Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

One of the main issues I'm trying to address with my lamp builds is the wax appearance. Maybe with the newest batch of wax that I mixed with microcrystalline for the first time, maybe it won't be as much an issue, but I'm not convinced yet.

Basically, unless I power the lamp on at 100% power (40W bulb), the wax looks mottled when it reaches the flowing stage. It looks pretty awful-almost like there's little bits of wax that never quite melted and got swept up in the flow. If I keep my lamps at 100%, I can maybe run them for an hour or two before they start getting too hot.

The other issue I'm having is no matter what extension spring I use to make the coils for my lamps, they always corrode and bits of oxidation start showing up in the wax. I've used Zinc coated springs from a variety pack from Amazon, the stainless steel springs from Home Depot, and have been trying (without luck) to even see about sourcing stainless steel music wire to just turn my own coils with my drill and some all thread as a guide. Maybe the gauge of metal in these DIY coils is too thick or they're not 'true' stainless steel?

I appreciate any advice I can get.

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It does not HAVE TO BE a spring, it can also be large mesh stainless steel screen material
The purity of stainless steel also has a lot to do with it.

These can be bought in a variety of sizes
https://www.mcmaster.com/2930T57/?fbclid=IwAR13RVDdWXreoPGisdIan-eX...

The screen material might be worth looking into for me at some point, although I don't know how I'd get it into the mouth of my bottles and if it should be flat or have a form of some sort at the bottom of my globe for better effect. I feel like the small mesh chicken wire (hexagonal holes) could also maybe work. I would sort of look like the anode grid on a Nixie tube I suppose.

I just like the coils because they're simple to make from extension springs.

If my wax is more dense than my fluid and sinks when cooled, it solidifies around the coil and seems to help protect it somewhat from oxidation more than when it's left exposed to the fluid (wax stuck at the top).

Claude J said:

It does not HAVE TO BE a spring, it can also be large mesh stainless steel screen material
The purity of stainless steel also has a lot to do with it.

These can be bought in a variety of sizes
https://www.mcmaster.com/2930T57/?fbclid=IwAR13RVDdWXreoPGisdIan-eX...

you just roll it up and drop it down the neck of the bottle then flatten it out with a wooden dowel rod or equivalent, You only need the mesh to be as wide as the bottom of the bottle
Mattgyver92 said:

The screen material might be worth looking into for me at some point, although I don't know how I'd get it into the mouth of my bottles and if it should be flat or have a form of some sort at the bottom of my globe for better effect. I feel like the small mesh chicken wire (hexagonal holes) could also maybe work. I would sort of look like the anode grid on a Nixie tube I suppose.

I just like the coils because they're simple to make from extension springs.

If my wax is more dense than my fluid and sinks when cooled, it solidifies around the coil and seems to help protect it somewhat from oxidation more than when it's left exposed to the fluid (wax stuck at the top).

Claude J said:

It does not HAVE TO BE a spring, it can also be large mesh stainless steel screen material
The purity of stainless steel also has a lot to do with it.

These can be bought in a variety of sizes
https://www.mcmaster.com/2930T57/?fbclid=IwAR13RVDdWXreoPGisdIan-eX...

It HAS TO BE a high quality stainless steel, anything else will corrode over time



Mattgyver92 said:

The screen material might be worth looking into for me at some point, although I don't know how I'd get it into the mouth of my bottles and if it should be flat or have a form of some sort at the bottom of my globe for better effect. I feel like the small mesh chicken wire (hexagonal holes) could also maybe work. I would sort of look like the anode grid on a Nixie tube I suppose.

I just like the coils because they're simple to make from extension springs.

If my wax is more dense than my fluid and sinks when cooled, it solidifies around the coil and seems to help protect it somewhat from oxidation more than when it's left exposed to the fluid (wax stuck at the top).

Claude J said:

It does not HAVE TO BE a spring, it can also be large mesh stainless steel screen material
The purity of stainless steel also has a lot to do with it.

These can be bought in a variety of sizes
https://www.mcmaster.com/2930T57/?fbclid=IwAR13RVDdWXreoPGisdIan-eX...

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