Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker first time caller. I've been having trouble with my gookit goo sticking to the globes no matter what I do. I'm following the tutorial on this site (thank you). I've even gone a step beyond the bottle brush scrub, using a set of small aquarium cleaning magnets with a piece of wash cloth attached on the inside. Some I've also cleaned the inside of the globe with brakclean (perc) then did the hot soapy water scrub again with a fresh piece of wash cloth. Then per instructions I'm mixing up the included surfactant with a small amount of distilled water. Replace coil that's been cleaned with hot soapy water. Completely coat the inside of the globe with it, dumping the remainder into a four cup measuring cup. Warm up the goo until melted and use the funnel and tube to slowly add it to the globe. I did filter the wax through a piece of paper towel since it was full of grit and bits of who knows what. (Not impressed with that ). I then let it sit for a couple hours. I add enough distilled water to the measuring cup with the reaming surf to equal 4 cups, then use it to fill the globe. I'm using standard 40 watt appliance bulbs with dimmers. I've done five 32 ounce and one 52 ounce globes so far. Every single one of these buggers is sticking at the bottom. Either just around the outside bottom or directly to the bottom of the globe. A couple of these I've redone a few times and get the same results. What am I doing wrong my fellow goo heads? I'm out of ideas.

Thanks,
Devon

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I use Dawn to clean the globe, then when washed out completely, add some surfacent to the globe, add some water and shake vigerously. Dump out,, rinse 1x leaving a coating on the glass, then add goo kit

Hello Claude J! Thank you for your reply. Blue dawn and almost boiling hot water is what I've been using. So your saying after you've added surf and some water and coat the inside you rinse the globe again afterwards? I'm willing to try anything. I just went a third round with a 32 oz globe and it's sticking at the bottom again. I don't want to let this beat me but I'm close.. lol.

you will find that it would take many rinsings to get a clean globe after adding surf.

Only rinse 1x and leave some in there so when you add goo, it will not stick

another method is to add some distilled water and then the hot goo, it will solidify and not be able to attach to the globe

Ok. I'm going to try both of those methods on the next two here shortly. I will report back. Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Well I took Claude's advice. Rinsed once after the surf shake. Then added back in a little distilled and also held the tube up off bottom but still under water. And now?...

Claude J is officially my hero! Thank you sir! Going to try and post some pics.
Pics
Attachments:

That is gorgeous!!

(also, copy and paste works for photos)

Thanks Keith! It's not the shade of purple I was shooting for but I dig it anyway.

I can't seem to do the copy and paste from my iPhone. Photobucket didn't work well either. Any iPhone users have any tips for posting photos? It's all I have.

Your Welcome

Glad to help

Update: well bad news. They're sticking again. Same as before. I get two runs out of them and then they stick to the bottom and about a 1/4 inch up the sides. Is bad goo (just to sticky?) a possibility? I bought two quarts and it's all this way. For the record I'm using a laser temp gun and watching them like a hawk. The hottest I let one get was 117 Fahrenheit.

I have one too.

125 DegF should be the max

How did you heat the goo?

microwave or water bath (preferred method)

Well the first go was microwave 15 seconds at a time until melted. I used water bath to remove from globe and there after. Do you think I killed the wax? A couple of these globes I've done a few times with the same goo as first attempt.

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