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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

LEGO Dioder Lamp


Materials: Dioder LED light

Description: This is a hanging lamp containing the Dioder light system inside it. My aim was to make a hanging lamp out of LEGO pieces that I can control just like a normal lamp. As I am not an electrician, I did not wanted to cut off the cables of the lamp but to do it the most easiest way possible.

What I used:
Approx. 500 LEGO bricks
An orange textile power chord
A power plug



So my solution was developed like this:

STEP 1 - The Lamp itself
As we are talking about LEGO, you can design your lamp just the way you would like to. I wanted a lamp that fits on my eating table, so mine is of the size of 87x8x13.5cm

The only thing you should be aware of: more LEGO bricks mean more weight. Consider this as the hanging hook or whatever system you will use can handle this weight.
Enough talk: construct your lamp. If you are about to use the Dioder system that I used, please plan enough space for the long power cable and the plug. In my solution, I made a basement exactly at the middle of the lamp inside it, so that I could simple put the cable and plug on there.

STEP 2 - The ceiling power cable
TURN YOUR POWER OFF! And check twice that it really is turned off! Attach the textile chord to the power cables from the ceiling. Insert a hook in the ceiling right where you want your lamp to hang above and pull the textile cable through this hook. For safety reasons i make a knot here, just in case that the lamp might fall of for whatever reason.

Now attach the plug to the chord and insert the Dioder in it to see if it works. Hopefully it won't work, because you have not turned on your power on again! So turn your power on and if you attached it correctly then there should be light.
TURN IT OFF AGAIN - just for safety reasons.

STEP 3 - The plug in the lamp
Now put the Dioder system inside the lamp on the bricks-base you build. In my solution I built some kind of "dome" around the plug so that even these bricks can work as hanging system that does make the plug hang inside the lamp. Depending on your design you certainly will find some way to attach the plug or the chord to the bricks.


At the moment I do not own black LEGO plates, but started collecting them so that I can close the upper part of the lamp with them.

See more of the LEGO Dioder lamp.

~ Carlos Pinto, Hamburg, Germany

24 comments:

  1. I don't like, sorry!

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    1. That's absolutely fine. Don't you like Lego at all or would you change the lamp layout?

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  2. execution needs some improvement, but I love the idea!!!

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    1. Thanks Katie. I just added some insulating tape to the textile-cable because the bare cable looke aweful. As soon as i have enough pieces to make the top of the lamp, i will post an update.

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  3. I like the idea of a LEGO lamp :)

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    1. the possibilities are enormous! While builidng it, i had plenty of other lamp designs in mind :)

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  4. Love The Kramer!

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    1. Unfortunately where i bought it online, they do not have it any more. I do not know if i am allowed to post links in here, but if you want the link, contact me.

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    2. Hey Carlos, found the Kramer Poster on Amazon :) Will post a pic of it soon. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. the laptop sticker (F***) offends me. ikeahackers should not allow this to be posted. i will be no longer using this site!!!

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    1. Well, I guess you'll never see this since you've stopped using the site, but a reasonable person might assume that Jules didn't see it. I didn't notice it either till you pointed it out. A reasonable person might also bring it to his attention and ask him to fuzz it instead of immediately freaking out. But, I guess not everyone can be reasonable.

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    2. Yup, I definitely didn't notice that. I was .. er.. looking at the lamp instead.

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    3. Sorry for the trouble Jules. Contact me if you want me to get it off the image so i can send you a new one.

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    4. I dont find it offensive, after all- You invited us to your house (well- kind of ;) ) and I respect it. It's not like there are naked people or a crime scene...
      Title of this post is 'Lego Dioder Lamp', not 'How many F**k can You find'.

      Really like the lamp and walls too :)

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    5. @harsh: thanks! Well, I was naked while taking the picture... not! ;)

      Btw: apart of the three, the portraits around the Kramer poster are from fleamarkets - i do not know these people :)

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  6. Wow- anon looks really hard to find swear words in the oddest of places. It's an interesting hobby (looking for small words that offend you terribly)- I'd never have spotted it myself!

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  7. I like the idea of using Legos but I have a question, did you glue the Legos together to make sure they don't fall apart?

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    1. No ddgiant, i did not glued them together. It sounds weird, but until today everything looks stable. I tried to build the pieces in a way so that every brick is held by at least two other bricks. My thought about this was that i hope that this way the weight is distributed on as much space as possible.
      My tip: do not use small Lego bricks like of "1x4" or "1x2" design. Use the double bricks like "2x3" and bigger for the inner construction and for outside the small pieces.

      But trust me, since it is hanging, i always check if i find some cracks or the upper bricks getting loose :)

      And i try to keep everything of value away from underneath it.

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    2. Perhaps just painting it with a clear gloss would work and certainly be easier than taking it apart to glue it back together again!

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  8. Slightly concerned about electricity safety issues here. As the legos weight a ton, the whole weight shouldn't really be on the power cord, as the cables might come loose. Usually with lamps like these, the weight of the structure is supported on some wires, and the power cord is nice and loose.

    Basically there is possibility of the earthing to come loose, and after that if phase connects to the base, the results are quite disastrous.

    Hint: do stuff with electricity only if you have the knowledge to.

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    Replies
    1. Legos might be heavy, but there are very heavy glass lamps that only hang from an electric cord too, right? I don't know, so please don't think I'm being a smart ass here, I'm asking for real to understand. Thanks.

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  9. I think it's really clever, and I like it :-)

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