Modding an LED Desk Lamp From Bed, Bath, & Beyond

This is an LED Desk Lamp made expressly for Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I don't know how long I've had it. But, it's lasted me a good 2 or 3 years now. However, I had problems with the switch mechanism. It would go out sometimes and I would have to jiggle it to get it to work again. I never bothered to deal with it because it wasn't that big of a deal. That is until I discovered something else about it. I accidentally knocked the lamp off of my desk and discovered that the base plate was made of glass. Well, after cleaning up the broken pieces of glass, I opted to replace the base and the switch because the rest of the lamp still worked.

First off, it would need a new base. Being involved in the media industry, I had a few empty 50 pack CD/DVD cases lying around, which seemed a good fit for making a new base. I pulled out a few different size drill bits and started drilling a hole in the top, center part of the case until it was just large enough for the arm. I did this so that, when I fitted the arm which was already threaded, it would be a snug fit. As I was doing this, I realized the spindle that held the disc media in before would need to be cut back so that the arm could fit properly. Once the hole was large enough for the arm to fit, I screwed the arm in place, taking advantage of the threading.

I took some used disc media I wasn't using and put it in the case on the part of the arm that was sticking through the hole and used a washer and nut that was holding the glass plate in before to fasten it down. I took the rest of my used disc media and stacked it up in the plastic case. The used disc media are meant to create some rigidity to the base and weigh it down so that it doesn't move or wobble as easily.

As for the switch, I decided to take it apart to see how it worked. The entire switch, other than the wires, was made of cheap plastic. So, I decided to toss it and purchase a rocker switch. Fortunately, Radio Shack (At least my RA) has an island where they sell components. I had a variety of rocker switches to choose from. I picked one and took it home to see how best to wire it in. I knew right off the bat that I would need to trim both sets of wires so that the switch would fit in easily. So, I cut one wire in half, spliced it back together shorter, then just soldered the switch in place where the old switch was. Of course, I added heat shrink to aid in insulation as well as adding hot glue where I couldn't easily slide the heat shrink over bear metal (I only had skinny heat shrink available at the time).