Can I fix this broken IKEA ARÖD lamp?

June 23, 2024 3:08 PM

My recently purchased IKEA ARÖD lamp has snapped in an unfortunate spot and I'm wondering if it's possible to repair.

This piece (red arrow pointing to it) seems to have snapped in two. It was originally part of this piece. The bottom half is still lodged in the tube (photo, photo with plastic casing removed) I can't seem to get the rest of it out. The material seems to be some kind of composite. This spot is carrying a decent amount of weight/stress so any repair needs to account for that. I might be able to drill out the composite crap, but replace it with what? I have a decent amount of tools but not a welder.

posted by gwint to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Best answer: Maybe possibly if you drill it out and can get something like a threaded rod in there and then use some kind of epoxy to hold it all together. It looks like the narrow part is held in place by that screw which would probably leave it somewhat prone to breaking again. Best I can come up with, though.
posted by robotmachine at 3:37 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I like the above suggestion; you could also tap the hole to match the new rod (assuming you have, or are willing to buy, a tap and tap wrench, obvs)

…or just pack everything together with an epoxy like JB Weld and pray?
posted by aramaic at 3:43 PM on June 23

JB Cold-Weld may work well here, if you can immobilize the joint for a day to give the epoxy time to cure. It doesn't look great but the binder half can give a bond a lot of strength when cured; and if your diagram is correct, you won't see the bond anyway.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:43 PM on June 23

Have you asked IKEA if they might be able to replace the part? I don't think that's composite; it looks like a (weak, cruddy) sintered metal part. You'd need to replace it with a metal part to get the required strength and that's going to require machining, so isn't practical.

You might get lucky and find a cap head bolt that happens to fit the required dimensions and then could be inserted in a drilled and tapped hole in the main part, but that seems pretty unlikely.
posted by ssg at 3:43 PM on June 23 [5 favorites]

I am an idiot -- I completely forgot about the Ikea Spare Parts operation.

...they saved my ass once. I should have remembered them.

Go there first, and if you strike out, then come back here and try again.
posted by aramaic at 4:32 PM on June 23

Response by poster: Sadly, I did look at the Ikea Spare Parts site and was unable to find any for this lamp.

I'll give some thought to maybe a combo of JB Cold-Weld and trying to tap some sort of threading into the sintered metal.
posted by gwint at 4:47 PM on June 23

Well dang.

...in that case the generalized Ikea Recommendation is to call or visit the local store, which I still might try before resorting to JB Weld. There's still a non-zero chance they might get the right part (which, from other complaints online and Ikea documentation, seems to have just been plated zinc, which is ridiculous).

Even getting a small steel rod tapped in would help substantially with the overall resulting strength of the part.
posted by aramaic at 4:58 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Should I just try to drill out the existing material enough to fit a steel rod into both sides and epoxy it in there with JB Cold-Weld, or it is worth it/necessary to try to tap threads in and use a headless bolt? If the latter, would I get a better/stronger hold just tapping the sintered metal or let some Cold-Weld cure in holes first?
posted by gwint at 6:34 PM on June 23

Best answer: IMO, I'd drill out, then tap (or, if not tapping, then rough up the surface of the rod randomly with a file or whatever) and then use epoxy on the rod and call it done.

...the roughening/tapping will help with the grip for the epoxy. If you want to be bonkers you could apply epoxy, then drill and tap the epoxy, then install the rod (with more epoxy) but for this class of part [a new one is cheap] I wouldn't go to all that trouble.

Oh, btw, if you drill out, make sure to blow out the hole (eyes closed!). Powder/chips left in the hole are terrible for epoxy performance.
posted by aramaic at 6:50 PM on June 23

I didn't have tapping in mind. Just figured the rod would be able to help the epoxy be rigid enough. I would expect that material to take a thread pretty poorly.
posted by robotmachine at 7:09 PM on June 23

Is there a reason not to just take it to Ikea for a replacement? If it's less than like 2 years old, I'm pretty sure they'd do it. (Note, Ikea staffers can tell the age of the item by looking at the date stamp on the paper product sticker - usually it's a 4 digit number stamped in blue ink. 2 digits for the year and 2 digits for which week it is in the year. So you might want to peel that label off if you lamp is old-ish, and then you can just fudge that it's under a year old).
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:18 PM on June 23

Sadly, I doubt this can be repaired in a cost-effective way. Even for a small item like a lamp, there's a surprising amount of force on that joint and any kind of adhesive is just not going to work. Drilling and using a steel rod combined with epoxy just might work, although it will be hard to do without making a mess.

I would first try taking it to Ikea and seeing what they can do. If that's no good, you really have nothing to lose, so give the rod and epoxy or JB Weld a go.
posted by dg at 9:36 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

Whatever combination of drilling, tapping, inserting of threaded or unthreaded rod you use on the inside could be further supported by an appropriate length of metal tubing slipped over the outside of the joint repair.

There is substantial leverage on this type of joint and having a bit more metal encasing the whole joint is a good thing.
posted by tronec at 10:19 PM on June 23 [3 favorites]

The way I would repair this piece:
- measure the inner diameter of the plastic casing, find a matching metal rod or a headless bolt with the right outer diameter.
- remove the piece stuck in the stand (drill and use an extractor tap?)
- drill a hole in the joint, as deep as possible, to accept the rod.
- epoxy the rod into that hole, cut to length.
posted by Stoneshop at 2:40 AM on June 26

Response by poster: Update: I ended up tapping a 3/8" thread into this piece and then cut a 3/8" threaded rod to length so it would fit into the bottom area (after drilling a bit of the broken part that was stuck in there and removing it) It's not the prettiest job, but it feels solid and will hopefully keep this lamp out of the landfill for a few more years. Thanks all.
posted by gwint at 4:36 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]