Sticking wax solution?

[lampfancy]

I posted about this a while back but the trail has gone a bit cold, so to speak.


Just wondered if anyone had any success in finding a ‘hands on’ approach to solving the sticking wax issue that seems to be a quite a common defect on newer Mathmos bottles, since I still have a couple of (non returnable) bottles which have this issue.



Was contemplating re-filling them using a goo/glitter kit, but with the prohibitive the cost of getting these in the UK now this is probably no longer an option.




Is there still hope or is the situation a ‘write off’.

[Zapiao]

The solution is calling Mathmos and ask them if they are sleeping in service.

[lampfancy]

Shameless thread bump incoming…




Come on, I can’t possibly be the only one looking for a fix for this



Add surfactant?



Distilled water?



Anything?

Anyone?

[Zapiao]

Try wash it. I did that once and did work.

[lampfancy]

Did you remove the wax from the bottle first - if so, how?

Not something I would terribly confident about taking on but we’ll see…

[Zapiao]

Empty the fluid than warm up the wax to melt dowand the empty it to something. Wash the bottle fast to avoid the wax get solid.

[Susan]

We've got the same problem with a blue and pink Astro bottle sticking, not that you can actually see the wax when it did flow as the liquid is too dark. We also have dirty marks on the insides of the glass on our two clear and plum/black bottles. I should have sought a return of the bottles, but having had a fair few issues with Mathmos products in the last year, I was embarrassed to complain again. Although I have to say, Mathmos have always sorted out issues for us, so I can't complain about service. 

[lampfancy]

I wondered about doing this, doesn’t the wax stick/ quickly start to solidify as you try to pour ?



Also what did you use to clean the bottle tap water, distilled water, soap/ detergent?

[Arne]

For washing you can use tap water, soap and a bottle brush or you can use solvents like acetone. Alcohol doesnt work as it doesnt dissolve wax. Rinse two or three times with distilled water when done, if you used solvents I would also wash with water and soap after the solvents until there is no smell of solvents left and then rinse. If you have a few droplets of distilled water left in the bottle don't worry, it wont effect the flow. For solvent based glitter however a single drop of water is enough to cloud up the whole bottle.  If the wax solidifies simply remelt it in a water bath or with your flamethrower of choice. If you choose to pour the hot wax directly in to the bottle with the masterfluid already inside I would aim for a temperatureween 15 and 20°C. Higher and it might cloud slightly lower and it solidifies too fast and piles up on top of the bottle clogging the bottle neck. you can also cut up the solidified wax or use a small spoon and drop it into the fluid. This way it cant cloud or clog but its a a bit messy to handle the wax itself. Dont forget the coil. if you touched it with your bare fingers also clean it with acetone or something similar. Oh I forgot...to get all the wax out heat the bottle with very hot water before pouring it out or it will solidify on the cold glass of the bottle. good luck and have fun.

[lampfancy]

Thanks for that - slightly daunting but if the bottle is otherwise a ‘write-off’ anyway might as well give it a shot.



So can you reinstate the wax prior to refilling the liquid? I figured I could break up the solidified wax into small bits and simply drop into the bottle, then heat the bottle on a lamp base so the wax melts/ levels, wait for it to cool then refill the master fluid - would this work?

[Arne]

Sure it would but why? Its way easier to do this all in one step. Just drop the wax into the masterfluid and simply turn it on and wait until it flows. Even if you drop the coil in last and on top of all the wax it'll just fall into place...I think I always do it this way and never had any issues except if the wax was dead it would stick no matter what. If you drop the wax in without fluid it might smear on the globe and stick again...

Why daunting? if you follow the steps it's more or less foolproof. just wear gloves and steps like cleaning the coil can be skipped.

[Arne]

One thing that might help is listening to good fullon psytrance during the whole process...I always do and never fucked up so far...probly has something to do with the choice of music.

[lampfancy]

Hmm, does pouring molten wax directly into the fluid not pose the risk of emulsifying/ clouding?