Goo kit or fluid/wax swap?

[Sentrex]

So I have given up on fixing the bubble issue that appears to be adherent to my yellow/blue lamp. I can't

Right now I am thinking (A) Goo Kit or (B) swapping the fluid/wax with another lamp or (C) going the homemade route. 

The recent post here indicates that Goo Kit results are not what they used to be in regards to success so I am apprehensive. Anyone that has had any recent success or failure with the goo kits - would love to hear from you.

Does anyone here believe that I could, being new at this, make my own wax?

Are fluids / wax with the newer lamps compatible with the older lamps or would I need to use globe contents from a vintage lamp?

Thanks!

[Scott Meek]

I have carried out both methods in the past.

 

There are a few things to consider before going ahead.

 

There is always going to be some loss of fluid and wax when transferring from one bottle to another (even if they are the same size) so you may have to top up from a 2^nd lamp.

(I also discovered there was a difference of 50ml of wax between and an old Crestworth and a new Mathmos Astro globe of the same volume.)

 

Since the Goo-Kit uses distilled water you don’t need to mess about with liquid formulas.

 

No matter what method you go for I would always run any lamp via a dimmer switch to control the temperature to reduce the possibility of bubbles in the wax.

 

As I live in the UK, I only swap using Mathmos globes and use Goo-Kit for unavailable colour combinations (as the Goo-Kit shipping costs to the UK are very expensive).

 

The swaps using Mathmos globes give better flow results than Goo-Kits in my opinion.

[Sentrex]

Thanks Scott -

I am thinking about changing just the wax and topping off with some fluid from another globe. As you discussed, I am concerned with the volume of wax for my 52 oz globe.

Any suggestions on the best way to come up with the weight and or volume that I would need? Should I just remove the existing wax and weigh it?

[Scott Meek]

I use a plastic food container which has volume markings on the side of it.
If you line it with something like a sandwich bag you can pour the old melted wax straight into it and note the volume it takes up.

This way you know what volume of wax to replace.
I pop it in the freezer until the wax has set again before removing.

[Sentrex]

Are the pre 2000 and current globe fluids interchangeable?

My inclination is that they are not.

Would you recommend that (or against) I top it off with some H2O, salt, & soap?

BTW - really appreciate your feedback and time thus far!

[Tim Gill]

I would recommend the DI water, propane glycol (PG) to be used instead of salt to increase the water density and soap method I have used the salt method and although it works PG gives better results.