PX-Lab Assembly One Anodized Aluminium Instruction Manual
- September 4, 2024
- PX-Lab
Table of Contents
User Manual
Assembly One Anodized Aluminium
We are a small group of makers that bonded over the idea that design and
engineering is really one and the same thing. Today, technical components are
seen as ugly and that they need to be hidden away below a “pretty” design. We
believe great products are great through and through, and should therefore
have nothing to hide.
Yes, this is just a lamp, but when you’ve assembled it, you will understand
all its components and how they are put together to make a product. Then, you
can take a look around your home and realise that all other products are also
designed by people, and that they too are just assemblies made out of a number
of components. The major difference is that this lamp will last as long as you
want it to. It can be assembled, disassembled, repaired and upgraded as many
times as you like, making it a more personal product for you, and less of a
burden on the earth that we’d like to inhabit for a bit longer. We want to
change the way people produce and think about consumer products and it all
starts with a lamp.
This box contains a set of components and a manual that helps you assemble our
version of this lamp, but it’s your components and you are free to do whatever
you want with them (at your own risk!). Let us know if you come up with
something cooler than we have, we would love to hear about it.
The mission of PX-lab is to give people more control over the technology they
own.
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
ASSEMBLY_ONE is a decorative and practical lamp for interior use. The lamp is
designed to be used on the dinner table, beside your bed or anywhere else in
your home.
The lamp has one warm white LED and one yellow LED that allows the user to
change the brightness and color temperature of the lamp. On full brightness,
the lamp has over 11 hours of battery life.
The product is constructed to be assembled and disassembled by the user. This
allows for full reparability, upgradability and customization. The chassis is
made out of 1mm sheet metal aluminium and screwed together using standardized
components.
UH OH!
SAFETY INFORMATION
- Do not open up or pick apart the battery.
- Do not use any other batteries than the battery included in the box.
- Do not use the battery for other applications than the intended use expressed in the manual.
- The battery should only be connected to the battery connectors on the [A1.PCB_Main].
- Do not handle any electronic components without first unplugging the battery.
- Use only 5V USB–C power adapters for charging the battery.
- Do not keep plugged in LED-lights in direct contact with another object.
- Do not stare directly into the LED lights while they are turned on.
- Keep the dome of the LEDs out of direct contact with anything, for risk of damaging the LEDs, your environment or your health.
- Do not expose the lamp to temperatures below 0 degrees celsius or over 40 degrees celsius.
- Do not expose the lamp to liquids, humidity or dust.
- Alterations are riskful, meaning it could be harmful for both the user and the lamp. All alterations not explicitly suggested by PX-Lab are not within PX-Lab’s legal responsibility.
- Do not dispose of batteries in fire. Batteries should be recycled or disposed of as per state and local guidelines.
- If you read this, wow you are committed. Good job!
- The product could be damaged if exposed to large amounts of vibrations.
- Do not grasp and pull the wires while disconnecting them from the printed circuit boards.
- Do not use the product in close proximity to medical devices or equipment.
- Store small parts out of reach from children and infants. If swallowed, contact a doctor immediately.
- Do not use the product in nuclear facilities or weapon systems.
COMPONENTS OVERVIEW
These are all the components that the ASSEMBLY_ONE is made out of. Reading through this list and getting to know these components is a great start to understanding the product as a whole, and it’s the first step in gaining true ownership.
ASSEMBLE (AND DISASSEMBLE)
It’s time to assemble ASSEMBLY_ONE. Take your time and follow the instructions carefully. Some components look similar to each other, so make sure you read the texts as well. If you get stuck or are interested to know more about the product, contact us at: hello@pxlab.se
STEP.1
Bend the aluminium sheets.
NOTE: Aim to get all angles around 90 degrees, but don’t worry too much
about getting it exactly right. When the sheets are screwed together later,
they align themselves.
WARNING! All of the sheet metal parts have one front side and one back
side. Look closely at the manual to make sure you bend the parts the right
way. Bending the same angle too many times will cause the part to break.
