Decent quality desk magnifier lamp

[WaveyDipole]

A couple of years ago I purchased a desk magnifier lamp in a sale from Maplin. Although quite cheap, it has served well but is now falling apart so I would like to buy a replacement. The problem is on Amazon all I see is pretty much cheap (and not so cheap) rubbish. I would like to buy something a little better quality that will last, but will not cost the earth, so perhaps sub £100, but not as cheap as the £20/£30 stuff.

There was a thread about this quite some time ago but I can't find it via search which just returns irrelevant results so apologies for duplication, but can anyone suggest where I might be able to buy a decent table lamp with magnifier? Is £100 enohg for something of good quality? I did see something in the £250 range some time ago, but this seems ridiculously steep for a table lamp with a magnifying glass.

[Goldie99]

Just checked to see if mine was still available - barely, it's end of life, and then a bit... but I did find one online, at a very good price (I have no connection to, or interest in, lighting-direct).

https://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/op...CABEgIDs_D_BwE

I've been using one of those for about 7-8 years, it's still working perfectly, and I'll be using it for years to come - just watch the flip down lens cover doesn't close on your nose...

Maybe one to consider anyway.

[camallison]

I bought a perfectly serviceable one from these people:. http://www.quicktest.co.uk/acatalog/...rs--large.html

No connection with them, other than as a many times happy customer.

Colin

[MrBungle]

I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01M7YLKQ3/

It’s not a magnifying lamp. I’ve made a simple attachment which adds a bog standard A5 sized fresnel magnifier to it that you can slide on and off as you need it.

The lamp is quite frankly amazing to the point I’ve bought another two since.

[joebog1]

I bought one from a local internet tool supplier for $70 aussie. ( probly 40 quid, pommie money)
VERY well ( Chinese) made!!! ALL metal.
LED lighting thats brighter and colour nuetral, as fluero tubes are not.
fully adjustable.
BIG magnification, ( 6X ) thats better than my much older fluero model ( which has split the plastic base)
NO flickering at startup
and humming from the ballast.
Its about 4 years old, no problems yet.
and it sits in the aussie sun in north queensland, through a plate glass window.

I should have added:-

Model : 6025-1-8 LED
Rated 240 volts
5 Watts

SHOULD be commonly available.

Joe

[WaveyDipole]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. joebog1, you raise an interesting point regarding LEDs. My existing lamp is CFL but I was thinking that for the new one I would probably want to go with LED lighting. Most of the options above so far have fluorescent tubes, but I have found the one you mention from the model number but not in the UK although there are quite a few similar ones on eBay and some very widely varying prices!

That's rather a nice lamp MrBungle and I expect the various levels of intensity and well as light temperature come in handy. Looks quite compact as well. I did wonder about clipping a lens on to my current desk lamp. Not decided about that yet.

So how much difference really would there be between these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magnifier-...oAAOSwjvJZP80a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-ADJUST...EAAOSw5cNYmxy4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Daylight-D...4AAOSwCY9ZuJ2X

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Daylight-D...IAAOSwUKxYgiP2

[McMurdo]

Mine's from CPC and around 4 years old now. It has the fluorescent tubes with remote ballast. The plastic lenses over the twin tubes have steadily grown yellow and it's much brighter without, though I dont think safe to use. The lens also generates its own colour bands on resistors, which makes it interesting...

The desk clamp broke after a year.
The springs have gone weak and it wont stay put for long.
The magnifier went slack and I had to drill the elbow for a locking pin to keep it in one place.
The arm has a habit of bursting into oscillation like a pendulum if you knock it which means working on surface mount leaves your eyeballs rolling like a Terry Gilliam cartoon.
It's a copy of (inspired by) a £300 luxo lamp.

But for £18 it's fine!

[evingar]

I have a Luxo 8310-122-3G that was bought off "the Bay" many years ago as unused surplus, discontinued by RS (733-615). Would have been "stupid money" (circa £180) bought from RS.

It's lasted reasonably well, but it's incredibly heavy and is a real pain to mount reliably. It has has broken bits off benches (etc) and has a propensity to gradually loosen it's clamp and come crashing down.

I would certainly look for an LED type if I was buying now and I would make sure it was lighter weight.

[60 oldjohn]

I have had great success with car boot finds, the mounting brackets are usually missing, but no great deal they are simple enough to make. A custom made bracket fixed away from the edge of bench or on a wall to minimise any damage to bench. If you can find a medical grade one they are brilliant, long reach, usually have a chrome finish.
While on the subject, I have a small aerosol of "Anti Mist" on the bench one application lasts a few days and stops the lens misting.

