Question about my lava lamp

[Andres]

Hello everyone!

i'm Andrés currently new in the forum and new to the world of lava lamps.

So this is the thing:

2 days ago i bought my first lava lamp (second hand and those generic ones) and since i read a lot about them (coils, flow, overheating, bubbles, etc) i was all the time wondering if my lava lamp has any problem because i think the flow is not right (i also considered the wax on the lamp is just not enough to make a proper flow).

So there is a video of the lamp working after 2-3 hours (i also had it already 6-8 hours on and there was change in the flow):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cYlzTNivk  

also there is a pic of the amount of wax:

http://technologyep.imgur.com/all/

i would be very gratefull if any of you guys could tell me if anything is wrong with it or give me some tips (other than buy a better one, i will eventually buy a Mathmos but just not yet ;) )

Thank you so much.

[VOXul]

Hello Andres, welcome to O.G.!

The lamp looks like it could use a little bit more wax. Some of the off-brand lamps seem to have wax that doesn't have much life, similar to most new China made Lava Lites. Getting wax to stretch and form undulating columns like the older lamps is lost on a lot of these new lamps. You could try running the lamp on a dimmer or lower wattage bulb to see if a slightly cooler temperature would cause the wax to run in a more stretchy/interesting fashion. 

[Loren]

New Chinese lamps are always short on surfactant in the liquid, it seems. I think it's to keep wax from sticking to the glass, but it makes the flow too tight, like what you see in your lamp. Several people have reported results from opening their lamp, and adding a tiny bit of clear dish soap to the liquid...I mean a very tiny bit. this should decrease the surface tension slightly, and result in better flow.

That lamp is likely bottle capped, though... so you would need a capper to replace the cap.

[Andres]

Thank you VOXul. I will try this out with a dimmer (the wattage of the bulb is already pretty low 25w)

VOXul said:

Hello Andres, welcome to O.G.!

The lamp looks like it could use a little bit more wax. Some of the off-brand lamps seem to have wax that doesn't have much life, similar to most new China made Lava Lites. Getting wax to stretch and form undulating columns like the older lamps is lost on a lot of these new lamps. You could try running the lamp on a dimmer or lower wattage bulb to see if a slightly cooler temperature would cause the wax to run in a more stretchy/interesting fashion. 

[Andres]

Loren thank for your answer is pretty interesting i could also give it a try.

The lamp is Crimp Capped (if i´m not mistaken.. i checked here: http://oozinggoo.ning.com/page/replace-bottle-cap) so  should i just follow the instructions and with a small screw driver try to open it?  

Loren said:

New Chinese lamps are always short on surfactant in the liquid, it seems. I think it's to keep wax from sticking to the glass, but it makes the flow too tight, like what you see in your lamp. Several people have reported results from opening their lamp, and adding a tiny bit of clear dish soap to the liquid...I mean a very tiny bit. this should decrease the surface tension slightly, and result in better flow.

That lamp is likely bottle capped, though... so you would need a capper to replace the cap.

[Loren]

Ugh...crimp caps. The lamps I custom mod have those, and I just rip them off. But then, I have no patience. LOL! I got a bench capper, and I think it was $10 on ebay. It was WELL worth it though, as it's adjustable to any size, you can get replacement bells in many sizes, and it's very strong and durable. But yes! If you are patient, you can pry that cap off and replace it without damaging it. :) Try the dimmer trick first though, as it is non-intrusive.

Andres said:

Loren thank for your answer is pretty interesting i could also give it a try.

The lamp is Crimp Capped (if i´m not mistaken.. i checked here: http://oozinggoo.ning.com/page/replace-bottle-cap) so  should i just follow the instructions and with a small screw driver try to open it?  

Loren said:

New Chinese lamps are always short on surfactant in the liquid, it seems. I think it's to keep wax from sticking to the glass, but it makes the flow too tight, like what you see in your lamp. Several people have reported results from opening their lamp, and adding a tiny bit of clear dish soap to the liquid...I mean a very tiny bit. this should decrease the surface tension slightly, and result in better flow.

That lamp is likely bottle capped, though... so you would need a capper to replace the cap.