens – a level of lighting found to be ideal for smaller, confined spaces. The piercing spot beam and flood of lower level fringe light can be directed exactly where needed.
“We ask our customers what they need our products to deliver and know that, for work in hazardous areas, we’ve got to get it right,” says Michael Morley, Wolf’s Technical Director.
“Our market leading WL-80 and WL-85 ATEX Worklites™ are designed for heavy duty, long duration applications so have bigger, heavier batteries. With a smaller battery and die-cast aluminium body the new WL-50 is much lighter to carry around, is very stable and has lost none of the light output performance.
“We’re always looking to improve. This new lamp takes the best features from our larger worklights, such as the LED configuration, switch and battery level indicator – all the things people told us they liked – then we added some of the top features from our new mini floodlight, the WF-250XL, specifically its die-cast aluminium powder coated body and stainless steel frame.
“The result is the WL-50, which is ideal for use in in smaller spaces such as storage tanks or vessel holds in the marine, oil and gas, petrochemical and other hazardous area industries where inspection, maintenance or repair tasks need to be carried out quickly and safely.”
Technical details:
The WL-50 lamp is CE marked to the ATEX Directive for safe use in Zones 1, 2, 21 and 22 potentially explosive gas, vapour, mist and dust atmospheres, where a T4 temperature class permits. A high temperature version allows the lamp to be used in ambient temperatures up to 50°C.
With two power settings, the user can choose a brighter light or switch to half power and move the lamp closer to prolong battery duration – up to five hours on high power and up to 10 hours on half power.
In addition the control circuit manages switch function, battery level indication and low battery cut-off, maintaining and protecting the battery from deep discharge damage; its battery recharges in eight hours.
Mounted in a stainless steel stand, the die cast aluminium housing of the WL-50 is designed to withstand the rigours and corrosion of harsh industrial applications.
The lamp’s enclosure has IP67 protection from ingress of dust and water. This means that as well as being dust tight the lamp is protected against powerful jets of water and immersion up to one metre (recovery within 30 minutes).
The lens is made from impact resistant 6mm toughened glass. For shot blasting and painting applications it can be protected using a fully certified disposable anti-static lens guards and/or protection bags (which fully enclose the lamp and the frame).
Though highly portable the WL-50’s robust construction enables it to stay put in all workplace environments, whether at ground level, tripod mounted or magnet retained.
Low maintenance is assured by the LED light source, designed to provide at least 100,000 hours of service and the lamp can easily be maintained by in-house technicians on site, with spare parts readily available.
