Seeking non-clouding solution...

[Innotic]

Hello!

It's been a long time since i posted here last time.

I bought Mathmos Astro few years ago and I was very happy with it. But two years ago i accidently make it to fall over and globe become cloudy as hell, You barely could see the goo moving inside. So thanks to knowledge I obtained here I cycled my lamp for few months. Clouding has decreased, but water wasn't perfectly clear, and there was plenty of bubbles in wax. I made a decision about replacing the fluid. I created new solution with tap water, Fairy dish soap and epsom salt solution. No luck - plenty of bubbles, after about 2h of lamp running water become cloudy. Second attempt - tap water, engine coolant and same Fairy. Bubbles gone, but water still gets cloudy. I tried also destilled water and boiled water - same outcome - water gets cloudy after few hours. What to do? I tried to run the lamp without any kind of surf and water is still clouding itself (not to mention wax sticked on the bottom of globe). Anybody have an idea how to resolve this issue? My lamp is nearly perfeclty restored, I am so close and this clouding freaks me out! :P

Happy New Year by the way :)

[Claude J]

Well, You have probably contaminated the goo at this stage.

Id give it one last "Hurrah" and dump the fluid,

heat the globe in a water bath on the stove,

When goo is melted, remove the goo and save in pyrex mixing cup.

Use some of the boiling water to wash the bottle,

Put spring back in

add some distilled water and surf,

shake to coat the inside,

dump the extra fluid,

add a few inches of distilled water.

Temporarily cap the top so the SURF coating doesn't dry while you reheat the goo.

Add the reheated heated goo with funnel and tube to avoid splashing,

add more distilled water to @80% of the level, 

run it,

Once heated to 125Deg F, if it doesn't flow, carefully add propylene glycol to adjust specific gravity.

Wait for fluid to recover and get back to 125Deg F each time

if you reach the full water level and it does not flow, turkey baster some fluid out, and add more propylene glycol until it does.

[Innotic]

I am afraid further maniupalation with goo may just make things even worse...

[Claude J]

true,.. but you have nothing to loose at this point\

iff anything, you will correct the contamination of all the other elements

[Innotic]

But think about this another way - if its really goos fault, the clouding of lamp should gradually decrease until all contamination become dissolved in water. But water seems to be cloudy at the same level every time...

Lamp flows really good, and that's why I don't want to take a risk of messing it up more.

[Claude J]

only thing i can suggest is put it in a water bath 1/2 full, turn up the heat to medium,  and let it get much hotter than 125Deg until everything floats and hope the contaminants ozze out of the lava, then refill with surf (not dish soap) and distilled water with propylene this time, 

If you have a sticking problem, after you overheat it,  You might want to try removing the goo and cleaning the bottle well, and follow the directions I gave you above

[Innotic]

Good idea with this half emptying!

Surf? Which surf do You suggest? I mean certain chemical substance, because it may not be available as commercial named product here in European market.

[Claude J]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-SODIUM-LAURETH-SULFATE-28-240-GM-CLEANI...

SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE 

make sure it is the CLEAR type, not white creamy

[Keith]

This is probably the best, most succinct, instruction for making new master fluid that I have seen.  It is what I have done before with some additional tips that I hadn't thought about.  Just to note, I use sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) instead of sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).  I don't know what actual difference it makes if any, both are common surfactants used in soap making.  

Claude J said:

Well, You have probably contaminated the goo at this stage.

Id give it one last "Hurrah" and dump the fluid,

heat the globe in a water bath on the stove,

When goo is melted, remove the goo and save in pyrex mixing cup.

Use some of the boiling water to wash the bottle,

Put spring back in

add some distilled water and surf,

shake to coat the inside,

dump the extra fluid,

add a few inches of distilled water.

Temporarily cap the top so the SURF coating doesn't dry while you reheat the goo.

Add the reheated heated goo with funnel and tube to avoid splashing,

add more distilled water to @80% of the level, 

run it,

Once heated to 125Deg F, if it doesn't flow, carefully add propylene glycol to adjust specific gravity.

Wait for fluid to recover and get back to 125Deg F each time

if you reach the full water level and it does not flow, turkey baster some fluid out, and add more propylene glycol until it does.

[Claude J]

Thank you

Mine instructions come from a website , Magma Tower instructions, and experience.

SLES and SLS,

As long as it does not cloud the water and is the clear type., it should be ok

[Innotic]

It might be the reason why my water gets cloudy. I will try to obtain the chemical You specified and use it in new solution. If it wouldn't help, I will go on with dumping goo and clearing bottle. Thanks again!

[Claude J]

Good idea

[Innotic]

Okay, I bought SLS, dissolved in water (resulting in clean liquid) and all it does is clouding the water INSTANTLY. What the?