Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Hello
I got a lamp from ebay. Since the fluid seemed deemed to be cloudy, I asked for the lamp being sent only with the wax (seving a lot on postage)
Now, what do you guys suggest... It's better that I clean the inside of the globe? if yes, how?
then what do I have to put inside, EXACTLY.
Sorry if I ask, probably these questions had been answered already, so if at least you could post the link...
bye

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Best to know exactly what type of lamp it is, do you hava a pic?
it's a consort... thanks
Well, you can use a bottle brush to clean the inside of the globe. If you can't find that (usually sold at pet stores to clean filter pipes and hoses), you can use a DOBBIE sponge at your local grocery. It won't scratch the glass or anything and if the opening is big enough, should work perfectly. After that, rinse with some water, let dry or hand dry with a paper towel.

When you are ready to refill - this is IMPORTANT - rinse the inside of the globe with some of the liquid that will be used to fill it. This will clean the glass and remove any fine dirt, hair, dust or whatever that may still be in there and there is no worries about messing up the flow chemistry if any fluid is left behind because it's the same fluid going in.

After that, fill with wax - cover - let cool. About 30 minutes later you can fill with fluid. Then let it run, covered but not sealed in case you need more fluid/wax. Then your set. It's really easy :)
Thanks guys...
also.. it has lava in it... so I need to tke it out? if yes, how?
Heat it up and dump it. :)
without master dluid is ok to do that?
thnx
Yes, just don't heat it up and forget about it.
YES, it has some white sort of crusts on the part that contacts the spring.... maybe I'll change liquid AND wax then...bye
So, excuse me... the master fluid is solely DISTILLED WATEr???
Ok, let’s try to suggest some ideas. I had a similar deception when I purchased my first lava lamp from a site like the eBay here on Brazil: The clear liquid was clouded. When I related to the seller the problem she said that it was caused by the shaking caused by the mail service in the shipping… The explanation didn’t convince me but as I was thinking to make my own lava lamp before purchase one – now you see that the lazy can be something expensive – and even she proposing to return my money I decide stay with the lamp intending make some experiments with it. One of them you can read in the topic “Anyone ever add alcohol to the water/salt solution”.

The first suggestion I can say to you is measure the specific mass of the ooze inside your lava lamp. You can use the idea suggested at the “Retro-Basic formula” in the lava lamp formulas of our community. Instead of the ethylene glycol used by the author you can use a salt brine to estimate the specific mass (it is the right name for this propriety, not specific gravity as in the text). Even the author saying that 1,03g/cm3 is the most used specific mass for the commercial ooze, you cannot assume that it is the specific mass of your ooze and the best is measure it. You will need make solutions of water/ethylene glycol or water/salt, put a bit of the ooze inside and see if it floats or sink. You need adjust the solution several times to get the right density of it and the use of a densimeter will help too much. Now you are thinking: these devices surely are high priced! As I thought the same I performed a searching on the web and found and very accurate and easy-to-build densimeter! The text was in Portuguese and I translated to English intending to share it. If you wish, I can send the text to you. Knowing the density of the ooze will let you to make brine to repair your lamp.

If your lamp doesn’t work well with the brine, the best will be making you own lava lamp and again refer to the Retro-basic formula to do it. So, how to remove the ooze from the bottle? I put some water inside the bottle and melted the ooze using a pan with boiling water. When it melts, shake a bit the bottle and pour the ooze/water. You need wash the bottle with hot water some times to remove completely the ooze. When you do it you will discover (like me) for why the liquid become clouded: if you shake the bottle when the water is hot and the ooze is melted, the ooze mix a bit with the water clouding it. Probably the seller tested the lamp just before send it to us and packed the lamp still hot and the shaking during the transportation to the mail post was sufficient to cloud the water.

By last, I saw a video at YouTube that shows some students making a lava lamp using the Retro-basic formula. With the aid of a web friend – she made the transcription of why a narrator says at the end of the video – and with it and pictures extracted from the video I made a tutorial intended to be a complement to the text describing the Retro-basic formula. Again I can send this tutorial to anyone interested.

Kindest regards,

João Roberto Gabbardo
Thanks a lot.
SO, distilled water onlòy is not sufficient??
bye

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