STEP.2
Attach the first aluminium part to the steel bottom using four M3 spacers.
(Feel free to use the aluminium wrench and screw them on pretty tightly so
they don’t become loose later on. This also applies to step 3.)
STEP.3
Attach the 10mm spacers onto the same aluminium part, using M3 bolts.
PCB_MAIN
ASSEMBLY_ONE includes a total of three printed circuit boards(PCBs).
[A1.PCB_MAIN] [A1.PCB_INTERFACE] [A1.PCB_LED] Out of these three, PCB_MAIN is
the one that is the most complex. It consists of two sections (these are
visible on the real component as well):
BMS (Battery management system)
Keeps track of the voltage level for the battery and makes sure electricity
from the UCB-C port goes to the right place.
Dimmer
The dimmer takes the input from the sliders and creates a pulse signal that
turns the lamp ON and OFF very fast. The signal only jumps in between two
states, ON and OFF, meaning we never actually have the electricty “half ON”.
We can’t do that because the LEDs are only made for a specific amount of
voltage, decreasing the input voltage to, let’s say 50%, would turn the LED
completely off.
So how do we dim the lamp?
It is called a “Cycle” everytime the dimmer has been turned ON and OFF one
time. By increasing the percentage of time the dimmer is ON during this cycle,
we can control how bright we percieve the LED. We call this percentage “Duty
cycle”.
Increasing the Duty Cycle will increase the brightness of the lamp. Decreasing it will make the lamp more dim. This is how we control the LEDs.
STEP.4
Attach the main PCB using two M3 bolts.
(Make sure the USB-C port is facing you.)
STEP.5
Attach the interface PCB using three M3 bolts.
STEP.6
Insert the entire module into AL1 and screw them together using four M4 bolts.
STEP.7
Attach the two long aluminium legs using four M4 bolts and four plastic
spacers.
STEP.8
Screw four 6mm spacers through AL6 and into the four 20mm spacers.
STEP.9
Attach the diffuser with four M3 bolts.
STEP.10
Attach the LED PCB using four M3 bolts.
INFO: The way we get different color temperatures for the lamp is by
having multiple LEDs with different colors and then adjusting the brightness
of them independently.
This PCB has two different LEDs, one white with a color temperature of 3000K,
and one yellow.
The diffuser makes sure these LEDs mix well. Without the diffuser you would
see sharp shadows and light spots of white and yellow.
Most other lamps with adjustable color temperature usually chooses a range
that is a lot more cold and blue compared to ours. We wanted our lamp to give
a more soft and comfortable feeling, so we prioritized warmer colors.
STEP.11
Insert this entire module into AL4 and screw them together with four M4 bolts.
STEP.12
Insert this entire module between the two legs of the previous module and
screw them together using two locknuts, two plastic spacers and two 16mm M4
bolts.
NOTE: The locknut is too difficult to be screwed on by hand, so use the
aluminium wrench together with your allen key to do this part.
How hard you screw this on will determine how loose or stiff the head of
ASSEMBLY_ ONE will be. We recommend screwing it on pretty tight, but not so
tight that you can’t rotate it.
Do it on the other side as well!
STEP.13
Connect the main PCB and the interface PCB with the ribbon cable.
NOTE: When the cable is connected you should hear and feel a “click”.
This should not require a lot of force so if it’s difficult, see if you put it
in the wrong direction or if the pins are bent. If they are, just bend them
back.
You should also know that it requires a lot more force to remove the cable
than to attach it. This is normal, but when removing it, be sure to pull from
the white connector rather than pulling on the wires themselves(!).
INFO: The white piece on the ends of the cables are called “Connectors”. All
connectors on ASSEMBLY_ONE are from a company called JST, and the specific
connectors are from their XH series.
The XH connectors have polarity, meaning they can only be connected in one
direction. Because of this, you never have to worry about putting them in the
wrong way 😉
STEP.14
Connect the main PCB and LED PCB using the spiral cable.
(The two small rubber rings on the cable should be inserted into the slits in the aluminium!)
