Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

The bulb burnt out on my LAVA LITE Midnight Blue/White 8304 lamp - so I replaced it, but the lamp doesn't work.  I've verified the new bulbs I've tried are working, so it appears to be a fuse in the lamp that's the problem.  Thing is I cannot figure out where the fuse might be?

Suggestions?

Dan

Views: 470

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

There are no fuses in a lava lamp.  If there was a fuse, you would be changing out fuses and not blowing bulbs.  Probably a shorted lamp socket or a loose wire to socket that is grounding out.  Sounds like wiring needs to be pulled and socket, switch and wire needs to be inspected. Good luck.

How easy is it to fix a lamp socket?  Seems odd that a wire would suddenly come loose to cause a short.  The lamp actually burnt out not at switch-on, which is usually when that happens to me, but after the lamp had been on for about 45 minutes (judging by the state of partial wax melting).

It does sound like a wiring failure of some sort.  I wouldn't trust that base until the wiring is examined as Mr MaGoo said

A loose wire on either pole of the socket can cause a bulb to fail.  This situation can also cause the wiring to heat up and fail.  Once the lamp is unplugged, I  would remove the wiring, socket and switch out of lamp and visually inspect the two connections on the socket.  There are some sockets where the wires that go straight into the bottom of sockets.  If this is the case,  I would replace with a new socket with screws on either side or two screws on the bottom of socket.   If there is a screw on either side of the socket, once the socket, wire and switch are out of base and circuit is unplugged, check both sides of the socket where the wire is screwed into the socket for loose connections.  Would also check the integrity of the switch connection. But to me, sounds like switch is ok, but would still rule it out.  Remember, some of these lamps are close to 60 years old.  Good luck and keep us in the loop. Thanks.

Bump...any update?

None yet.  I've not had the time to do surgery on the lamp.  Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll let folks know what I find.

Keep us posted Daniel, and update with pics.  Looking forward to seeing progress.  ty

I had a similar problem recently which may or may not be the same as yours.

The bulb must make contact with the rectangular piece of copper at the bottom center of the bulb receptacle. I used some needle nose pliers to raise that piece up and presto. Sometimes that piece gets pressed down to far and the next bulb cannot make contact.

It could also be your new bulb is not seating due to burs on the bulb. When I have a situation where the bulb is not seating I actually use a piece of sandpaper on the bulb threads to make sure they are all smooth thus allowing a snug fit..

Good Luck!

Reply to Discussion

RSS

About

Autumn created this Ning Network.

GooHeads

Groups

© 2024   Created by Autumn.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service