Stupid cloudy LL's :(

Hi folks, my first post this is :)

I currently have 3 Lava Lamps (I always just call them "LL's" because I'm lazy).

Two I bought way back in the early 70's, when they made them well.

A few weeks ago, I got the LL bug and decided to buy a Grande (purple w/ yellow lava).

When I got it (from Amazon) I noticed, to my shock, that the liquid was so cloudy, I could

not even see the lava!!

I did a bit of reading, and all I could find was that I shoud just run the lamp a few hours every

day and it would clear up.

Well, it did clear a little, but its still cloudy.

Meanwhile, I bought a LL with (supposedly) clear liquid, and it was cloudy also!

I decided to use that one for experiments, so I opened it, and filtered the liquid through some

laboratory filter paper. No good!!

So now I am wondering, am I stuck with a permenently cloudy Grande?

Also, I have another Grande on the way, from LampsPlus.com (no more Amazon, they do not

know how to ship them) and I am really nervious that it will be cloudy also!!

I am so upset and dissapointed I could cry!! :(

Can anyone please help me?

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by WeeboTech on February 9, 2011 at 8:26am

>>If my GooKit comes in, I can better analyze what this stuff is actually composed of (I know its a trade secret, but when you have a nosy chemist on the trail, you can forget about that!! :)

This is cool news!

>>Thanks, I tried to order one of these but could not find a US base for Electric Planet.

>> There are a few other websites who sell them, but they are UK standard and you would need a UK plug

>> to US outlet adapter (which I actualy do have) and it will work provided it has about the same voltage.

FYI, I sent you a friend request, I have some Mathmos lamps here in the US I'm looking to part with.

>>I think something in the lava is seperating out into the liquid upon shaking (in shipping).

>> If its petrolium base, I should be able to remove it buy diatome filtration.

The older amercian lamps used to cloud up during shipment, but after running a while they would clear up.

I think with the more recent formula and production, there is something out of balance causing them to cloud up the way they do. I know you could filter some lamps, but some of them do not work with the filtering.

I'm interested to read about your experiments. Perhaps starting a new thread so that one can be followed individually.

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 8:58am

Thanks :)

I have some diatamatious earth, which is just made of tiny diatomes which love to soak-up oil.

Just a layer of that stuff in a vacuum filtration funnel and flask will filter the liquid.

I dont know if it will work, and even if it does, and I put this cleared-up liquid back in with the

lava wax, will it just get cloudy again!?

Do you know where LL is located? I am in Maryland USA, so Eastern Daylight Savings Time here.

I am wondering a good time to call Paula.

I also want to ask her about these rumors of new Grande colors and a revised formula.

Is it not possible that the formula is the same as it always was, but now adays, there is much more package

shipment and they (all the carriers) are "rougher" then they used to be?

I wonder if they shipped it "registered and insured" if that would work (though it would be expensive)

Both my LL orders from Amazon did not even have "fragil" on the box!

Oh, did you say U have some Mathmos LL's 4 sale?

WeeboTech said:

>>If my GooKit comes in, I can better analyze what this stuff is actually composed of (I know its a trade secret, but when you have a nosy chemist on the trail, you can forget about that!! :)

This is cool news!

>>Thanks, I tried to order one of these but could not find a US base for Electric Planet.

>> There are a few other websites who sell them, but they are UK standard and you would need a UK plug

>> to US outlet adapter (which I actualy do have) and it will work provided it has about the same voltage.

FYI, I sent you a friend request, I have some Mathmos lamps here in the US I'm looking to part with.

>>I think something in the lava is seperating out into the liquid upon shaking (in shipping).

>> If its petrolium base, I should be able to remove it buy diatome filtration.

The older amercian lamps used to cloud up during shipment, but after running a while they would clear up.

I think with the more recent formula and production, there is something out of balance causing them to cloud up the way they do. I know you could filter some lamps, but some of them do not work with the filtering.

I'm interested to read about your experiments. Perhaps starting a new thread so that one can be followed individually.

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 9:54am

Wow, that's terrible :(

I would never have thought LavaLite would stoop this low since my older lamps are fine products.

They were in storage for many years, and until I got the itch for one of these Grande's (well, 2 actually), I had

not bought one since the 70's so just assumed they made them the same :(

They say that the cloudy thing is not considered a manufacturing problem, so I guess that means these lamps are

getting rough treatment in shipment (no surprise there!!).

James Reiche said:

Hi Stanley,

LL headquarters is located in Chicago.

I also purchased three LL Grandes from them through their website.

They all showed up cloudy as hell, and two did not even flow.

All 3 are sitting in my garage now gathering dust until I get around to goo kitting them. :)

I hate when new people have to find this out the hard way, and that is why I try to spread the word about LL's "quality" lamps. - lol

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 9:59am

Is there enough stuff in one GooKit to fill a whole Grande, what are they, 250oz?

