New neon batch

[Autumn]

Spencers now has their new batch of neon lamps. The first one I bought I returned before I even left the mall because it was cloudy, but the second one was only very slightly cloudy. The lamp does clear up when running fortunately and the flow is also very active. It may not be like the 90's lamps with lots of stretchy blobs, but I feel that with the amount of activity in these lamps it is forgivable. I plan on picking up a neon yellow and a blue/red tonight. I will post photos of them in the next few days.

 

Base and cap: 7/10
Glass            10/10
Clarity:            9/10
Flow:              8/10
Color:            10/10

 

Base and cap: I don't care for this style of base, so my rating is because of personal preferences.

Glass: Very few bubbles, no noticeable flaws.

Clarity: Very close to being crystal clear. I am actually not bothered by the slight cloudiness, but it is a flaw.

Flow: It is not American flow, but it is enjoyable to watch.

Color: I love the neon series colors.

 

[David]

My yellow flows great but it has air bubbles trapped in the lava so every once in a while the bubble leads the lava to the top, I keep hoping it will burst once it gets to the top but it never does! It's really like one good sized air bubble! I have 2 greens and they both flow incredibly well!

[Ben]

My green worked well for a week or two and then stopped flowing. I put in a 60w on a dimmer and it works great again.

[Erin]

Yep, that's exactly what mine's doing. 

Phishy Lava said:

Same here, Erin. Yellow used to flow beautifully. Past 2 days, it makes a weird cone shape and spits off tiny little goo balls. Is that what your yellow is doing too?

[Erin]

I refuse to use dimmers! LOL

Ben said:

My green worked well for a week or two and then stopped flowing. I put in a 60w on a dimmer and it works great again.

[Phishy Lava]

On mine, it seems like one half of the coil is lifting off the bottom of the globe ever-so-slightly, and hovering there, maybe 1/2 inch off the bottom. Maybe this is what is causing it?

Erin said:

Yep, that's exactly what mine's doing. 

[Erin]

I'll have to look tonight to see if that's the case with mine. The yellow one had the best flow of them all. *Had* :(

[Phishy Lava]

Why is this happening?

Yellow was THE BEST one of the bunch! 

All the sudden, this week, it's the worst!   :(

[Ian]

My purple neon is running perfectly, its the only neon I own. I have had it since December, and it runs perfectly, I picked it up to check for wax stuck to the bottom ad there is absolutely no wax stuck on the bottom at all, and I run it almost everyday. The blobs are even really stretchy and very neat to watch. I wonder why most everyone else seems to be having problems... 

[Erin]

Ian, it can be really hit and miss with Lava Lite lamps. Some just work better than others. I think quality control in China isn't up to snuff and explains why the exact same lamps can perform differently for different people. 

[Ian]

Yea, its just ridiculous. They really need to come back from China, even if the lamp prices would go way up I would be more than willing to invest the money in a good quality lamp rather than these cheaply made lamps that do not function properly. Even my purple neon is not even comparable in the slightest to either my Century or my Wizard. I have heard from members on here that the company is going to come back from China, but until they actually do, I am just going to accept the fact that I have to go to thrift and antique stores to get the good quality lamps.

[Autumn]

My purple and green neons all flow amazingly. The yellow neon is the only lamp that does not flow all that much. I have ran them for a few weeks now and the flow has not changed among them. The only lamp I have been disappointed with is my pink neon. Erin bought one for me and it was crystal clear, but after shipping it clouded up. The flow is somewhere between my yellow and green neons. I have been running my pink neon 3 times a day and it has gotten to that almost clear state a lot of neons seem to be sometimes.

[Ben]

What's amazing is how expensive lava lamps used to be (looking at the scans of the old catalogs) and how cheap they are now, especially considering inflation. I really wish LL would consider a discount line consisting of the current style incandescent lamps and a high-end line with the quality (and price) of the Mathmos lamps with heat plates and LEDs. My neon only runs with a 60w dimmer controlled bulb. That ups the effective price from $25 to almost $40. I'd pay $40 for a working lamp out of the box.