Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Completed my 1st goo kit this past week but I seem to have failed.  All I'm getting after almost 5 hrs is a dome.  Where did I go wrong?  Do I need more surf, more heat, or do I need to start adding Epsom salt to the water or something?  Saw some other threads where others had similar behavior with this newer formula, one mentioned possibly being too much surf, the other went to a 60 watt bulb.  Thought the goo kits were supposed to run on less heat than standard wax. 

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Willing to bet the wax is bad, assuming you used DI water and not tap.
Are you using a 60w bulb?

Stupid question and just making sure, you put the coil back in there correct? Your kit may need to be left on for a day or so. How much surf did you use?

All my gookits started up super slow. With a cycle or two they got really good. 60w bulb seems too weak since my 52s ran fine with 40w

Hi All,

Thank-you for the input.  Run 2 tonight is going much better, I've got action.  I think my mistake was putting on a heritage century base last night (again...going by the talk that goo kit wax didn't need as much heat, thought it'd be a good fit for the extra heritage base, but I was wrong).  I put it on a regular premier 52oz base tonight and within 2 hrs it was doming, then about 20 min later it was flowing.  Flow is OK, more varied than the China 52 oz lamps, however the lava is still crystal clear.  Hoping it will turn more opaque with cycling?  Does the flow also tend to get better and better w/ more cycles or is what I'm getting tonight pretty much what its going to do?

The coil is a home made job...its an extension spring I picked up in a 2 pack from lowes.  Someone on here suggested these on another thread.  However I have no idea if its stainless or not.  I also had to stretch it out some to get it to mimic a normal coil...the springs as they were bought were compressed, as extension springs are.  But I was able to stretch it out some and form a coil that looked very similar to an actual one and it seems to be fine so far. 

I used distilled water for the liquid, and the surf that came w/ the goo kit.  Should be 10ml, maybe slightly more.  What I did was mix a half gallon of fluid up, and in that I put 20ml, since they called for 10ml per quart.  The lamp took most of the half gallon, so its prob between 12 and 15ml in the lamp?

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Update on the goo kit:

1st set of files is the 2nd run.   2nd set is the 6th run.

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6th run:  

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Great looking lamp Jeff! Seeing all these white wax lamps is giving me the itch to make my own again.

Jeff said:

I would make sure those springs you got are indeed stainless steel. If not they'll rust and ruin your lamp.

Jeff said:

Hi All,

Thank-you for the input.  Run 2 tonight is going much better, I've got action.  I think my mistake was putting on a heritage century base last night (again...going by the talk that goo kit wax didn't need as much heat, thought it'd be a good fit for the extra heritage base, but I was wrong).  I put it on a regular premier 52oz base tonight and within 2 hrs it was doming, then about 20 min later it was flowing.  Flow is OK, more varied than the China 52 oz lamps, however the lava is still crystal clear.  Hoping it will turn more opaque with cycling?  Does the flow also tend to get better and better w/ more cycles or is what I'm getting tonight pretty much what its going to do?

The coil is a home made job...its an extension spring I picked up in a 2 pack from lowes.  Someone on here suggested these on another thread.  However I have no idea if its stainless or not.  I also had to stretch it out some to get it to mimic a normal coil...the springs as they were bought were compressed, as extension springs are.  But I was able to stretch it out some and form a coil that looked very similar to an actual one and it seems to be fine so far. 

I used distilled water for the liquid, and the surf that came w/ the goo kit.  Should be 10ml, maybe slightly more.  What I did was mix a half gallon of fluid up, and in that I put 20ml, since they called for 10ml per quart.  The lamp took most of the half gallon, so its prob between 12 and 15ml in the lamp?

I wish I knew how to tell...there is nothing on the package anywhere.  I guess if I start noticing rust in the wax then I'll know :(  Where would I find stainless steel ones though if they aren't?

That white is too sick! You know, I wonder what would be involved in setting up a color dial between the bulb and the globe; something to phase in different color light.

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