I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully enclosed friction
hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the shade. There are no springs,
tension knobs, screw holes, or any other apparent method of adjusting the
friction. The hinge closest to the base has worn and no longer supports any
extended lamp position. I don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges.
I've spent hours with Google trying to get help, but no luck. The manufacturer
has not been of help either. Any bright ideas?

On Apr 21, 3:27*pm, Peter wrote:
I don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges.

Well, shirley there has to be some kind of pin that could be drilled
out and maybe replaced with a boat, washers and wingnut...

Practically anything can be fixed, but that sounds like a candidate
for the recycle bin.
-----

- gpsman

gpsman wrote:
On Apr 21, 3:27 pm, Peter wrote:
I don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges.

Well, shirley there has to be some kind of pin that could be drilled
out and maybe replaced with a boat, washers and wingnut...

Practically anything can be fixed, but that sounds like a candidate
for the recycle bin.
-----

- gpsman
Good idea if I had a drill press to stay precisely on axis. However, I failed
to mention that the wiring for the lamp is entirely inside the arms and hinge
assembly. My hope is to repair the friction hinge, not obliterate it.

Recycle bin? Not likely! Equivalent quality/feature replacement lamps are $80
and the lamp is otherwise fully functional.

On 4/21/2009 12:27 PM Peter spake thus:

I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully
enclosed friction hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the
shade. There are no springs, tension knobs, screw holes, or any other
apparent method of adjusting the friction. The hinge closest to the
base has worn and no longer supports any extended lamp position. I
don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges. I've spent hours
with Google trying to get help, but no luck. The manufacturer has not
been of help either. Any bright ideas?

You say the hinges are fully enclosed: does this mean that there's some
kind of cover over them, or does the exterior of the lamp arms form the
cover? There must be some way to get at that hinge. Any sign of a
dimple, slot, rivet, any other fastener/opening to gain access?

How about posting pictures of it? All the swing arm lamps I have are the
el cheapo kind where everything's bare naked exposed.


--
Save the Planet
Kill Yourself

- motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/)

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 4/21/2009 12:27 PM Peter spake thus:

You say the hinges are fully enclosed: does this mean that there's some
kind of cover over them, or does the exterior of the lamp arms form the
cover? There must be some way to get at that hinge. Any sign of a dimple,
slot, rivet, any other fastener/opening to gain access?

The hinge pins may be a press-fit. Mebbe squeeze the hinge barrel with vise
grips? If that helps a little, mebbe try getting the hinge barrel areas into
a vise or even hit 'em with a pin punch or similar.

Peter wrote:
I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully enclosed
friction hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the shade. There are
no springs, tension knobs, screw holes, or any other apparent method of
adjusting the friction. The hinge closest to the base has worn and no
longer supports any extended lamp position. I don't even see any way to
disassemble the hinges. I've spent hours with Google trying to get help,
but no luck. The manufacturer has not been of help either. Any bright
ideas?

I'd try to find a real draftsman's light and save yourself the aggravation.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:
Peter wrote:
I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully
enclosed friction hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the
shade. There are no springs, tension knobs, screw holes, or any other
apparent method of adjusting the friction. The hinge closest to the
base has worn and no longer supports any extended lamp position. I
don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges. I've spent hours
with Google trying to get help, but no luck. The manufacturer has not
been of help either. Any bright ideas?

I'd try to find a real draftsman's light and save yourself the aggravation.

nate


some are actually somewhat affordable

http://estore.masterg.com/drafting-supplies/lamps

what you're looking for are ones with springs at each pivot so they're
not relying on friction to hold the lamp steady

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Peter wrote:
I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully enclosed
friction hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the shade. There are
no springs, tension knobs, screw holes, or any other apparent method of
adjusting the friction. The hinge closest to the base has worn and no
longer supports any extended lamp position. I don't even see any way to
disassemble the hinges. I've spent hours with Google trying to get help,
but no luck. The manufacturer has not been of help either. Any bright
ideas?

You could always try exploratory surgery with a Dremel Tool.
A picture or brand and model might help us figure out how it
was assembled.

TDD

On 4/22/2009 8:04 AM Peter spake thus:

Thanks to all who have replied to date. I've attached a front and side view of
one of the friction hinges (all 3 hinges appear to be the same construction).

Just a note: attaching pictures to messages in non-"binary" newsgroups
is considered bad form and annoys some people (doesn't bother me that
much, but others object to it). Better to post pictures on a website
somewhere (free picture-posting sites abound) and put a link to them in
the message.

The lamp was made by Dana lighting (a division of Catalina lighting) but I don't
have a model#. I described the lamp to Catalina in an e-mail and their reply
was that the lamp was discontinued and they don't provide any customer support.

P.S. The small dimple that is visible in the front view near the junction of the
bottom of the arm and the top of the hinge is a press-fit release that allows
the "female" tube of the arm to snap over a "male" extension flange on the hinge
assembly. I pulled the arm off the flange, but the entire flange is sealed
except for a small aperture for the wire and it does not provide any access to
the hinge mechanism itself. Peter

Sounds pretty hopeless so far as trying to disassemble the hinge goes.

I can think of one last-ditch measure you might take: spray the joints
with some kind of "de-lubricant" (i.e., something sticky, like glue or
other adhesive). You might try spraying just a *little* bit of sticky
stuff into the joints to see if that might help grab. Not too much or
you might give the whole thing a bad case of arthritis.


--
Save the Planet
Kill Yourself

- motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/)

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

spray the joints
with some kind of "de-lubricant" (i.e., something sticky, like glue or
other adhesive).

Here's where Steve would recommend WD-40.

In article ,
Peter wrote:

I've got a clamp-on, adjustable swing arm desk lamp with fully enclosed
friction
hinges connecting the base, the arms, and the shade. There are no springs,
tension knobs, screw holes, or any other apparent method of adjusting the
friction. The hinge closest to the base has worn and no longer supports any
extended lamp position. I don't even see any way to disassemble the hinges.
I've spent hours with Google trying to get help, but no luck. The
manufacturer
has not been of help either. Any bright ideas?

Yes, disassemble it. Someone put it together, therefore it can be taken
apart. I'd start by trying to pry off those plastic caps over the
hinges. If they don't pry off, then cut them off. They're obviously just
cosmetic. That should expose the mechanism.

But then, since you've spent hours searching Google instead of minutes
using your analytical skills, you might not have the skills to repair
what you find, anyway.