Mathmos iO overheating

[perishingtardis]

Anyone had any problems with the iO overheating? In mine the wax goes into one big lump and detaches from the coil after about 6 hours... the room temperature is only about 21 degrees.

[Paul]

Just needs a dimmer. I use them for every lamp, still no idea why the only one that included one was the Lunar. 

I give it a couple of hours to warm up at max then drop it work to about 20%, should be good for hours then. 

[perishingtardis]

Thanks for the advice Paul. I actually ordered a plug-in dimmer yesterday - hopefully it does the trick. Still though, if Mathmos have tested these they should know they overheat quickly and a dimmer should be supplied for free.

Paul said:

Just needs a dimmer. I use them for every lamp, still no idea why the only one that included one was the Lunar. 

I give it a couple of hours to warm up at max then drop it work to about 20%, should be good for hours then. 

[VintageLavaLamps]

Unfortunately the design and build of the IO seemed very rushed. Things like adding a dimmer would have been a simple thing. Or even added a heating element and then used led for the light source. Giving the lamp a more moden feel.  Im still so upset with having to send my io back for a refund. 

[perishingtardis]

They experimented with heating plates years ago with the Smart Astro. I never had one but apparently it didn't work well in practice, so I guess they abandoned the idea. I am gutted for you - it is not nice to have to send back something you were so looking forward to.

Mike Bateman said:

Unfortunately the design and build of the IO seemed very rushed. Things like adding a dimmer would have been a simple thing. Or even added a heating element and then used led for the light source. Giving the lamp a more moden feel.  Im still so upset with having to send my io back for a refund. 

[Paul]

Considering the price of the lamps I totally agree they should all come with a dimmer, they don’t really work well without them and overheat really quickly. Every bottle is wildly different tho. 

LEDs would have been cool in the iO too. I had some Smart Astros, they were supposed to regulate the temperature of the lamp but they didn’t at all. They just warmed up and overheated immediately and as you couldn’t dim them they were unusable. Shame they abandoned them tho and didn’t tweak them as they did look great. 

Another classic Mathmos how did this even make it out of the door QC issue :-D. I've had some real jank from them but they are great as sorting it out. Still, we are lucky to have them in the UK. 

[Lava_Head_UK]

Hi just wondered if you got the plug in dimmer switch and does it work ok with the io? 

[perishingtardis]

Yep, I got this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01G1WEKW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin...

I usually put it on full for about 3 hours to get it moving, then I turn it down to 2 notches below full. Works perfectly.

Lava_Head_UK said:

Hi just wondered if you got the plug in dimmer switch and does it work ok with the io? 

[Lava_Head_UK]

Ha that is the one I saw earlier when to my Amazement I discovered the io doesn’t have one !!

just ordered it so let’s hope it arrives before my io does next week.

Thank you for the response & link, it’s greatly appreciated.

perishingtardis said:

Yep, I got this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01G1WEKW4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin...

I usually put it on full for about 3 hours to get it moving, then I turn it down to 2 notches below full. Works perfectly.

Lava_Head_UK said:

Hi just wondered if you got the plug in dimmer switch and does it work ok with the io?