Retro Formula Floats

[patfurg]

I completely redid a lava lamp with the Retro Formula and it works great.

Then I tried to do a second lamp and whether using left over ooze from the first lamp or starting from scratch, in the new lamp as soon as the ooze melts it shoots to the top of the lamp and resolidifies. I haven't even added any salt yet. Just plain old distilled water. Yes, I tasted the gravity with the Antifreeze (same as the first batch) and got it to float in the one and sink in the other. 

The black one in the photo is the one that works just getting to temperature. I only include that photo to show I can follow directions and was successful the first time even though with the silver lamp I've failed like 5 times straight.

The silver lava lamp is the one that seems to really want to float. Could it have something to do with the amount of ooze or the shape of the bottle?

Thoughts?

[Carol]

People really take lava lamps for granted as simple acts of chemistry.  In doing various goo kits I've found that to be so not true, lol!!!  Each one is different, and has it's own personality.  In my tinkerings with changing fluids, starting from scratch with goo kits and the like, I've found that everything has to be just "right" in these things.  The fluid and surf has to be just right but also I've found that some lamps will run fine on one coil while I've had others that I've had to throw in 2 and 3 additional pieces of coil to get them to flow successfully.  Then there is the heat issue.  That also has to be right according to the outside ambient temperature of the room and the base/lamp itself.  Some of my lamps I can get to run on 40 watt bulbs although they take a long time for start up, but some of my kits won't do anything on a 40 watt.  There are others on here that know more then I about getting these formulas right, but just to add my 2 cents in what I've found out.......yeah, there are quite a lot of variables to these lamps.  They're not so simple after all.

 

P.s.  I've found that temp has quite ALOT to do with it.  I've found running stubborn lamps on 60 waters and adding a dimmer can also be a trick to achieve the flow you want.  The amount of goo does also make a difference.  I weigh my goo cold to ensure each one of my lamps has the "sweet" spot for flow.  Melted down my 52's I always do 1 cup of goo and that seems to give me decent flow.  Too much I hear will overheat, but I've found that too much just makes it sit in one clump and not flow.  I've added an additional coil to the lamps I went a bit goo heavy on and found that does correct the problem.

[patfurg]

Carol,

Thanks. Can you help me understand what effect adding coil has? My understanding is that it mostly is about heat transfer but intuitively I feel like the goo should "stick" to the coil as well. In my first lamp there is always at least a thin layer of ooze stretched all the way across the coil. In the new one once the blob heads toward the top the coil has ooze around it but not stretched across it as expected.

Finally, when you say 52s do you mean ounces and therefore if mine is 32 (I'm not sure, I just know it's not a huge one) I should more or less proportionally decrease the amount of ooze?

[Brad]

i think carol is on to something regarding the amount of wax in the globe.  it looks like there may be too much wax in the globe.  have you tried removing some wax to see if it flows?  perhaps put a lava lite 32oz. globe next to the one you are working on and match the level of wax to that.

[patfurg]

I'll give that a shot and let you guys know. 

[Carol]

Patrick, the coil is partially responsible for the heat transfer but also helps to break the surface tension of the goo, hence breaking the goo up so it can shoot up to the top.  I've had brand new lamps from LL that came with bad coils.  One in particular the goo only adhered to one side of the coil.  It would dome on the bottom, but send a pea sized ball of lava to the top every 3 to 5 seconds and that was all this lamp did.  So.....long story short, it was a free replacement from them anyway, so I decided to crack er open and goo kit it.  Turns out, did the same damn thing!!!  This is when I discovered what a bad coil really was responsible for.  I took the coil out.  Cleaned it thoroughly.  Put it back in.  Same thing.  I burned the coil because I read on this forum that if you burn off the coating and "rough" it up so to speak it will help the goo adhere.  Nothing.  So I made my own coils out of a lint screen for a washing machine hose and low and behold it has become one of my fav flowing lamps!!!  It is now my purple liquid/white lava and it is very personal to me because we kind of HAD a love/hate relationship.  You see, in my process of fishing out the bad coil, I ended up stirring it and shredding every ounce of lava in the darn thing.  I get very "mad scientist" when I goo kit and will stay up all night making coils and dropping them in, taking lamps down again and again, until I get them to flow.  When I say 52, I do mean ounces.  And yes, it does look like you could have a heavy goo there in that lamp. 

 

P.S.  And you are right about the goo sticking to the coil.  If it is stretched thin across of only adhering to one side it probably is a bad coil as well or it is a dirty coil with gunk stuck under it or between the coils.  Have you really look closely at it?  If you look underneath the globe, sometimes you will see "crud" looks like nicotine type "stuff" around or in the coil.  You can try taking the lamp down and cleaning out the coil.  You can save the master fluid if it is original in a clean container of some sort and then put it back together.

 

Good luck!!!

[patfurg]

Thanks for all the help. I've reduced the amount of goo a couple times, same thing. Clean the coil, same thing, added a spring to the coil just for grins and same thing. As soon as the goo/ooze heats up the whole blog shoots to the top and then solidifies because the water up there is still cooler. If I let it run and run it just makes what little goo that didn't make it to the top because of the cooler water make it all the way to the top.

I'm about ready to give up.

[Brad]

what formula did you use to make the goo?  you need to add more of whatever was used to initially increase the density of the goo.