[Wendymott]

Hi peeps...... Just a couple of photo's to show my mods to the Circular tubed magnifier.
I was fed up with smashing tubes when getting too close with the De Solder sucker. It is simply 4 lengths of White Leds, hotmelted to the circumferences. Some are showing "yellow" now..and I have bought another reel to replace when I get time.
The first was so successful I modified the metal workshop lamp the same way.
If anyone wants 2 X Circular flu tubes.. please PM me.... you can have them for post costs only.

[WaveyDipole]

How well does the adjustment work on those lamps that do not have Anglepoise style springs on the joints? They only seem to have circular plastic covers so I presume that there is some adjustment underneath? Do they stay quite sturdy or do they wear loose over time? I ask because I can't see how there could be enough tension without the supporting springs?

[WaveyDipole]

Finally decided on one of these. I could have saved £20 and gone with the cheaper model which has a fixed light output but is otherwise the same. However, this one has a variable brigthness control which I think will be useful.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QMPLC..._dp_o_pC_S_ttl

I paid £99 because of the colour. I don't know why the gray one is £25 more! I don't care about the colour so long as it does the job!

[evingar]

Originally Posted by WaveyDipole

Finally decided on one of these. I could have saved £20 and gone with the cheaper model which has a fixed light output but is otherwise the same. However, this one has a variable brigthness control which I think will be useful.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QMPLC..._dp_o_pC_S_ttl

I paid £99 because of the colour. I don't know why the gray one is £25 more! I don't care about the colour so long as it does the job!

this modern Lumeno product works without a transformer so that it does not consume energy in standby mode. .

Does that infer that it's just a simple resistive / LED chain across the mains ?

If so, should this cause concern, given the lower continental line voltage ?

Furthermore, if you want to use this magnifying lamp in the UK, you will need an European to UK plug adaptor.

PS yes, I know we are all now nominally 230V - but the regional variations still exist within the "barn door" specification.

[robin0577]

I recently got one of these https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clar...ying-led-lamp/
I must admit the main factor in choosing it was the proximity of my local Machine Mart, but so far it has performed very well and seems to be fairly solidly built.

[ToneArm]

I have a Daylight company magnifier with 28 w fluorescent lamp. I was lucky as i got it cheap from a nail bar because it flickered. New they are expensive.
I put a new ballast in a vero box and just screwed it on to the outside of the lamp housing. It is a great magnifier, my vision is not too great i couldn't manage without it.

[WaveyDipole]

The UK plug in adapter costs £4.95, but with this item came as a 'free item' although I still had to be requested by ticking the appropriate box.

With regards to whether has a simple resistive chain, I'm not sure, but it does have an up and a down button for adjusting the brightness so there does seem to be a bit more to it than that. I also did wonder about the implication of that statement and supposed that it might simply mean some form of SMPS/buck converter arrangement which most things seem to have these days, rather than a linear supply. I am guessing that this is probably integral to the head and disconnected from the mains when the lamp is switched off, via what looks like a standard mechanical on/off switch, hence no standby current.

If possible without much difficulty and obvious voiding of warranty, I will have a good look at the arrangement when the lamp arrives.

In the meantime I saw some feedback in the comments section on the Maplin product page of my original magnifier lamp where someone had suggested replacing the original bolts and nuts to improve stability. Part of the problem was that the original bolts are pretty short and do not allow the nut to slacken much before it falls off and gets lost. They also seem to slacken quite easily after a while. At least one had come off and disappeared. So for the consideration of 4 quid I replaced the original bolts and nuts and even the plastic knobs on the Maplin lamp with slightly longer bolts, additional washers and metal knobs. I also slightly adjusted the position of one pair of springs to provide a bit more tension simply by drilling another hole a quater inch or so from the original. The result is that the original lamp is now much more stable and not flapping around and actually stays in place, which means that it is actually usable again. This means I can also now have a magnifier lamp in the office where I do miss it since I moved it to the workshop. Using a handheld magnifying glass is just not the same!

[DonaldStott]

Guess where I'm going this Thursday (12th October): -

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-O...articleId=7008

[Herald1360]

Have a good look through the lens before you buy it! I bought a couple, very similar if not identical but I've chucked the lens, it was so awful. As a third hand for tricky jobs it's still a reasonable buy and if your iron fits that's a bonus.

[AC/HL]

Yes. I got one from Santa last year or the year before. The magnifier gives a good impression of a circus mirror, but the rest is a typical example of the third hand genre.

[MrBungle]

I got one too. Beats socks. That’s about all the positives I can say. It appears to be slightly gravity challenged.