Scanner Parts - Desk Lamp

This instructable shows you how to make a desk lamp out of scrounged scanner parts and a few extras from Home Depot.

I have set up a small solar array, controller and a storage battery. I wanted to make some low power lighting that I can use in my office that would not consume a lot of power.

I had a bunch of scanner parts lying around and decided to put them to good use.

Scrounge a scanner head and pick up the following parts from Home Depot:

1. Scanner Head

2. 6' Lamp cord and switch - $3.99
3. Low voltage lighting base - 2 for $5.95
4. PVC 1" adapter threaded on one end, slip to fit on the other - $.87
5. 12" x 1" diameter PVC threaded pipe, (nipple) - $1.12

Tools needed:

1 1/4" hole saw
electric drill
knife
hack saw
hot glue gun
solder iron & solder
shrink tubing
12" ruler
side cutters

Remove the lens and camera electronics and save for your next project.
Keep the displayed power circuit in place on the scanner head.

Take your knife and trim the extruded ridges from the base plate.
Rotate the base and trim all the ridges.

Take your hack saw and remove the displayed section from the base plate.
The 1" PVC adapter will not fit unless you remove this section.

Press the 1" PVC adapter (slip to fit side) onto the trimmed base plate.

Screw the PVC pipe into the threaded adapter and use your hack saw to trim the pipe:

I trimmed my pipe to 12" from the base plate. You can adjust yours to fit your needs.

Lower for brighter focused light, Higher for wider disfused light.

You will have to play this one by ear. I am sure that each scanner head is slightly different.

Remove the screws and carefully remove the base plate.

Be careful not to damage the light tubing when you remove the cover.

Notice the light tube reflectors that run along the slot for the light tube.

Measure the mid point on the base plate to properly align the hole you are going to drill.

Use the ruler to determine the center point on the base plate for both length and width so you mounting hole will be aligned properly.

Center punch the location where your length and width measurements cross and drill your mounting hole.

You will need to drill an 1 1/4" hole in the base plate.

This hole is slightly under sized. You will need to file the hole slightly larger to fit the PVC pipe.

I used an old soldering iron to enlarge the hole.

Insert the PVC pipe into the Scanner Head and hot glue the pipe in place.

After hot gluing, turn the lamp right side up and make sure that the scanner head is aligned.

It takes a minute for the hot glue to cool enough to become solid. This will give you plenty of time to align the scanner head.

We need to trim away the electrical connector in order to solder the lamp cord with the switch to the power supply leads.

Double twist the power leads on to the lamp cord and solder the leads.

Be sure that you run some heat shrink tubing onto the leads before you connect the leads.

After soldering slide the heat shrink tubing on to the bare sections of wire and heat with the soldering iron to secure the connections.

In my application I will add some wire connectors and attach the light to my storage battery.

You may want to attach the lamp cord to an AC to DC adapter.

Notice the voltage and current readings on my power supply.

The lamp is running off of 12 volts and consuming 370ma of current.

The lamp could be just a bit brighter, for my taste, but it is enough light to read by.

I am thinking of adding a second light tube and power supply from another scanner head that I have.

Thanks