If you have a Imperial, I have a ? maybe FogRider

Probably a question for FogRider.... I finally was able to remove the cap from my Imperial (boiling water did the trick, FogRider was right) and im ready to begin my restoration on it. The question I have is did yours have the rubber belt in the wax with the spring ?? It looks like a small fanbelt from a car and its in the center of the wax in a horseshoe pattern with the spring around the outer edge of the cylinder. I have never heard anyone talk of this rubber belt. Im leaving it in, but wondering what it is for. I will get a pic of it but I put the wax bottom side down in the bucket and I dont want to handle it too much, its rather soft.

Im removing and filtering the liquid and a light cleanup of the wax ( some spots of white residue) and cleaning the cylinder. It runs great with HUGH strings and blobs of lava moving everywhere, it was just too murky to see it well, so filtering the fluid was needed. Im waiting for the filter...the MSR unit. I will post up a start to finish project with pics....I just forgot to get one while it was murky and running, it never dawned on me to take a pic of the cloudy runner. Some start pics..

LampHead

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Permalink Reply by Christian BayLee on July 12, 2017 at 6:19pm

Sorry to comment on the old Post gentlemen. I'm having some real trouble getting my imperial to flow. Bought it a few weeks ago locally and it's been a project ever since. I suspected the fluid was incorrect and switched to distilled water. It didn't flow at all. Added some dawn- little action when the soap drops got to the bottom but literally no flow. Maybe I need to start over? I want to see this thing flow so bad. Maybe the wax isn't no good....any ideas?

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Permalink Reply by LampHead on July 16, 2017 at 2:55pm

What type/wattage bulb are you using ?

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Permalink Reply by Christian BayLee on July 17, 2017 at 5:43pm

Hey LampHead, I'm usuing a 150watt floodlight that I got on eBay. The original bulb that came out of it was the same type but was so rusty and corroded- it wasn't easy getting it out.. I believe it needs a complete rewire just to be safe, but it still works and gets nice and hot with the new bulb I put in. I ended up dumping the dawn liquid I made thinking it was too strong, going to start over. I was told maybe the magma tower surf would work well with some saltwater slowly added. I'm really at a loss as to how much it needs though.
Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Claude J on July 19, 2017 at 12:16am

Something that old, your best to start over
Dawn is only for cutting the buildup and cleaning the globe/cylinder
The process is as such
Start boiling 2 pans of water
Empty fluid and discard
Heat goo (with lamp is ok)
Remove goo and save
Keep in mason jars on stove in water bath that is now on simmer form boil, so it stays liquid during the following process

Add dawn and boiling water (wear waterproof gloves)
Thoroughly clean globe with bottle brush
Run tap sop water gets hot while doing this
Dump boiling water and residual goo
Add a touch more dawn, fill with hot tap water'
Clean again
Rinse repeatedly with hot tap water until there are NO soap bubbles left.
Add Surf and 2 cups distilled water
Shake, and roll fluid around globe until all glass is coated well
Add more distilled water until @ 1/3 full
Slowly add heated goo with funnel and down tube attached to funnel so it is submersed just under water level.
Lava will cool immediately upon hitting the water.
Doing it this way will ensure it will not stick to the globe/tube.
Add remaining distilled water
Cover loosely and put into water bath and heat until all goo is floating for a while
This is to get out any bubbles created by filling the lave into the globe/tube
Let cool-BE PATIENT
Remove some fluid (@ 1 cup in your case)
heat on lamp base until hot (125F) and add propylene glycol until density/specific gravity is changed enough for floatation

If you want to see pictures of the process, go to http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/go-big-or-go-home-lol

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Permalink Reply by LampHead on July 19, 2017 at 1:15am

150 watter is the correct bulb. I would follow what Claude posted and redo the water. The soap has to come out for sure, it will breakdown the wax. Try covering just the top with a towel too, it may kick the heat up enough to get it going. Mine takes 4+ hours to get running depending on room temp so make sure you give it enough time.