Need Mathmos 35W Screw-Filling Halogen Bulb

[Jim]

I live in the United States and bought my Mathmos Lave Lamp from a re-seller on eBay, as Mathmos UK will not sell their products including replacement bulbs to anyone outside the UK. I need a replacement bulb and I can't find the person on eBay who sold me the lamp. I've searched eBay and I'm not finding the specific type of bulb I need. The description from the Mathmos UK site is: "35W - Astro Lava lam- - Screw fitting halogen bulb - Replacement 35W e14 SES screw fitting bulb for Astro lava lamps"

[Paul]

If it helps broaden your search, it doesn’t have to be halogen or reflector. The 40w golfball incandescent bulbs are fine.

[Jim]

Thank you for the advice. 

Paul said:

If it helps broaden your search, it doesn’t have to be halogen or reflector. The 40w golfball incandescent bulbs are fine.

[Jim]

Thank you, I'll check out your shop! It would be good to get the same bulb it came with though, if anyone has them. Do you have any ideas for where I might go for that? 

Marcel said:

Yes, like Paul said, the 40W golfball is perfect.
If you have problems to fine one in USA, I have them in my shop: http://goolamp.com/en/20-bulbs

[Claude J]

Is the lamp still  220Volt or converted to 110?

I have a large selection of 220V Mathmos bulbs

[Mark]

The Mathmos bulbs are very over-priced, and the last time I checked I couldn't find them anywhere else, so strategic on their part I presume.

Personally I found them to run a little hot anyway and prefer the traditional golfballs.

However, if you really want to order a couple from Mathmos I'd be happy to send them over for you at no extra charge.

Cheers

[Brad]

Hello Oozing Goo,

I recently imported—from eBay, at great expense and trouble—a Mathmos Astro in copper with clear liquid and turquoise wax and bought a voltage transformer to use the 240V halogen bulb.  It burnt out after just 3 days.  I was very annoyed, as you might imagine.  That prompted me to start hunting for a replacement bulb with similar wattage and shape, but not too tall, and ideally compatible with 120V US electricity.  

I have found what I think is a highly suitable replacement incandescent bulb from a distributor in Florida.  The bulbs are made by Satco.  They have flood/reflector glass, E14 base, 130V, and rated at 40W which is pretty close to the original 35W halogen:

https://www.bulbtown.com/40R14FL_E14_130V_European_Base_Bulb_p/l984...

I ordered four of these for about $10 and got a UK > US plug adapter from Amazon.  The lamp has great flow and runs well even for extended durations — I ran it for 16 hours one day.  An overheated lamp would have lots of smaller, fast-rising blobs of lava.  With this bulb the lamp continued to make nice big blobs that rose more slowly.

Here's a quick video of the lamp in action, and a picture of the bulb:

https://imgur.com/a/Hj4KErq

[Mark]

Good find!

[Jim]

Mark, 

I bought a 40w bulb but I don't much care for its performance. It heats up my Mathmos lamp a bit too much and creates a pattern of small bubbles. If you can sell me the actual Mathmos article ""35W - Astro Lava lamp- - Screw fitting halogen bulb - Replacement 35W e14 SES screw fitting bulb for Astro lava lamps" please let's talk. 

Jim

[Brad]

Hey Jim,

I use a lamp dimmer with a 40W bulb.  That’s much cheaper than importing expensive bulbs (and they’re getting harder to find).

[Jim]

What's a lamp dimmer? Please tell me more. 

[Brad]

A lamp dimmer comes in many forms. The most basic explanation is that there is a slider or a knob attached to a power cord, that adjusts the voltage going to your lamp. Your lamp plugs into the dimmer, and the dimmer plugs into the wall.

The Lutron Credenza is a popular choice for US market lamps.

The best reason to use a dimmer with a lava lamp is to control the heat from the bulb. With this level of control, you can get the lamp to flow exactly as you like, and keep it that way for hours and hours.  This is the simplest way to keep a lava lamp from overheating.

[Mark]

Hi Jim,

As suggested above, I found the official bulbs ran just as hot.

Jim said:

Mark, 

I bought a 40w bulb but I don't much care for its performance. It heats up my Mathmos lamp a bit too much and creates a pattern of small bubbles. If you can sell me the actual Mathmos article ""35W - Astro Lava lamp- - Screw fitting halogen bulb - Replacement 35W e14 SES screw fitting bulb for Astro lava lamps" please let's talk. 

Jim