Big lamps from Ikea lampan lamps

Just an FYI. It will not look like this if you do this in the US. There is not color coding. I did use a voltmeter when I did mine to make sure that I wired up the same wires to each other. I also soldered the connections and used shrink tubing instead of butt connectors. As for the safety of it. When I bought my lamps at Ikea I also bought the compact fluorescent bulbs (about $4.50 each). They are rated at about 7 watts each so for 6 the lamp is about 42 watts. I have left it on for several hours to see if it would overheat or if the wiring would "melt" so far after about 10 hours of use no problems. All in all I love the lamp and I am thinking of building the 12 lamp version.

When you say, "... wired up the same wires to each other", do you mean positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative?  Since there's no color-coding in the U.S. version, I heard that the wire with writing embossed in the plastic is the "hot" wire?  Does it matter, as long as you're consistent?

Yes it does matter and you do need to be consistent. So Positive to Positive and Negative to Negative.

I used a Digital multimeter and tested the wiring to make sure that it was all consistent.

 when connecting wire for US. how did you use the voltmeter to makesure the wires were right

i love how the red one glows when its turned on!

please have a look at my lamp i created over the weekend

>Chinese take out lamp <

Its a uite "steep learning curve" here from unpacking the lamps to Print out the appropriate page(s) of the template PDF". Maybe you should present the pdf:s and the usege of those holes earlier? Good idea though. I WILL make this one..

aw crap not roller mines again.. >,>

cooool!!! can u just get a light bulb and hard paper around the light bulb like the ones in the starbucks bathroom on ocean gate hey that gave me an idea for an instructable!!!!

post it!

fantastic easy way to build a great designer lamp and i builed it in red NAJZ

it was really cool, but I have a question. what colored lamps did he use in the picture of the Instructable(the orange one). dono, but I read somewhere in comment section it was a red base and white shade. if so, is there ne way I can buy the shade and the base by them self from ikea? thnx in advance :) p.s. im new to the hole instuctable thing; sorry for being anooyyyyiiiing.

Dude they look like rollermines from half-life 2!

And here is big one: a no92 (it's even interactive!). Took a bit more work than say a no12. or even a no32. There is an internal supporting frame inside otherwise the poor lampans would crush each other and the lamp would not look particularly spherical.
There is a more info on this page: http://waprile.weblog.tudelft.nl/
(Image credits: Walter Aprile)

This is mine, This instructable really helped allot! I hope you like it, I sure do. Thanks, Bob

I probably don't have the skills to build one of these, but I must say that I'm glad i came across it. I saw these little lamps at IKEA, but the warm plastic smell plus enclosed bulb worried me about fire hazards. However, just one would be perfect for a little space that needs light in my house. Knowing you successfully built lamps with multiples, i.e., without burning down your house, is just the push I needed to go get one of these cute little lamps. Thanks!

SWEET, very Brilliant.

My boyfriend and I just finished building our own dodecahedron lamp! It really looks great - now I just need to find some cheap energy-efficient bulbs. We put a bunch of 40 Watt incandescent bulbs in it just to see how it looks, and it's seriously bright and very, very hot. I'm thinking 7 Watt bulbs will be okay. Thanks for the tutorial!

I so owe you money

That first picture seriously makes it look like a fireball or a huge lava lamp or something...

This is simply awesome. I'm seriously considering building either a 12 or 32 lamp version. If I was crazy enough to build the 32 lamp version (and I'm pretty crazy...), would it actually fit in my house? Roughly what is its diameter? For that matter, how big is the 12 lamp one?

The 12-lamp version that I built had a diameter of 85cm. It fills the corner of a room surprisingly well!

dude i built the 32 it has been in my room for over a year

Post a pic?

Yeah, reality has gripped my now disappointed mind, and I've realised that the 32 lamp version has a few downsides: 1) It won't fit through my doors - I'd have to build it in the room I want it to hang in... 2) 32 Lampan lamps in this country will cost me AU$254.40 and I'd have to buy 32 bulbs too... 3) With 32 bulbs I'll be constantly replacing them unless I go for LEDs ($$$) I think the 12 lamp version is a serious bet though. I can afford it, it still looks awesome, it fits through doors and 12 bulbs isn't completely insane (just a bit crazy). Would it cast enough light to fully light a large room or would it be more of a decorative chandelier that needs lamps to provide the useful lighting? Obviously that's dependent on the bulb used and colour of the shade. So let's say the white shades and a 7W CFL.

The temptation to build a 32 lamp version is still strong, but at the very least I'll do a 12 lamp version first. That photo looks really really good. It looks like you've struck a good balance with a usable amount of but still subtle enough to look nice. I think I'll aim for 5W CFLs to attempt to match that. Thanks for all your advice!

Although it took me many months, I finally got around to building a 12 lamp. It looks damn good! Turns out 12 of the 7W CFLs from my local lighting store is enough to light the room and the hallway and it visible from outside the house through our light curtains… Here's a picture of it.

Three hours of my life are now gone, and I've been using the recommended "butt splice" connectors and a continuity tester from the Home Depot. I get to the last wire, the absolute last wire, the one that'll connect to the wall outlet. The left prong produces a test light on all twelve lights. The right prong produces a test light on six of the twelve lights. A wire has come loose. Somewhere, buried in the home-made electrical tape & butt splice jacket, a wire has come loose. Switching to soldering. I don't know how many new skills I'm learning, but this is certainly a character building experience. With the solder, I'm also less likely to worry about living with a lamp that might one day burn the apartment down.

yeah that is so cool!

Could you show us a simulated (Maya) 120-lampan lamp?
That would be awesome.
BTW, I love the concept. 5*

wow

I second that motion.

Great idea! i think i'll try it when i have the room Where do you get the moodlight LEDs?

When I first saw this I never looked at what it was about because I thought it was a lamp made out of those little vibrating balls with the little things around them, and I thought that would be really ugly. But this is awesome!!! Good job.

Just got back from IKEA (gentofte in DK) with everything I need + 12 lamps. So I have my weekend project !! I saw that the base (bottom part of the shade?) of black lamps wasn't as opaque as the base of the white lamps so the bulb showed through quite clearly. As I prefer more of a "glow" look I considered the flat-top energy saving bulbs which, I guess, would send the light more towards the top of the lamp shade rather than in all directions. I ended up with 12 white lamps, and will save the black lamp project for another day. Great, great idea this one !!!!

Here's an image of the 12 white lamp version I made this weekend. It didn't take long at all, and it looks SO COOL !! I'd like to try the 6 black lamp version, but I really want to see how the flat-head energy saving bulb shines through the black lamp shade base first. Thanks again !

Very nice! Next time I go to IKEA, I'm going to grab some stuff. I don't know where to find the piggy backs though. I'll make the 12 lamp version first, and If I feel creative enough, I'll use them as part of the 32 later down the line!

I really don't have any electrician know-how. I am curious to know the safety implications of wiring these in series/parallel? Can anyone speak to this? Thanks, J

It reminds me of those bumble-ball things, that when you turn them on they move around.

That's what I thought too! I loved those things when I was little.

awesome. It looked like dixie cups at first.

nice.

cool, at first it was some kind of deep water fish

could this be modified in order to be somekind of waterproof? thinking for adding this in a corner of my garden...

do you mind addind some extra shots doing this(in a safe way)?

i didn't know u spoke rotterdam