Goo-Kit Refurbishing & Streaking

[Peter W]

Browsing OG and looking for discussions, user experiences, and solutions to this, I found a few short discussions on users photos, but nothing in Problems & Questions.

I've been trying to re-correct this problem with refurbished and improved lamps. Many other lava heads believe it comes from leftover soap residue left inside the bottle after sanitizing. I have tried the cleaning process in different orders to combat this like many others. Boiled then emptied, boiled again with soap, bottle brush scrubbed, emptied, rinsed, brakleen scrubbed then emptied, rinsed with distilled, and finally filled with goo. With my most recent tinkering I have reasons to believe that streaking comes from the magma tower goo.

I added MT Goo dyed yellow, to a very new factory original 52oz Schylling Violet Water/Yellow Wax which had a very slow flow and I wanted more motion. The original water is still in there. Some water had to be removed to compensate for the added MT Goo, and I added a small amount of MT Surfactant. The flow is much better, but over time some small streaks appeared. This confused me because everything except the surfactant and added goo is original. It was never emptied, cleaned, and sanitized with soap and brakleen.

One particular refurbished 20oz lamp I have was completely free'd of causing residue streaks. It had ran for over 1000 hours prior. I got tired of seeing the amount of streaks, so I exchanged the goo into a freshly cleaned 20oz globe, fresh distilled water and mccormick neon blue food dye, sealed with an unused bottle cap. No Streaks, completely clean, it's Perfect. Done.

I'm beginning to think that it's some agent in the MT Goo that disperses over time. My suppositions are that after this unknown agent has completely separated and streaked a globe maybe then you won't see it again if you were to transfer that goo into a freshly cleaned bottle.

Maybe this agent leaches from 'HDPE' plastic containers? MT uses those type of containers for their goo, and so does distilled water (unless you're buying the thinner 'PP' 1-gallon milk jug style of distilled).

I've been building a 32" tall 176oz custom tube style tower--almost finished and ready to fill...

Now I'm thinking I run multiple unfinished 20oz and 36 oz lamps with the intended goo in order to disperse, cleanse, and burn off the streaking agent. So I hopefully get no streaks in this monster I've been working on...

What are your experiences and thoughts on this?

[Claude J]

When you say streaked are you referring to lava stuck to the bottle?

Are you forgetting to coat the bottle with SURF prior to adding the goo?

You should NOT use break keen to clean the bottle.
It is ONLY used to increase the density of the wax by directly mixing it into the wax when hot for that classic flow

I've attached a PDF tutorial I made for the correct process for restoring/reloading globes

REFURBISHING%20A%20GLOBE.pdf

[Peter W]

No. There are no blobs of lava stuck to either of the bottles. It's a milky white film that seems to happen when the lava heats up and is still semi-solid, rising, sliding along the globe and making the expected rocky formations before fully heated.

No. I always coat the bottle with SURF before adding goo, and I melt the goo in a double boiler at a simmer so not to damage it.

Well I've never had a problem with using Brakleen initially after the first dish soap scrub, and then boil bath and soap scrub 2-3 more times with hot water rinse in-between each soap scrub, then a hot distilled rinse and then surf coating after cooldown. Why should you not use Brakleen to clean the bottle? and I didn't know Brakleen could be used to increase the density...

Thank you for the PDF link. Some new info. Surf ratios are a little higher than what I've done before for 32oz and 52oz. I've always been very meticulous in my ratios with respect to water/goo amounts. MT directions for surf ratio is the only part I've followed from their pamphlet, but I think I'll start going a little higher with surf. Not having enough surf could be the culprit here, and maybe its not doing its job in isolating the lava, But every 20oz I refurbish has been 5ml SURF.

I've attached a picture of a 20oz, and the 52oz tweaked with added goo and surf which now has that nice classic flow. Those tiny dots are air bubbles, there is no wax stuck to either of those bottles. (hoping they upload...)

Why my 52oz has this same streaking just doesn't make any sense. It having been out of the box pristine and only tweaked with added goo and surf, and some original water removed via a clean 10ml syringe-like pump. That's what has led me to believe its something in the MT goo.

[Claude J]

If you desire to thoroughly clean the bottles, ..
After cleaning the bottles with DAWN, Clean the bottles with SULFURIC acid, rinse well, and add SURF
(WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR)

Perhaps try a different brand of SURF as this one is apparently clouding the bottles
Go to chemistry connection and get a quart, it will last you a long time

As far as I'm concerned, The ML amount is just a general reference.
I'm willing to bet MT goo buys their SURF in a gel form as I do from chemistry connection and dilutes it for resale (as it comes in with less viscosity in a gel form)
(The amount they dilute with water would directly affect the amount you add )

I just coat the bottle with lightly diluted SURF, toss the rest back into its storage bottle, and add molten goo, then adjust accordingly (if at all) when it is flowing

Brakecleen is ONLY used to adjust the specific gravity/density of the old school goo recipe

Not sure how you got the idea to use it to clean the bottle??

See other topics on the forum for reverse-engineering the was the formula that Autumn has been posting

[Peter W]

Good to know.

Having read that many others use it or other forms of acetone as a detergent, and seeing this dudes video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSlDnEEYSgU&ab_channel=JamesRimmer