Wobble Light: The Toughest Work Light on the Planet!
It takes quite a bit of planning and ingenuity to sneak into an awards banquet 
attended by Hollywood’s finest, but Ron Reda, a general contractor by day and aspiring screenwriter by night, succeeded without a hitch. With script in hand, he had the charm and courage to approach Oliver Stone, the guest of honor, and ask him to read it.
Reda never heard back from Stone about his screenplay, and he never saw his name in lights, as they say. He did, however, go on to develop a bright light of his own, which he called the Wobble Light.
Reda, a 15-year veteran of the construction business, invented the Wobble Light in 1997 as the ultimate solution to the standard tripod-mounted halogen work light. Like most contractors, Reda viewed the tripod lights as “throw aways” since the stands and light bulbs would break easily when knocked over on the job. By contrast, the virtually indestructible three-foot tall Wobble Light is the only 360-degree, self-righting work light that can take any form of abuse and bounce right back.
The 27-lb unit sits on a rounded, counter-weighted base that keeps it upright no matter how many bangs or bumps it receives, while a polycarbonate dome and floating shock system protect the bulb. A handle on the side allows contractors to easily move the light from one place to another.
The idea for the Wobble Light came to Reda while working on a jobsite. Once he decided to make his vision a reality and create the first Wobble Light, he faced two major hurdles: financing and finding an inexpensive light source. Like most entrepreneurs, Reda secured his first round of financing from friends and family. Additional funding came later from Draupnir LLC, a Chicago-based venture capital firm and the parent of Petersen Brands, the company now responsible for Wobble Light’s success.
In terms of a light source for his product, Reda’s challenge stemmed from the fact that he wanted a more durable light than the traditional halogen bulb used in tripod lights, but it needed to be produced inexpensively and in a small quantity during Wobble Light’s first round of manufacturing.
Reda eventually found a company in China that could produce a redesigned and more durable halogen bulb in a quantity of a few thousand. “The larger manufacturers generally want a minimum order of 500,000,” he said. “Once the first Wobble Lights hit the market in 2004, we were able to handle larger re-order amounts because sales just took off.”
Skeptical Buyers Become Happy Customers
“We were skeptical of the durability of the Wobble Light at first,” said Mike Sopala, store manager, Berland’s House of Tools, Palatine, Ill., “So we hit it with a two by four one day while the unit was turned off. The dome hit the ground, but then bounced right back up. We then plugged it in, and it lit right up.”
“If it can take that type of abuse, it can withstand anything on the job,” Sopala said, adding that the 360-degree light requires no set-up. “Contractors can just plug it in and forget about it.”
Since standard tripod work lights are directional, “contractors constantly need to adjust the height of the tripod and change the direction it is facing to spotlight different work areas during the course of a job,” said Gary Nuttal, regional manager, Acme Construction Supply, Portland, Ore. In addition, Nuttal said the knobs used to adjust the height of the tripod often wear out quickly, sometimes forcing workers to use duct tape to hold the tripod in place at the appropriate height.
“With the standard tripod work light, you’d use it for one job, maybe two if you were lucky before it broke,” said Reda in recalling his experiences as a contractor. “Wobble Lights on the other hand are built to last; the metal halide bulb itself is good for 15,000 hours,” said Reda, noting that a Wobble Light pays for itself in just three or four jobs. The suggested retail price for a Wobble Light ranges from $150 to $250, and the metal halide Wobble Lights come in 175W, 250W or 400W models.
The jobsite benefits of the Wobble Light are undeniable, according to Reda. The free-standing Wobble Light has a power outlet built right into the unit, allowing users to plug in a separate tool or daisy-chain several Wobble Lights together to light a large area. The Wobble Light is available in five different models with lighting ranges of up to 1,000 square feet .
Which model should you choose? “It’s a matter of light output,” said Reda, adding that the most popular lines have metal halide bulbs, which provide more illumination with less power, and are used mainly by builders and electricians working on new construction or remodeling projects.
Wobble Lights Aid Katrina Relief Teams
The Wobble Light has already had its first “15 minutes of fame” by serving an invaluable role in the small coastal town of Ocean Springs, Miss., just following the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
The unprecedented storm destroyed all but a few homes, forcing residents to set up tent communities that lacked any power whatsoever. Ninety-eight Wobble Lights were donated within days after the hurricane struck. The relief team in Ocean Springs was thrilled to learn that 12 Wobble Lights could be strung together using just one 20 amp generator to light up a 500-square-foot area. And, the toughest work light on the planet was often the National Guard’s only source of light while keeping watch during nighttime security duty.
Carl King of St. Paul Methodist Church, the coordinator of the distribution, relief and rebuilding effort in Ocean Springs, said he was greeted by a Wobble Light each morning when he arrived at the community’s command center. Because the area remained without power for several months. King said, “I wouldn’t have been able to see a thing if there hadn’t been Wobble Lights guiding my path.”
Since generators were scarce, the metal halide bulbs in the Wobble Lights used by the relief team provided more light on less wattage and proved to be a big plus. Commenting on the lights being used in the wake of Katrina, Andy Lawrence, sales representative, Portland Construction Supply, Portland, Ore., said, “To light that large an area with tripod lights would have required extensive set-up, a lot of extension cords and probably a power source for each light.” Berland’s Mike Sopala agreed.
The Wobble Lights were also very useful to the Katrina relief team since they are weather-resistant and work just as well outdoors as they do indoors, regardless of weather conditions like rain, mist or even gale force winds. A tripod light, on the other hand, gets extremely hot to the touch, and the bulb can often burst in varying conditions, said Diana Cameron, an outside salesperson for Acme Construction Supply, Portland, Ore., noting that Wobble Light’s internal ventilation system ensures that the unit stays cool to the touch.
Petersen Brands cautions users that the Wobble Light is not water-tight, however, which means it cannot be completely submerged in water. Plus, the manufacturer recommends using a GFCI extension cord as an added safety measure whenever water is present.
Petersen Brands offers a wide range of accessories and replacement parts for Wobble Light. One of the most popular accessories is a reflector shield that can create illumination in one direction, if necessary, by covering half of the light’s 360-degree dome cap. While the Wobble Light is extremely durable and built to last, replacement parts are available for the dome cap, halo spring, bulb, socket and shock disk. The metal halide bulbs are made by Osram Sylvania and are available at most electrical supply outlets.
The Wobble Light also comes in 500W halogen or 120W fluorescent models that are meant to be used in or near a home. They will provide sufficient light “if you need to paint a living room or light a soccer game,” said Reda.
A lot of inventors can envision new ideas, invent new products, and even create a prototype or two. But it takes a special person to invent a product, manufacture it and be awarded patents for doing so. Today, Reda has worked to secure six different patents for various aspects of the Wobble Light.
While most everyone who’s seen it agrees that Wobble Light is the greatest lighting innovation in decades, it is guaranteed that Ron Reda is not done re-inventing the lighting category. In fact, Reda, who at age 13 filed his first patent application for a seal bearing crane shaft for a motor cross bike, is often called the “quintessential scientist, inventor and entrepreneur” by those who know him best.
One thing’s for sure – Ron Reda is bound to shed new light on this industry’s need to find new lighting solutions.
For more information, contact Doug Collins at Wobblelight, at 312-527-0955.
