China Lamp? Replace The Coil!

[Kris]

I decided to test and see if a new coil in my China clear/white 52oz would fix it's issues. What do you know, it does! I thought I would share the spring type I used and some photos in case anyone out there wants to give it a go. Well worth it. My lamp actually flows now. Before, it would not attach to the spring and it would just blob up at the bottom and stay there. Even after cleaning the cheap coil inside.

Now, it's what a lava lamp should be! :D Thanks to all here for the wealth of information and knowledge. Without it, this would not have happened.

Package Info - Springs purchased at Lowe's

Old coil on the left, new coil on the right. Penny is to show size.

Great new flow!

[ferrisnox]

A press capper would have been good to know ; )

[Kris]

Never cap hot. Cap it cold.

[Kris]

Well, every time I mention it someone else comes along and says that they can make the hand cappers work. So, I don't mention it anymore :)

Bench cappers work perfectly every time!

[ferrisnox]

How do they make the hand cappers work... I wonder?

[Kris]

They pound them with hammers or something. It's not something I would do. Bench cappers are around $35 depending on where you buy them. Worth the investment if you plan on doing this sort of thing again and again.

[Pretzel Gal]

Just wanted to say THANKS, Kris for posting pics of the spring and packaging. I easily found some today at Lowe's no problem. Seems like my Lava woes are continuing. The only thing I haven't done with my other globe is switch out the coil.

[Kris]

Great. Hope it fixes the issues. Stupid China lamps :(

[LavaMeister]

Hi Kris:

I went to Lowes and they couldn't find the spring you pictured. I have measured the springs in three vintage 32 oz lamps and have found them all to be around 5.5 in. long. The one you bought is described as a 3 in. Did you stretch it a little? Also, yours is .028 coil thickness. I'm measuring around .014 for the vintage coils with a dial caliper. Yours are twice as thick and would most certainly collect more heat for the lava. 5/16" is exactly what I have measured for the overall diameter of my coils. Do you know if your local Lowes still sells the springs?

[Kris]

The springs were stretched to achieve the correct length. They are also thicker which I believe helps with the heat dissipation. The end result - the lava flows like it should.

I went to Lowe's a month back to purchase springs for another person on here. They still had the springs for purchase.

[LavaMeister]

Thanks Kris. Maybe I'll have to find them online. They simply didn't have them in the store in my area. See you around!

[Ouija]

You should email this to Lava World, so they can ignore it...

[LavaMeister]

They are good at ignoring us. When I first got back into the lamps I tried to my dismay to communicate with them. They simply don't return emails and I don't think they have ever seen a telephone or know how to use one. There's a new member here who goes by 'Tim Courtney'. He says he is directly involved in a project with Lava World. I asked him to quiz them on why they ignore their customers but he hasn't come back with a response yet. Maybe you should ask him as well. Heck, ask everybody on your friends list to contact him. Maybe we will get a response one day from the company. One chord of encouragement though....I contacted Mathmos a few weeks ago and asked them if they had plans to market in the United States. They said they had a lot of requests for their lamps. Duh! I wonder why? LOL! Anyway, they said they are working on getting licensing to sell here in the states. Can't wait to get a quality lamp from them wired to plug straight in the wall without a converter.