Midnight Lamp Restorations - Some Questions

[Kris]

I have some questions for all the pros out there.

I have a Cranberry lamp I purchased last year sometime. It is a great lamp with the exception of two issues. First, the liquid has a pale brown color to it. Looks like some of the wax color has leeched into the liquid? I don't know. Second, is the lamp is a little low on fluid. I am guessing maybe a quarter of an inch more and it would be perfect, maybe half an inch if that. Not sure what that relates to as far as ounces goes. Those are the two issues.

So, I followed some info on here about getting an older bottle cap opener. Got two in a week ago and decided to pop the top. I was told this would spare the cap and allow a recap using the original cap. Seems to have done the job quite nicely. After removing the cap, I noticed why the lamp lamp was a bit low on fluid. It appears it leaked out through the cap ever so slowly over time. The cap inside was brown/rusted? in one section. I cleaned it up with some hand sanitizer (only alcohol I have) and it's nice and clean now.

Here are my questions..

1 - Would it be safe to re-use the old cap? I guess I am concerned because of a possible bad seal. Also, there was some "flaking" of some type coming off the inside rim. Maybe it was a plastic coating? I don't know.

2 - What would I top it off with? Would it be safe to use another midnights liquid to do this? Distilled water? I do have another lamp that I might relinquish to the lava gods. Seems like someone else played with it before I had all this good knowledge to identify such a lamp.

As for the liquid, I will be moving it to another container to start the bleaching process out in the sun in the next few weeks. This should put it back to crystal clear color again. In the meantime...

I would love to hear from everyone here on how I should proceed with the other two issues.

[Kris]

Was hoping to get some info on this.. anyone have any advice? :)

[LampHead]

Hi Kris,

First off I would try a new cap just to be on the safe side. It sounds like the seal under the cap is deteriorated. You can pick up new caps at a local brew store, they are pretty cheap, like $2 for a few dozen. If you need a few I can send them your way.

Second, is the lamp low on fluid when it is hot and running ? They have a air gap at the top that is visable when cold but when hot the fluid expands the gap disappears. If you do need to add fluid, some fluid from the same brand lamp would be best as distilled water may throw off the balance in the lamp....it all depends how much you add. Also I dont think you will be able to bleach the liquid clear, its not the same kind of dye used to color the water. You have wax that has bleed into the water, it happens usually when the lamps are over run but it also just happens from time to time. I have yet to see a fix that will work. Keep us posted if sun bleaching does work.


LampHead

[Kris]

Thanks for the info. I do have new caps, however I was trying to re-use the old one to maintain it's value/vintage-ness. If that makes sense, lol.

The lamp is just a hair shy of being on the right mark. I noticed this when cold and hot. It just needs about an ounce to top it off.

If bleaching does not work, can the fluid be swapped from another lamp? Or is it a 50/50 shot it will work correctly? They would both be midnights and both from the same year if memory serves.

[Kris]

Thanks Bohdan.

Here is the lamp itself..

Here is the liquid transfered into my bleaching bottle...

I cleaned up the cap, but I am not sure if the seal is still good though. That's the problem. I might have to use a new cap. I just wanted to maintain the original to keep its nostalgia.

[Kris]

The thin rubber that comes to mind if they still use them, is the blue/clear plastic pieces that are inside the plastic soda bottle caps. I used to pick them out when I was bored. Might see if I can find some of those.

Yes, I won an auction for two vintage cap openers thanks to your insight. Kinda cool because one is pepsi, the other is coke. :)

Works like a charm too!

[Kris]

Ok, I transfered the fluid from a spare midnight into the Cranberry globe. I also filtered it which cleared it up nicely. However, there is no flow. It sits like the picture below and does nothing else. Using a 40w reveal bulb (clear). Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Kris]

That's kinda what I was thinking. Seemed like it didn't have enough heat. I swapped in a standard clear bulb and going to let it go. Hopefully that fixes it. If not, I will put the old fluid back in whenever it's done bleaching.

I am not sure the lamp ever flowed to be honest. At least before, it made that lava tornado and that's about it.

[Kris]

After trying a new coil and bulb, it still did the same thing. So I decided to put the old liquid back in. It started changing. It did the lava tornado and then started flowing a bit. Not 100%, but it was a big improvement. It never did that before so the new coil must have helped too. I think the fluid might be shot and needs to be replaced. I have never done this so I am going to try it out and see what I come up with. I will be happy if it works and gets this lamp flowing like new again.

[Kris]

Well, I officially give up on trying to make new liquid for the lamp. I tried and can't seem to get it right. I am going to dump it and put the original liquid back in. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions let me know. I wish somebody sold the liquid so all I had to do was dump it in and it work. Lol.

Oh well.