Bubbles in wax

[Brad]

i have a couple of 90's lamps that have tons of bubbles in the wax.  they also have a very strange flow - it looks like a tornado, where the wax mostly stays in one column from the coil up the the top.  are they overheating or is this a problem with the wax?

thanks all, and happy thanksgiving!

[Tim Gill]

Its defuntalty not over heating - infact it may be slightly too cold if its just doing the snake

Check out the section in the lava libary for bubbles in wax - there is a methord known as super heating that may help sort it out.

[Brad]

very interesting.  i'm familiar with "super heating" globes, so I will try that.  thanks tim!

[Brad]

the lamp on the far left is the culprit.  it usually gets very bubbly at the top and doesn't flow like the others do.

http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3099893990?profi...

[Erin]

These are two issues I've never known any resolution to. "Lava column" and bubbles in the wax. I have a 52 oz. red/white that does the lava column thing. I think lava column is more likely to happen in 52oz. lamps than 32oz. 

As for the bubbles in the wax, I've tried everything (as have others) and to my knowledge, there's no permanent fix. 

[Bridget T]

I actually like lava column, and I am happy when my lamps do it.  However, they do switch between that and blobs so it works out ok. 

Bubbles are hard.  I have one 80's lamp that came bubbly, but has worked itself out.  When heating some of the blobs get bubbles, but they are gone when fully flowing. 

I also have a 90's 52oz that went bubbly on me after not having any.  The only thing I can think of is that I stopped it mid heating cycle and it didn't like it.  I'm running it every day, 10 hours and it seems to be getting better.  Smaller bubbles, but no fewer unfortunately.

Both the lamps are get very close to over heated (neither are dimmed) and I suspect that might have helped with the bubbles.  Worst case I plan on opening the one up and poking them while warm.  Hopefully it won't come to that.

Older lamps seem to resolve with repeated use, so I might up the bulb wattage a bit (or put it in a very warm spot) and let it run to see if any improvements are made.

[Erin]

I've opened up a lamp and poked the bubbles - it made no difference, sadly. 

[Bridget T]

I'll remember that for mine and keep that option for the very last resort.

[Brad]

thanks for all of the advice!  the columnar flow is groovy, but the bubbles are not.  i'll keep running the lamp to see if the problem works itself out over time.  if anyone else has any suggestions, feel free to post.

[Sentrex]

Hey Brad - same lamp and same problem....

... maybe I bought your lamp LOL ... seriously though, did you ever get this resolved?

Old post I know, but glad to see I am not alone!

[Brad]

last i checked, the lamp in the photo above still has bubbles in the wax.  you aren't alone at all!  many people report bubbles in the wax of their lava lite lamps.  some have them, some don't.  one theory is that they are caused when the wax isn't hot enough.  to test this, i tried a 60w bulb on a dimmer in place of the 40w.  it kinda helped, but didn't completely solve the issue.  some lamps also appear to get better with time, so run the mess out of them and hope for the best i guess!

[Sentrex]

Thanks man - after reading posts back to 2009 I figured that it was probably just "reality".

Curious, have you ever tried this from Autumn?:

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/how-to-fix-bubbly-lava-lava

[Brad]

i did not as the bubbles were in 32 and 52oz globes and i didn't want to remove the caps.  on screw cap globes, this is obviously much easier to do.  just be careful if you try it.

Sentrex said:

Thanks man - after reading posts back to 2009 I figured that it was probably just "reality".

Curious, have you ever tried this from Autumn?:

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/how-to-fix-bubbly-lava-lava