Gee, and it is such a pretty little lamp

[Rich C]

Other than my old original Century I got for my birthday back in 1975 all my lamps are much more recent acquisitions.  Some are vintage, a few are new.  My first LL since the Century was a new Classic in purple/yellow.  I love how the lava looks, yellow, orange or red depending on the blob location and action of the lamp.  I joined OG when I was trying to get my Century fixed and back to its former glory and I read a lot about how the newer China lamps just didn't flow well, etc., etc.

Well, I was really happy with my first new LL since 1975.  It flowed great, looked great, loved it.  The flow was different than the vintage stuff but it was pretty and just flat out WORKED.  Anyway, I recently took this lamp to work to be my stress relief.  It has been flowing great, no problems there but with repeated use it now has lots of smaller bubbles in the wax making it look grainy and now it has developed a spot at the top where the wax is stuck to the globe.  I just turned the globe so the quarter sized stuck spot is at the back and out of my sight, but I still know it is there!  Just seems sad that enjoying a favorite lamp seems to be what is slowly killing it.

And it is was so pretty.....

[Loren]

I have had such horrible luck with lamps...I feel your pain! It really makes you appreciate the really good ones, though.

Lavas and glitters are just too fragile, and their inner workings too tenuous! After going through all manner of hell to restore a vintage century, and finally getting it to run perfectly, I've gotten stuck wax. Cant's fix it. This was a $200 lamp, easily. :(

Almost all of my other lamps have had issues of one kind or another. I've fixed most of them, either by cycling them until they were clear, re-attaching the wax to the coil, etc. Sometimes the effects stick, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are replaced by NEW issues. I had a purple midnight century that I LOVED...ran great. Until one day, when it spiked...and the power went off. It stayed like that, all spiked out, for a day or so. When I finally turned it back on, geysers of white powder shot out of the wax...turning the liquid into milk. It had been crystal clear! I ran it and ran it trying to clear it back up, but it NEVER recovered. :( It never ran quite right after that, either. It was all because there was a bare spot on the coil after it spiked...usually not too big a problem because it fixes itself in the normal course of running, but when it was exposed into the liquid for a long time, it caused problems.

[Carol]

I have a 52 oz purple/yellow that I'm thinking (almost pretty sure) i'm going to kit tomorrow.  It's doing such stupid boring flow......it flows okay once in awhile,  but most of the time I have to spin it to get the wax to attach to the coil the right way so that it can flow at least a tad interesting.......just not worth the effort...i'd much rather see a goo kit in it!!!

[Rich C]

So, I tried to "repair" the spot where it is sticking and no go.  I opened the cap, drained out a few ounces of the fluid and scraped off the wax residue and then rubbed down the bad spot with rubbing alcohol.  I then wiped it clean and dry and scrubbed down the top one quarter of the inside of the bottle with a mixture of a dot of dishwashing soap and the fluid.  I got everything soapy and clean looking and refilled the bottle with the fluid.  I let it sit over night and ran it this morning.  Once it got flowing, a blob immediately stuck to the same spot at the top.  *sigh*

Also, yesterday I bought a new "mega" lamp.  It has a dark red base and cap with clear fluid and red lava.  It is a beautiful lamp and though it flows a little slow, it is probably due to my cool basement.  But, the beautiful clear fluid turned milky almost the instant it began to flow and the cloudy nature didn't even dissipate while the lamp was off overnight.  From reading the cloudy article in the Lava Library, being this is a China lamp the prospects are not good for clearing it up.  Again, *sigh*

[Loren]

Rich, the only way I have been able to remove the film on the glass that makes the wax stick to it is to take a chopstick or wooden dowel rod, attach a rolled up paper towel to it with a rubber band, and mix up a paste of bon ami or comet and a few drops of water. Then scrub the living hell out of the area, rinse it, and repeat 3-4 times.

[Rich C]

I could give that a try I guess, I've got little to lose.  The new Mega lamp was only $11 but still...  Why do I keep buying new lamps, my batting average with them is pretty low at this point.  On the red guy, it was the last one they had so I can't exchange it unless I want to try another lamp and the others were all pretty ugly, or return it for a refund.  Shouldn't have to work this hard for a working lamp.

[Loren]

I have actually cleared one Chinese lava by cycling it, but it was a 12oz accent lamp. :p My cloudy colossus NEVER cleared all the way, but I will say that it got better over time (three years).

Chinese lavalites are just NOT worth it to me, sadly. :(