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Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

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Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#31

Post by whttheuuu »

dbcurtis wrote: post #9

Well, on the one hand, it is great to have a replacement for the original controller. At a previous employer I had a Bekant with the stock controller, and those darn things are dreadfully unreliable. We had enough of those desks to get good reliability statistics... and the statistics are awful. So an open source replacement is great. That said: Who the heck needs a motorized desk????? When it came to spending my own…

I owned the Skarstra (actually bought 2 of them because I moved and got rid of my old one). Recently, spent the money on the motorized one. It is 100% worth the $250 price difference.

The hand crank is quite annoying - and if you're like me you are cranking it up and down a few times a day. Every day. It takes 30 seconds to crank it up. If you have a lot on your desk (2-3 monitors, computer, etc.) it can be quite heavy. Eventually, it got so annoying I found myself just leaving it in a seated position.

Spend the extra money and get the motorized version.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#33

Post by notatoad »

dbcurtis wrote: post #9

Well, on the one hand, it is great to have a replacement for the original controller. At a previous employer I had a Bekant with the stock controller, and those darn things are dreadfully unreliable. We had enough of those desks to get good reliability statistics... and the statistics are awful. So an open source replacement is great. That said: Who the heck needs a motorized desk????? When it came to spending my own…

>In fact, I am pretty sure you can buy just the Skarsta hand crank mechanism.

i would love this, but a quick google search suggests it's not true.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#34

Post by rubicon33 »

whalesalad wrote: post #28

Ikea's standing desks aren't that great. They wobble a lot and then anything attached to it wobbles too. Still looking for the perfect heavy-duty standing desk and heavy-duty VESA arm combo. I don't want anything on my desk moving unless I am moving it myself. To put it this way: if a desk is $500 and wobbles slightly (meaning if I touch the desk or type, my coffee jiggles and waves are seen) or is $1000 and the desk…

Take a look at https://www.autonomous.ai

They offer the option to buy JUST the legs, and you can mount your own top. I went that route. Bought the legs with the strongest motor (can support 300lbs) and put a nice heavy desktop on there with a vesa mounted 34" curved monitor.

It's pretty damn sturdy. I never notice any wobble with normal use and I usually have it pretty high up.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#35

Post by _aapy »

whalesalad wrote: post #28

Ikea's standing desks aren't that great. They wobble a lot and then anything attached to it wobbles too. Still looking for the perfect heavy-duty standing desk and heavy-duty VESA arm combo. I don't want anything on my desk moving unless I am moving it myself. To put it this way: if a desk is $500 and wobbles slightly (meaning if I touch the desk or type, my coffee jiggles and waves are seen) or is $1000 and the desk…

We have "UpliftDesk" standing desks and they seem pretty solid. I haven't used it standing but I can't wiggle the desk up/down at all.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#36

Post by whttheuuu »

imagiko wrote: post #23

Are there any desks that one has uses and really recommends? I'm not entirely sold on motorized desks, so suggestions for mechanical ones?

Ikea makes a hand crank model called the Skarstra. Take it from someone who has owned 2 hand crank desks and recently bought a motorized one - spend the extra money to get the motor.

Cranking ur desk up and down multiple times a day every day gets old fast.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#37

Post by jasonmclaren »

dbcurtis wrote: post #9

Well, on the one hand, it is great to have a replacement for the original controller. At a previous employer I had a Bekant with the stock controller, and those darn things are dreadfully unreliable. We had enough of those desks to get good reliability statistics... and the statistics are awful. So an open source replacement is great. That said: Who the heck needs a motorized desk????? When it came to spending my own…

I also had a Skarsta, and the crank mechanism came apart within about six months. (I raised/lowered it a half-dozen times per day.) I personally found the Bekant more reliable (though I only used it for a year). YMMV, I guess.

On the other hand, my Steelcase standing desk is still performing well after 7(?) years and several moves, but it was C$1500.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#38

Post by strig »

whalesalad wrote: post #28

Ikea's standing desks aren't that great. They wobble a lot and then anything attached to it wobbles too. Still looking for the perfect heavy-duty standing desk and heavy-duty VESA arm combo. I don't want anything on my desk moving unless I am moving it myself. To put it this way: if a desk is $500 and wobbles slightly (meaning if I touch the desk or type, my coffee jiggles and waves are seen) or is $1000 and the desk…

I just picked up one of their new Idasen desks. It's a lot sturdier than their previous ones that I've seen.

I get minimal wobbling of the desk surface at full height, but my monitors do still wobble a bit. At normal desk height there's no wobble. I think most of the wobble comes from the cheaper VESA mount, if I'd gotten a more rigid one it would be better but I wanted more flexibility in arranging the monitors.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#39

Post by strig »

wl wrote: post #24
ashayh wrote: post #17

The Bekant motorized desk is a terrible product with bad ratings on Ikeas own site. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49022538/ Does this project fix any of the underlying issues.

From the product page: > Why are there so many negative reviews for the BEKANT sit/stand desks? > In 2016, IKEA identified a batch of BEKANT sit/stand desk Power Supply Units and underframes that stopped working after some time. The faults were related to a production flaw. This problem has since been addressed and fixed, so all new BEKANT sit/stand desks and underframes will not have this issue. So they claim the is…

The new Ikea Idasen desks have Linak motors.

Re: Open-Source Controller for the IKEA Bekant Standing Desk

#40

Post by markgreene »

abrichr wrote: post #30

Does this controller fix the design flaw that seems to make this desk break down after few months? The Bekant has an overall 2 out of 5 stars on Ikea's own website. From https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49022538/ : > We have 8 of these desk in our office. At first they were used a lot of standing, the use has lessen some, but the problem is the power source that allows them to go up and down has gone out…

The 2/5 star rating is a shame to me, because this has not been my experience. The warranty is 10 years, not 1 year. The reviewer is mistaken about that. I've owned a Bekant Standing Desk for 3 years, and used it every day without incident. I recommend it to anyone in the market for a standing desk!
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