Fluidium - flow and bubbling - how do people compare them with other Mathmos lamps?

Hi folks,

I absolutely love collecting and watching Mathmos lava lamp. However i cannot understand why Fluidiums should be so fussy and temperamental.

I love the shape, the illuminated base/cap, and the flow when behaving nicely. I've managed to get hold of two orange, one green and one opal recently at very reasonable prices. However, with my other lamps - jets, telstars and astros - just switch on and enjoy! Not with the Fluidiums!

Did Mathmos change the wax and liquid formula? Since so many people seem to have used Astro liquid to do custom refils, why did Mathmos bother?

I've followed people's advice - using the 40W Halogen bulbs (with ceramic neck), dimmer switches etc., but it's difficult to set the timer on guarantee the lamp at it's best.

What do other people think?

BTW - Has anyone completely refilled the bottles with new wax and liquid (from Astros)?

If so do they work reliably?

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Permalink Reply by Tim Gill on October 17, 2011 at 11:37am

I think its that Mathmos changed the formular slightly for the fludium or the halagon heats it too much - eather way i find that the fludiums heet up quickly and yes they do have a lot of bubbles compared to astros etc.

I also think that the shape (large top small bottem) has somthing to do with it its the oppersit to astros which has a large base and smaller tops.

I would like to see / know how it compares to the grande fludiums which dont have the mathmos formular.

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Permalink Reply by Knut on October 17, 2011 at 3:08pm

I have several fluidiums, using the 40W halogen bulbs as you describe, with dimmer switches, and I find I can get really beautiful flow on all my lamps. I switch them on and put them on full power until they warm up and the wax starts to flow. Then I simply reduce the dimmer to halfway and that's usually the right spot for excellent flow. You may need to adjust a little further up or down, depending on the heat of the room the lamps are in, or to get the level of flow that's good for you.

I believe that the fluidium lamps have a slightly softer wax in them than other Mathmos lava lamps and therefore I've never tried a wax change, but I've swapped with astro liquid on occasion. You can search in the Lava Talk forum and find some descriptions of people here changing the wax and fluids in fluidiums.