What happened to my lamp

[jonny]

OK.  So i got a midnight 32 oz lamp from ebay recently.  The lamp worked great when i got it.  Then i stopped using it for awhile.  When i turned it on again the other day, it won't flow.  It just hangs as a giant blob at the bottom.  It looks like it wants to flow but it's being held back for some reason.  I picked up the bottle and gently flipped it upside down to move the coil around.  This helps it flow for a few minutes but then it dies again.  Also there seems to be some debris in the lamp.  It looks like small pieces of paper towel.  It makes me wonder if the previous owner opened it up and fiddled with it.  The cap is still the original LL cap and it doesn't look like anybody opened it and crimped it closed again so i don't know.  I'm just puzzled as to why it worked perfectly for a week and now it's dead.  I also tried it in various other LL bases and with dimmers and i get the same results.  Any ideas here??  Preferably without opening the thing up cuz i know i would just make it worse.

[Erin]

Is it detaching from the coil? What year is it? I had a 2002 US-made Lava Lite that would detach from the globe. 

What wattage bulb are you using? 

Pics would help, too. 

[Modulo '70]

Hmm, try wrapping a towel around the globe and let it run for about 5 hours solid. Keep an eye on it but don't remove the towel until after 5 hours.

[jonny]

Hmm..  when  i tilt the lamp, the coil doesn't seperate from the blob of wax completely.  Actually, it looks like it is stuck to one side of the coil.  I'm guessing this isn't normal??  Also the lamp is from 95 i think.  Doesn't look like it was used much.

 

Also, what does wrapping it with towel actually do to it???   Make it hotter???

[Gwen Williams]

To me it sounds like it is what I call "frozen"  and just need run for a good long while and yes wrapping a towel around it will help by insulating the globe a bit to make it warmer till that top "cap" melts down the way it is supposed to.  I have had this happen on lamps I have gotten second hand before.

[Erin]

There should always be wax in the coil, all the way around. It sounds like it's partially detaching from the coil.

I'd keep running it and if the wax detaches from the coil, even partially, gently swirl the bottle until it reattaches. 

jonny said:

Hmm..  when  i tilt the lamp, the coil doesn't seperate from the blob of wax completely.  Actually, it looks like it is stuck to one side of the coil.  I'm guessing this isn't normal??  Also the lamp is from 95 i think.  Doesn't look like it was used much.

 

Also, what does wrapping it with towel actually do to it???   Make it hotter???

[jonny]

Thanks for all the tips guys.  I'm happy to say that i started the lamp today.  And when it was partially melted i spun the globe for a while til wax filled up the coil.  Now it's working like a charm.  Hopefully it stays working.

 

 

While i'm here, i have another problem with another lamp.  Once again it seemed like it was working fine but now it just forms a giant pillar of wax and that's it.  Just one tall pillar from the bottom to the top of the globe.  It doesn't break off into balls or anything.  It's another 90's midnight series 32oz lamp.  Any ideas on this??

[Erin]

I have a red/white that does that. I call it "lava column". It does exactly what you say - one tall pillar, undulating, but never breaks up. Since a red/white is super rare, there's no way I'm opening that one up. There's another member here with a 52oz. red/white that does the same thing. As far as I know, there's not a solution. :(