Navlinge - Ikea Wall Mount
Description
The Good and the Bad ! First the Good... The Navlinge is a reasonably priced task or reading light. Especially nice for a bedside reading light. The Bad is when the Navlinge needs to be wall mounted. Ikea designed a recessed metal mounting plate with two keyholes that are about 5.8" (15.875mm) apart and the recess is about 3/8" (9mm) deep. The problem is twofold.., first you need to source screws that are long enough for your application, AND the two screws are too close together. There is also the issue of getting the two screw holes perfectly level so the Navlinge doesn't appear crooked on the wall. It's as if the designer of the mounting system never worked with sheetrock. The reality is that most people are conditioned to use plastic wall anchors and drilling two holes in a wall so close together is a fools errand. If you're foolish enough to try this, it's likely the two holes and anchors will cause the wall to crumble, or create a mounting that isn't strong enough to position the light without breaking the connection to the wall, causing a plaster and paint repair. The other bad issue is that the two screws are to be installed so the heads are off the surface of the wall about 3/8" and the need to tune this distance to get the right holding force... all very messy with two screws that are so close together. I've been very successful during my life hang lightweight pictures and decor to walls without using any plastic anchors. I predrill for the shank (minor) diameter of a drywall-sheetrock screw and the then install the screw by hand or very slowly with a power. Too fast or too powerful and instead of the screw making its own threading in the wall, the screw will act like a drill bit and clear out the material that would normally hold the threads. Essentially I use a sheetrock screw like I would a "Tapcon" screw.. but caution is needed when installing. Finally, a two screw setup where one is above the other allows you to mount the top screw, use a level to get the mount perfectly vertical and then predrill the second hole and install the 2nd screw. Also sheetrock screws are easier to find. The design of this part can also be used with flathead screws and plastic wall anchors if you're not a fan of my self tapping screw method.
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