Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Hey fellow lava geeks, I bought a vintage 1978 Lava Lite Model 1123 several months ago and the thing has never worked as it should. Part of it is my fault I'm sure because I shook it before finding out that this was a big no no. But in my defense it wasn't working before I shook it but I'm sure it didn't help things. Anyway, the liquid is really cloudy, probably from the shaking, and the goo is a nasty grey green color that looks like it came from a nasty lagoon. It doesn't flow but sits mostly in a yucky looking blob at the bottom. The heating coil is in place and is in good shape, not rusty at all and the lamp looks to be the original 40 Watt Sunbeam bulb. I believe my only option is to throw out the old nasty grey goo and start fresh with new liquid and wax. What is my best option? I dont mind experimenting with home brew stuff if I've got a good viable list of the needed items. Or should I just buy a goo kit and go that route? If I go with a home brew, can someone give me a list of the items needed and amounts and a proper sequence of mixing? Also what type of wax? Candle, canning, ect? Thanks for any and all help!!!

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Sounds like an original "snot rocket", greenish wax with blue liquid where the liquid has faded and the wax has been cooked and yellowed.  Replacing the contents may be the right move.  

But here's something else you can try, sometimes an older lamp needs more heat than it used to.  So I have had to run lamps on a 60 watt bulb to get good flow although they have to be monitored to prevent overheating.  You could try that and see what happens.  You could also use a dimmer to control the lamp so it doesn't get the full 60 watt heat.  Of course the color of the globe would still be the same.  At least if this does work (not guaranteed but an easy experiment) you could then get wax dye to change the wax color pretty easily.

Keith that is a fairly accurate description for sure, it does look like a nasty blob of snot suspended in a faded bluish liquid. If I choose to do a complete redo, what is a good liquid recipe to use and what type of wax should I look for? Will regular candle wax work? And thanks again for the response, I appreciate it. I'd really like to get this thing working like it should.

Keith said:

Sounds like an original "snot rocket", greenish wax with blue liquid where the liquid has faded and the wax has been cooked and yellowed.  Replacing the contents may be the right move.  

But here's something else you can try, sometimes an older lamp needs more heat than it used to.  So I have had to run lamps on a 60 watt bulb to get good flow although they have to be monitored to prevent overheating.  You could try that and see what happens.  You could also use a dimmer to control the lamp so it doesn't get the full 60 watt heat.  Of course the color of the globe would still be the same.  At least if this does work (not guaranteed but an easy experiment) you could then get wax dye to change the wax color pretty easily.

I still would like to get this thing working. Where can I get new wax and fluid? Its a Lava Lite Model 1123.

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