Introduction: Reuse Parts of an Energy Saving Lamp

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Hello everyone,

today I want to show you how you can make the most out of the money you invested into an energy saving lamp by extracting its useful parts after it burned out.

The goal:

The goal of this Instructable is to show you a source of free parts you can use for your next projects and to reduce electrical waste.

You can get these parts out of energy saving lamps:

  • Capacitors
  • Diodes
  • Transistors
  • Coils

Needed tools:

  • flat-head screwdriver or a saw/cutting tool
  • desoldering pump
  • soldering iron

Step 1: Safety Advice

Please read the following text for your own safety. I don´t want people to get hurt so please read it and please be careful.

Readme:

  • Before you begin please check if the glass body of the energy saving lamp is broken! If it is broken you need to seal it in a bag or some sort of container to avoid getting exposed to the mercury inside the lamp.
  • Be very careful not to damage the glass body of the lamp! Do not try to open the lamp by twisting the glass body or trying to break it off or something like that.
  • Do not try to open the lamp right after it burned out. It contains a high voltage capacitor which needs to discharge first! Do not touch the circuit board if you do not know if the capacitor is still charged or you could get an electric shock!

Disposal Advice:

  • I think the best advice to dispose of burned out or broken energy saving lamps is to put them into a container (like a bucket with a lid or something like that) and store that container in a safe place until you find a place to recycle them.
  • Please do not throw energy saving lamps in your trash bin! Energy saving lamps are environmentally dangerous and could harm people!

Step 2: Open the Lamps Case

Ok. Let´s start. First have a look at the case. Most cases are either glued or clipped together. (Mine was clipped together like most of the other lamps I have opened so far.)

You should be able to open the case by either opening it with a flat screwdriver or by cutting it open by using a saw.

In both cases you need to be careful not to damage the glass body! Be very careful.

Once you have opened the case you simply need to cut the wires leading into the glass body so you can put it into a safe place to get rid of this hazard.

Step 3: Remove the Circuit Board From the Case

Now you need to remove the circuit board from the case.

Be very careful not to touch the circuit board with your bare hands! There is a high voltage capacitor (The big electrolytic capacitor you can see on the picture) on the circuit board which could still be charged! Try to remove it from the circuit by cutting its legs and put it somewhere safe. (Make sure not to touch the legs!)

Once the high voltage capacitor is removed from the board there is nothing left to fear. Now you can begin to desolder all useful parts.

Step 4: Desolder All Useful Parts

Now grab your soldering iron and your desoldering pump and get the parts you need.

As you can see on the picture there are a lot of useful parts on the circuit board so you should be able to harvest a lot of useful parts for you next project :)

Well, that´s it. I hope I was able to provide you with some useful tips and I hope you liked my Instructable :)