Made a giant out of multiple lamps and now wax is floating to the top

[lavalover]

Hi. I had an old giant sitting around that wasn't being used so I filled it with various lava lamps. All the lamps I used were 'Lava Lite' brand with the white cap and red lettering. After putting them all together and running it the wax is floating to the top after it starts heating up and won't seat to the spring. I'm assuming the density is out of balance between the wax and liquid. What would he the best way to change the ratios to get it back down? Thanks.

[Mary and Ryan]

I've heard pickling salt works well. I haven't tried it yet though. Did you melt all the wax together prior to putting the water and surf back in? It needs to be poured in while still liquid and melt around the spring at the bottom, then put the surf/distilled water combo in slowly.

[lavalover]

I melted all the wax to the spring first, then allowed it to dry, then added the liquid. Didn't help. I might turn it back on and take a photo.

[lavalover]

What would be the purpose of the salt? To change the density of the liquid?

[Carol]

yeah, salt makes the lava float.  If you add too much it causes the wax to totally separate from the coil. 

[lavalover]

What I did is unbottle several lamps and put them all in. I'm running it off whatever came from lava world at the time. I thought since all the lamps were from a similar time period and were all lava lite that there would be no issue. I haven't added anything other than what was already capped inside.

[Carol]

Did you melt all of the wax together to combine it, let it cool, then add water?

[lavalover]

Yep. After it didn't seat the first time, I removed all the water, melted it to the coil, then allowed it to dry well, then added all the water back. It did what it's supposed to do at first; turn sideways and shoot some up, but after that the rest slowly followed it up and didn't stick one bit to the coil. I'm heating it back up now to see what happens but not too optimistic since none is really stuck to the coil as of now.

[lavalover]

Here's what I'm getting...

[lavalover]

As soon as it starts to get any real heat the whole blob goes up and stays up.

[Cowmatian]

I'm not sure, but I suspect that perchloroethylene might correct the issue. I believe that it is the chemical added to lava lamp wax to make it more dense than the water based solutions. Pure wax floats in water, so it would have to contain something dense, and nonpolar (so that it dissolves in the wax, and not the water solution). Perchloroethylene meets these requirements, but it is quite toxic. Don't try it though on your giant. I think it should be tried on a China lamp first. I'm going to see if I have any.

[Carol]

What wattage bulb are you using and how long do you leave it on before it totally separates?

[lavalover]

Using the 100w bulb and it runs for about the time needed to create some melting of lava before it shoots up as one chunk. About 20-30 min. It will float back down after I turn it off and it cools well.