Astrobaby I heart NY said:

Actually lets get back to the issue of helping the new person on the site to resolve the problem. You can find Gookits here, they are super easy to use:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Goo-Kit-Standard-Lava-Lamps-Magma-Tower-/140411...

peace - 'baby.

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 10:03am

The Amazon reviews for my Grande were actually pretty good, but the reviews for the 52oz clear/red LL's were

real bad!!

I wonder if anyone from LL reads this forum and/or Amazon reviews?

Do any reps ever post here?

James Reiche said:

Hi Stanley,

LL headquarters is located in Chicago.

I also purchased three LL Grandes from them through their website.

They all showed up cloudy as hell, and two did not even flow.

All 3 are sitting in my garage now gathering dust until I get around to goo kitting them. :)

I hate when new people have to find this out the hard way, and that is why I try to spread the word about LL's "quality" lamps. - lol

Permalink Reply by Dr. WHAT?! on February 9, 2011 at 11:26am

Just a little tidbit to think about when you buy lava. But the winter time (especially this winter) is not the best time to purchase any type of lava lamp. They will freeze as well as cloud during shipping no matter who the manufacture is. I know LL will hold off shipping lamps when the weather is bad due to these reasons. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 11:41am

Yeah, I thought about that.

Do you think the cloudy problem is a result of the cold weather?

If so, it would seem logical to me that simply using it would eventualy clear it up!?

Could it be just a matter of waiting and having patience?

I have noticed that the more I use my poor cloudy Grande, the better it gets, but it is a very slooooow process,

and I dont think it will ever become completly clear.

Dr. WHAT?! said:

Just a little tidbit to think about when you buy lava. But the winter time (especially this winter) is not the best time to purchase any type of lava lamp. They will freeze as well as cloud during shipping no matter who the manufacture is. I know LL will hold off shipping lamps when the weather is bad due to these reasons. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Permalink Reply by WeeboTech on February 9, 2011 at 11:43am

I think the summer is just as bad. The heat melts the wax and the swishing fluid causes the wax to break up into the lamps.

From my experience, the older lamps recovered if you let them settle for a while, then fire them up on a cycle.

So I would avoid shipping lava in the middle of the winter (or any freezing temperature) and for the summer months.

fall and spring are the best time to acquire lava via mail.

Permalink Reply by Dr. WHAT?! on February 9, 2011 at 11:55am

Well if the lamp was clear to start off with then yes for sure it could be the issue, but there's no really way of telling unless you packed the lamp up yourself before shipping. But regular running of the lamp definitely helps clear it up some if not all the way and it being a grande, it'll take time to clear. Just use the email Bohdan posted that's your best bet for now, like I said in the beginning they may tell you to keep your lamp and send you a new one which in any case is always a good thing.

Stanley Post said:

Yeah, I thought about that.

Do you think the cloudy problem is a result of the cold weather?

If so, it would seem logical to me that simply using it would eventualy clear it up!?

Could it be just a matter of waiting and having patience?

I have noticed that the more I use my poor cloudy Grande, the better it gets, but it is a very slooooow process,

and I dont think it will ever become completly clear.

Dr. WHAT?! said:

Just a little tidbit to think about when you buy lava. But the winter time (especially this winter) is not the best time to purchase any type of lava lamp. They will freeze as well as cloud during shipping no matter who the manufacture is. I know LL will hold off shipping lamps when the weather is bad due to these reasons. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Permalink Reply by Gooboy on February 9, 2011 at 11:56am

Crap! I wish I had thought of that before ordering these :(

Oh well, I am sure things will work out :)

WeeboTech said:

I think the summer is just as bad. The heat melts the wax and the swishing fluid causes the wax to break up into the lamps.

From my experience, the older lamps recovered if you let them settle for a while, then fire them up on a cycle.

So I would avoid shipping lava in the middle of the winter (or any freezing temperature) and for the summer months.

fall and spring are the best time to acquire lava via mail.

Permalink Reply by WeeboTech on February 9, 2011 at 11:58am

For the record, I've had mathmos lamps ruined from shipping too.

Mathmos lamps hardly recover. (but on the plus side, nothing flows like a mathmos!)

The older American made pop top bottle lava lamps from the 80s & 90s can recover.

I'm not sure the vintage models from the 70's recover as well.

Stanley Post said:

Crap! I wish I had thought of that before ordering these :(

Oh well, I am sure things will work out :)

WeeboTech said:

I think the summer is just as bad. The heat melts the wax and the swishing fluid causes the wax to break up into the lamps.

From my experience, the older lamps recovered if you let them settle for a while, then fire them up on a cycle.

So I would avoid shipping lava in the middle of the winter (or any freezing temperature) and for the summer months.

fall and spring are the best time to acquire lava via mail.