STEP.15
Attach AL2 with two M4 bolts.
STEP.16
Attach the battery with velcro and plug it into main PCB.
NOTE: Now you can turn on the lamp to see if it works!
If it doesn’t turn on, try this:
- Make sure all the cables are properly connected.
- See if any wires have started to become loose from their connectors. If they have, push them in again.
- See if there are any visible damage on any of the three PCBs.
If the lamp still doesn’t turn on, contact us on support@pxlab.se so we can help you get a lamp that is working.
STEP.17
Attach AL5 with four M4 bolts.
(Begin with the two bolts on top. It’s easier.)
STEP.17
Close AL2 and attach it with two M4 bolts.
INFO: AL2 is designed as a hatch so you can easily open it up and show
all you friends what a cool lamp you have built.
You only have to unscrew the two screws from the step above.
ASSEMBLY_ONE is complete.
INTERFACE
On ASSEMBLY_ONE, each slider controls the brightness of one LED. By mixing the
two LEDs, you control the overall brightness and color temperature of the
light. It’s similar to the way some faucets mix warm and cold water with two
different knobs.
The switch turns both LEDs ON and OFF.
CHARGING
ASSEMBLY_ONE has a total battery life of at least 11 hours when the LEDs are
on full brightness. If the lamp feels unusually dim or if it turns off
completely, it’s time to charge the batteries.
To charge the batteries, you need to plug in a USB-C 5V charger. Most phone
adapters will work, but laptop adapters often don’t.
When plugging in the UCB-C charger, an orange LED on the main PCB will turn
on, indicating that the batteries are charging.
The electronics are designed so it is possible to charge the lamp and use it
at the same time. This will not make the charging slower.
Once the battery is fully charged, the orange LED will turn off and a green
LED will turn on instead.
While the lamp is designed specifically to be portable, it is okay to use the
lamp plugged in all the time as well. The electricity will then directly come
from the charger and not from the battery.
INFO: The battery will only charge up to 4.2V, while a normal USB adapter provides 5V. This means that the lamp will always be slightly brighter while the product is plugged in.
CUSTOMIZATION AND MAINTENANCE
PAINTING
When you buy ASSEMBLY_ONE, it is truly yours, so if you want to, you can paint
it any color you want! The anodized aluminium is a great surface to put paint
on, but there are some things to keep in mind:
- Only use paint that is made to be used on aluminium.
- Paint the parts AFTER you have bent them.
- Disassemble the lamp and paint each aluminium part separately. Don’t paint anything but the aluminium parts!
- Follow the instructions for the paint you are using.
- While we love to see people modify the lamp, PX-Lab as a company will not be responsible for any damages of the product in case of painting or other modifications that aren’t part of the original instructions of ASSEMBLY_ONE.
INCREASING FRICTION OF HEAD
If the head of ASSEMBLY_ONE rotates too easily, without proper friction, the
first thing you should do is to screw the locknuts tighter with the allen key
and the aluminium wrench. If you do that and it doesn’t work, replace the
locknuts. Any M4 locknut should do the job, but you can always buy our choice
from our website.
REPLACING OR UPGRADING COMPONENTS
All available components for ASSEMBLY_ONE can be purchased on our website.
Find the step in the manual where the component you want to switch out was
installed and do the step in reverse. Sometimes you have to undo a couple of
steps before that as well.
Use third-party/DIY components or components intented for other PX-Lab
products at own risk. PX-Lab is not responsible for damages to you or the
product that has arisen in those cases.
