Milwaukee has come out with a new USB-rechargeable utility hot stick light, 2119-22.
Before we get into the finer details, let’s talk about hot sticks. A hot stick is an insulated pole, usually fiberglass, that is used by power utility workers to work on electrically-energized line components.
Talking to Benjamen, and then watching a very insightful video demo on YouTube (embedded below), I learned about what’s going on in the above product image – it shows a hot stick being used to replace a blown fuse.
Milwaukee Tool says:
Our USB Rechargeable Utility Hot Stick Light attaches to any universal hot stick and is built with two separate LED lights that provide 350 lumens of TRUEVIEW
high-output lighting for up to 8 hours, setting a new standard for inline hot stick lighting.
high-output lighting for up to 8 hours, setting a new standard for inline hot stick lighting.In the above image, you can see the hot stick hook attached to the new worklight, which is itself attached to the end of the hot stick. Essentially, it extends the hot stick a little bit, also adding in an LED worklight.
Why is this important? Well, you could use a headlamp, or ground-based lights, but not without light spread diminishing the brightness and usefulness of such light sources. And in the case of ground-based lights, you might get shadows if the light is obstructed by trees or power poles.
Frankly, hot stick work looks hard enough. Doing it in dim lighting? That’s got to be frustrating.
With the new Milwaukee 2119-22 hot stick light, you have an illumination source right there where the action is, where you need it most.
- 350 lumens max brightness, 2 hours of runtime
- 100 lumens low output, 8 hours of runtime
- Voltage tested up to 100KV
- Weighs 9 oz with battery
- Durable high-impact aluminum construction
- Polycarbonate lens can survive drops of up to 40 feet
- IP67 water and dust protection
The kit comes with the LED hot stick light, RedLithium USB charger, 2ft USB cord, 2.1A wall plug, 12V DC vehicle plug.
Price: $199
ETA: May 2019
First Thoughts
To me, and keeping in mind that I just now learned what a hot stick was and how it’s used, Milwaukee’s new LED light seems like a reasonable solution, even a problem-solver.
Looking online, there are a couple of other hot stick lights you can use, with the examples I found featuring lights embedded within hook attachments. However, the examples I’m finding, by Underwater Kinetics, have much lower illumination ratings. The UK LitFinger and LitLink, models 516001 and 516002, are powered by AAA-sized batteries, and deliver up to 95 lumens at high, and 40 lumens at low, with runtime of 4 or 10 hours, depending on the brightness.
Milwaukee says that their new hot stick LED light allows users to quickly tackle the application at hand without the hindrance of insufficient or unreliable lighting. Their new RedLithium USB LED worklight does look to be a beneficial upgrade compared to what else is out there for lighting up power line components at night.
If I can ask line workers out there – is this a hot new product you can’t wait to get your hands on? Or are you happy with current solutions? Your insights are most appreciated!
For everyone else, here’s an example of what it takes to use a hot stick to change a power line fuse:
