Source for replacement bulb for clearview?

[Brian]

Anyone know of where to get bulbs for the 32oz lamps? I brought home 2 clearviews and one of the bulbs blew the instant I turned it on. 

It needs 25w reflector bulb, but I learned last night from my purchase at Wal-Mart that not all reflector bulbs are created equal. 

The GE soft whites are a bit too convex and the globe just kind of wobbles on top. 

[Carol]

Jeff, I fired mine up for the 3rd run, and it's already starting up quicker.  Also, the flow is getting better and better.  I'm pleased.  It still has the original 25 watt bulb in it.  I guess it just has to be broken in.  I just got it last nite!!  Hey, if it's working with the 25, i'll stick with that and just order a few more.  2 hours isn't bad at all.  OMG, my 1st run last nite took 5 hours!!  I didn't even get to see it.  Woke up and the timer had already shut it off.  It just started to flow when I fell asleep watching it, lol!!  So much for that!!! 

[TomK]

It all depends on how long you plan to run your lamp for. If you go with a 40W reflector bulb I would recommend a dimmer so you can back off on the heat if you run the lamp for a long time. I'm sure the 35W bulb will work too, but start up times will be longer. One advantage of the reflector bulb is that it radiates the heat up and not out to the side as a conventional bulb would do. That helps to keep heat away from the plastic view strip on a clearview. As for me, I run all 6 of my clearviews on 40W reflectors with dimmers. Never had any heat issues with them. Actually, I used .5 inch wide colored plastic high heat tape(to match the base color) and sealed the gap all the way around between the clear plastic cone bottom and the metal base top(where the rivets are) to direct more heat up to the globe. This actually decreases the start up time of the lava flow without damaging the lamp in any way. My clearviews start to flow in 35-45 minutes.

[Carol]

Where does one buy high heat tape?  It's not like duct tape is it?  I never heard of high heat tape, but that sounds like a good idea.  I have to order my dimmers, so until they come I'm going to continue to just run it with the bulb it came with.  I'm just starting it up earlier to allow for it to be in full flow by bed time, lol!!!

[TomK]

Of course, get it on ebay! It is called vinyl and/or plastic pvc or electrical tape. Look around the listings to find assorted colors and read the descriptions! The ones you want are rated heat/flame resistant up to 80 degrees Celsius which roughs out to about 175 degrees Fahrenheit. The rolls I use are 3/4 inch wide by 60ft. per roll.

[Carol]

3 hours start up last nite....ugh!!!  lol!!!  Thanks, i'll look!!

[Keith]

My green neon Grande takes forever to heat up!  turned it on at 8:00 a.m. the other day and at 1:00 p.m. it still wasn't flowing.  We left it on while we went shopping so it could get flowing.  I have it beside a clear/black Grande and a clear/red Grande.  If I turn both of them on it will heat up faster but it still takes well over 3 hours.  Ambient room temp is 76 degrees, it will be interesting to see how long it takes in the winter!!

Carol Morrow said:

3 hours start up last nite....ugh!!!  lol!!!  Thanks, i'll look!!

[Carol]

Keith, I have the a/c on constantly in the bedroom where my Clearview is, SO.....I'm hopeful in the winter it won't take as long with the heat on,  lol!!!  Now here's the million dollar question???  They say do not run the smaller lamps more then 8 hours, so if you count a 3 to 5 hour startup time, you are really only getting 3 hours to enjoy your lamp?  Do you count those hours by when you first turn the lamp on, or when it starts to actually flow?  Someone posted that on the comment board on the Spencer's site under the Clearview and I was wondering that myself.  Wow, that is a long time also!!  and the room is 76!!!!  Whatever you do, don't put the a/c on in that room, lol!!!  It will take until tomorrow to flow, lol!!!

[TomK]

The only reason there is an 8 hour cap on running any lava lamp is that they are assuming it will overheat if you run it longer. But if you use a dimmer and tune your lamp to optimum flow, then there is really no limit on how long you can run it. The biggest thing to remember is never, NEVER, leave your running lava lamp unattended for any lengthy amount of time. Would you leave the house with an oven on or a running coffee pot or a burning candle? Same risk for disaster!

Carol Morrow said:

Keith, I have the a/c on constantly in the bedroom where my Clearview is, SO.....I'm hopeful in the winter it won't take as long with the heat on,  lol!!!  Now here's the million dollar question???  They say do not run the smaller lamps more then 8 hours, so if you count a 3 to 5 hour startup time, you are really only getting 3 hours to enjoy your lamp?  Do you count those hours by when you first turn the lamp on, or when it starts to actually flow?  Someone posted that on the comment board on the Spencer's site under the Clearview and I was wondering that myself.  Wow, that is a long time also!!  and the room is 76!!!!  Whatever you do, don't put the a/c on in that room, lol!!!  It will take until tomorrow to flow, lol!!!

[Carol]

Absolutely right!!!  I normally don't even start them up unless I know I'm going to be home for the entire evening or day time.  I do have a dimmer on my 3 vintage lamps, but not on my Clearview because I really don't think that thing will EVER overheat!!!  It doesn't even feel hot when I touch it even after it's beein running for 6 hours!!!  That lamp is the bipolar opposite of my vintage lamps.  Now those, even with the dimmer turned down to where they are just snakeing, they still feel hot!!!  Even with the dimmers, I don't like to over run them.  I'm soo afraid of frying my lava, especially on the older lamps.

[Keith]

76 is with the air on! (central A/C).  I don't count warm-up time generally.  And like Tom says the main thing is to avoid overheating.  That means without a dimmer some of my vintage globes would only be ran for a few hours, warm-up included!

Carol Morrow said:

Keith, I have the a/c on constantly in the bedroom where my Clearview is, SO.....I'm hopeful in the winter it won't take as long with the heat on,  lol!!!  Now here's the million dollar question???  They say do not run the smaller lamps more then 8 hours, so if you count a 3 to 5 hour startup time, you are really only getting 3 hours to enjoy your lamp?  Do you count those hours by when you first turn the lamp on, or when it starts to actually flow?  Someone posted that on the comment board on the Spencer's site under the Clearview and I was wondering that myself.  Wow, that is a long time also!!  and the room is 76!!!!  Whatever you do, don't put the a/c on in that room, lol!!!  It will take until tomorrow to flow, lol!!!

[Carol]

I keep it like 65, 70 degrees in my house when the a/c is on because I have 5 dogs and they overheat really quick when it's a hot day, especially the pugs which are brachychephalic breeds.  The pit doesn't really do well in the heat and the lab, well, they're No 1 cause of death is heat stroke sooooo.....my 3 vintage are the only ones I own and they are all on a dimmer.  I'm running those 3 off of 1 dimmer, but now that they are on sale, i'm going to pick up a few more.  The 2 seem to be pretty much in sync, but the one gets too slow when the other 2 are just right, so I guess that one needs it's own.

[TomK]

I run my house at 70, and I own 7 cats! They are fine and my lava lamps all run well. I usually run 3 at a time for convenience and safety although my collection is around 50 lamps, mostly Aristocrats and vintage Centurys.

Carol Morrow said:

I keep it like 65, 70 degrees in my house when the a/c is on because I have 5 dogs and they overheat really quick when it's a hot day, especially the pugs which are brachychephalic breeds.  The pit doesn't really do well in the heat and the lab, well, they're No 1 cause of death is heat stroke sooooo.....my 3 vintage are the only ones I own and they are all on a dimmer.  I'm running those 3 off of 1 dimmer, but now that they are on sale, i'm going to pick up a few more.  The 2 seem to be pretty much in sync, but the one gets too slow when the other 2 are just right, so I guess that one needs it's own.