DATA
[A1.AL1] [A1.AL2] [A1.AL3] [A1.AL4] [A1.AL5] [A1.AL6] [A1.AL7] Material:
Aluminium 5005 Finish: Anodized
Mounting type: Rivet nuts M4
Thickness: 1mm
[A1.PCB_MAIN]
Material: Printed circuit board (FR-4)
Number of layers: 4
Thickness: 1.6mm
Mounting type: Holes (3mm diameter)
Color: Black
Silkscreen color: White
Surface finish: Lead-free HASL
Connectors: JST XH-series female. 2 pin(battery), 4 pin(LEDs) and 8 pin
(interface)
[A1.PCB_INTERFACE]
Material: Printed circuit board (FR-4)
Number of layers: 2
Thickness: 1.6mm
Mounting type: Holes (3mm diameter)
Color: Black
Silkscreen color: White
Surface finish: Lead-free HASL
Sliders: Potentiometer 100k ohm linear
Switch: On-On, Through-hole mounting
Connector: JST XH-series 8 pin female
[A1.PCB_LED]
Material: Printed circuit board (Aluminium)
Number of layers: 1
Thickness: 1.6mm
Mounting type: Holes (3mm diameter)
Color: White
Silkscreen color: Black
Surface finish: Lead-free HASL
White LED: 3000K-4000 Kelvin, 1W, 350mA,
120-154lm, 2.85V-3.85V
Yellow LED: 590nm, 3W, 700mA, 80lm, 2.5V-3.5V
Connector: JST XH-series 4 pin female
[A1.STL_BTM]
Material: Steel, silicone
Mounting type: M3 tapped holes
Thickness: 5mm
[A1.DIFFUSER]
Material: Polycarbonate
Mounting type: Holes (3mm diameter)
Thickness: 2mm
[A1.RIBBON_CABLE]
Number of wires: 8
Length: 80mm
Connectors: JST XH-series male 8 pin
[A1.SPIRAL_CABLE]
Number of wires: 4
Spiral length: 90mm(Retracted)
Side one: 90mm
Side two: 100mm
Connectors: JST XH-series male 4 pin
[SPACER_M3.F-F_20MM]
Length: 20mm
Internal hole length: 20mm
Thread dimension: M3
External shape: HEX
External diameter(width across flats): 5.5mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[SPACER_M3.F-F_10MM]
Length: 10mm
Internal hole length: 10mm
Thread dimension: M3
External shape: HEX
External diameter(width across flats): 6mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[BOLT_M4.10MM]
Thread length: 10mm
Thread dimension: M4
Head type: Socket head
Socket HEX diameter: 2,5mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[BOLT_M4.16MM]
Thread length: 16mm
Thread dimension: M4
Head type: Socket head
Socket HEX diameter: 2,5mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[BOLT_M3.4MM]
Thread length: 4mm
Thread dimension: M3
Head type: Socket head
Socket HEX diameter: 2,5mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[SPACER_M3.F-M_6MM]
External thread length: 5mm
Internal thread length: 3mm
Thread dimension: M3
External shape: HEX
External diameter(width across flats): 5.5mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating
[LOCKNUT_M4.7MM]
Length: 5mm
Thread dimension: M4
External shape: HEX
External diameter(width across flats): 7mm
Material: Steel, with zinc plating and polyamide insert
[A1.PLASTIC_SPACER]
Length: 4mm
Internal diameter: 4.2mm
External diameter: 8mm
Matertial: Polyamide
[A1.LIPO_BATTERY.4000MAH]
Capacity: 4000mAh
Volt: 4.2-3.0V
Features: Over-charge, over-discharge,
short-circuit, over-temperature
Connector: JST XH-series male 2 pin
[ALLEN_KEY.2MM5]
External shape: HEX
External diameter(width across flats): 2.5mm
Length: 57mm + 20mm
Material: Steel
Finish: Black, oxidised
[USB_C-A.2000M]
Ports: USB-C to USB-A
Length: 2000mm
Type: USB 2.0 (Power and data)
[AL_WRENCH]
Material: Aluminium 5052
Finish: Anodized
Thickness: 1mm
Wrench hole dimensions: M4 and M3
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
We don’t want to stop anyone from making ASSEMBLY_ONE their own by withholding
important information about the construction of the product.
If there is anything else you would like to know that is not available in the
manual or on our website: pxlab.se, please send us an email at
hello@pxlab.se so that we can help you find what you
need.
Thank you for believing.
Best regards, the ASSEMBLY_ONE team.
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