Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Jet lamp, white plastic-like ring disintegrated.. Help!

First post here so first things first: Howdy. Hope you are all well and happy.

I use my lovely jet lamps all day every day at work and one of them has broken down a little. The wax is overheating I think due to the white ring in the base falling apart.

It's hard to find info but I think the ring might have been some kind of heat shield to stop the bottom of the bottle from getting too hot. 

I contacted Mathmos but they don't have parts for these lamps any longer, which is a shame as they are pretty popular still. 

Anyone out there got a jet base for sale or and parts that might help me, or indeed any advice on fixes or workarounds. 

In the meantime, thanks for reading and best wishes to you all. 

Cheers

Darren

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jet bases often come on ebay and pretty common, im wondering if your using a 30watt bulb? which it should be in that type of jet base, earlier metal used 40watt,  keep a eye on ebay im sure you find one soon

Hi.

Yes, I'm using 30w bulbs for the newer plastic Jet lamps. 

I use them in my studio at work, so they get around 9 hours burn per day. The plastic ring on the inside of the base seems to disintegrate over time. 

At first I thought the lamps were going moldy as there was a kind of fluffy/dusty buildup on the jar and around the upper part of the base. When I look inside the lamps theres definitely a clumpy buildup of white-ish residue and the white plastic rings seem to be slightly cracked. So I'm pretty convinced it's those rings gently disintegrating over long periods of time.

I wonder what they are made of? 

The jet lamp that gets too hot now coincidentally is the first lamp to totally loose that white ring, so it would seem it's function is to limit the heat somehow. Maybe I could make something to replace the ring that would do the same job?

I wish I could just get hold of spares for the Jet lamps as they are my absolute favorite design and I use them A LOT.. so it would seem it's only a matter of time until all the rings fail.

I didn't know they had a heat ring, like the Fluidium?

I'm sure you're right, and the ring did serve as a shield, although it's hard to imagine them being very effective as they're just plastic, and the original metal base Jets never came with any kind of ring/shield.

I've bought a lot of Jets over the years, and the rings are often missing, or have broken tabs and sit crooked, but I've never noticed a difference in the lava flow or quality with/without a ring.

I'll look out for out for one for you though, and as Johny said they're still pretty common on ebay so shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement.

The first picture is of the Jet lamp that has lost it's ring. 

Notice the white powdery residue.

The second picture is of a Jet lamp that still has it's ring, but notice the hairline cracks on the ring itself and the lumpy residue buildups on the black collar.

Wow, not seen one like that before!

It does look like they're running too hot.

Only time I've see that powdery residue before is with the cheap 25w pygmy bulbs I bought via ebay last year (marked EverReady). Most of them blow very quickly, and when they're about to blow/do blow, they leave a fishy aroma and that powdery residue.

What bulbs are you using? 

I got some cheap on ebay as well, maybe it's the same problem and the powder is from the bulbs as you say...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Maxim-30W-Light-Bulbs/20706/bn_63391776?_t...

Those look that they're pretty good quality actually.

Do they flow consistently for 9 hours. No signs of overheating?

8 hours is the maximum recommended running time really.

Yeah they seem to run fine. The only one I had a problem with is the one whose ring crumbled away - after which the wax stayed at the bottom an domed.

Sorry, I'm not sure what to suggest.

I've checked all of mine (a couple are generally used most evenings), and they all look fine, although some of the white rings are a little discoloured with age.

I have seen cracked/broken ones before though.

Looking at your original picture perhaps they're not as bad as I first thought. Had assumed the bubbling was melted plastic, but can see now it's just the bulb residue build up.

Perhaps you just had a bad batch of bulbs? 

I guess it's possible that it could be coincidence as well, i.e., the wax has simply died in that bottle? I've certainly seen a lot of Jets in great condition, but with wax that no longer flows.

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