Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

I'm having some problems with Goo Kit wax sticking to a 32oz globe.  I thoroughly washed the inside of the globe with dawn and water, then put in the dishwasher, then cleaned out with dawn and water again.  I coated the inside of the globe with surfactant, then added the wax and water.  When I heat the globe, wax flows up the side of the globe and hangs at the top.  This is with a 30w appliance bulb.  Is there something wrong with this wax, or am I doing something terribly wrong?  This is the second time I've had this issue with the same batch of wax.

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Hi Lizette and Kim - thanks for the replies.  What do you recommend we clean our globes with prior to adding your wax to prevent sticking?

you need to empty the water(make sure the wax is hard condition) then put the bottle back in the lamp and turn on until wax is a liquid state. Caution do not leave it alone !!!!!!! Also you can put the bottle in a pan with water and boil it till it is soft then make sure you use cooking pads to empty the wax into a container. Then take the hot water from the pan and rinse the until all the wax is gone. Then take a bottle scrubber with liquid dish soap clean out at least 2 to 3 times then rinse with distilled water then dry. Mainly the reason for sticking is not enough surfactant or the water temp is to low. Purchase a thermometer with a probe and get a reading 115 to 120 degrees is a perfect water temp.

Cheers, Kim

 

Im thinking the goo is not as green as its suppose to be. In case, if i use a 30w reflector bulb the wax will just sit there, but worked just fine before i goo kitted it. If i use a 40w reflector bulb will work, because it brings the bulb closer to the base of the bottle. Only problem with this is because its a longer bulb, you need the old bulb shield you would get with the older fluidium, because it will scorch the inside of the base. So im thinking the goo needs to be broke down chemically because im not seeing it as being any greener. It works fine too if you set it in a pan and boil it, then it works.

thanks, kim!  i'll try out your suggestions.


Kim Hotinger said:

you need to empty the water(make sure the wax is hard condition) then put the bottle back in the lamp and turn on until wax is a liquid state. Caution do not leave it alone !!!!!!! Also you can put the bottle in a pan with water and boil it till it is soft then make sure you use cooking pads to empty the wax into a container. Then take the hot water from the pan and rinse the until all the wax is gone. Then take a bottle scrubber with liquid dish soap clean out at least 2 to 3 times then rinse with distilled water then dry. Mainly the reason for sticking is not enough surfactant or the water temp is to low. Purchase a thermometer with a probe and get a reading 115 to 120 degrees is a perfect water temp.

Cheers, Kim

 

Hi Folks,

I too have just done a goo kit.  We're so focused on goo and water..  I might like to ask here about the surfactant.  I've talked to Kim about this.  It is recommended to use 10ml per quart of water.   For a 52 oz. bottle thats about 15ml.  When I did that, the goo went numb!!!  Less surf gave more action.  ALSO, it's taking like about 4 hrs. for the lamp to warm up (40watt A15 bulb)!!!  The color (orange) is absolutely phenomenal beautiful, but I just can NOT get this goo to groove. 

So what do we do with the surfactant??  Are we coating the inside bottle with i prior to goo pour?  And do we put it all in at once or add it in increments of say 3ml which is what I'm doing???

Thanks for the help though Kim, we all do appreciate it as we are using your product to get our lamps back to how they should work after they got here from China.


Vince

Vince and to all the wax and the surfactant are two of the most important things when working on changing out old wax. But the most important thing after doing that is water temperature. Our Goo needs to operate in 115 to 120 degrees and if you don't reach that temp your wax will never operate at it's maximum splendor of eruptions.

Kim 

Jack, the goo or wax need 115 to 120 degrees in water temperature to work in the lamps. Bulbs are sold in different height bases check with your lighting store on the base height.

jack said:

Im thinking the goo is not as green as its suppose to be. In case, if i use a 30w reflector bulb the wax will just sit there, but worked just fine before i goo kitted it. If i use a 40w reflector bulb will work, because it brings the bulb closer to the base of the bottle. Only problem with this is because its a longer bulb, you need the old bulb shield you would get with the older fluidium, because it will scorch the inside of the base. So im thinking the goo needs to be broke down chemically because im not seeing it as being any greener. It works fine too if you set it in a pan and boil it, then it works.

I just wanted to report that after emptying the 32oz globe and washing it with tap water, then dumping and refilling with a mixture of 9ml surfactant and DI water, the wax no longer sticks.  I took that suggestion from Dr. What's guide on here.

Brad the two kit lamps I did I rinsed the inside of the globe with about an ounce of distilled with a few drops of surf and you can see the glass literally coat (think slimy clear) but I've had no issues with goo sticking when the glass is pre-treated like this.   Even the LL lamp I show on another recent thread I coated the inner glass with surf and distilled and the LL wax does not stick to the sides.

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