Trying to fix a 60s Century

[Erin]

So this lamp:

clouded up again. I removed the fluid and am trying some experiments.

• Tap water only. No flow.
• Distilled water only. No flow. 
• Distilled water with GooKit surf. No flow. 
• Distilled water with salt...getting there, but won't detach and rise.
• Distilled water with salt and dish soap - decent flow, but lava is now stuck to sides of glass and is very bubbly. 

Tell me about what dishsoap does and what salt (I'm using canning salt - pure salt) does. I'm trying to learn. This shouldn't be this hard!!!

[Erin]

I noticed that after added the dish soap, the lava has bubbled up. Any thoughts on that? Would the SLS prevent that?

[Erin]

Also notice that the wax doesn't usually float all the way to the top. The dish soap I used was some cheapie stuff. Wonder if the other ingredients in it cause the wax the bubble. 

I feel like I am getting closer!!!

[Mr MaGoo]

Dish soap will break down the lava a little bit..make longer tendrils, but some soaps can cloud the water.  The SLS will not cloud water but give same result as the dishsoap.  I use epsom salts instead of canning or pure salt.  Salt makes the water heavier, thus making- allowing the wax to rise in the globe.

 

[Erin]

I am using epsom salts, but they are very old. Don't know if that would make a difference. Initially, when I put the dish soap it, it did all these weird tendrils, but is now back to just rising half-way up the globe and sitting there. The dish soap made the wax bubbly. 

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Can we see a shot of that in a well-l-lit room to see the liquid color? Looks beautiful!

[Erin]

You sure can! I'll post one this weekend. :) I'm still adjusting and tweaking. Not quite flowing right just yet. 

[matt01165]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5843896_fix-lava-lamp.html

I saved this for a ref.

[Erin]

Thanks Matt! This is almost exactly what I've done:

1: Unplug the lamp and let it cool for two hours. Unscrew the cap and pour out the liquid, leaving the large solid wax ball at the bottom in the bottle.

2: Fill the lamp with distilled water, but don't swirl it around or shake it. The wax at the bottom is fragile. Pour the water out. Repeat a few times.

3: Fill the lamp up with distilled water, leaving a two-inch air gap at the top. Do not put on the cap yet. Place the globe on its stand and turn the lamp on for an hour.

4: Microwave a drinking glass of distilled water for 10 to 20 seconds. Dissolve as much pickling salt or Epson salts in it as you can. Swirling is allowed in this case since no wax is involved.

5: Dip a straw one inch down into the saline solution and put a finger on the open end to hold it in place in the straw. Drop the inch of solution into the bottle once every 10 minutes. Let it diffuse through the bottle on its own instead of mixing it in. Repeat until the lava first rises to the top of the bottle.

6: Add a small drop of liquid dishwashing liquid and two drops of food coloring to match the wax's color. Screw the cap back on and you're done.

[lava luva ~ Tiffany]

its lookin' good! i love the color of the liquid! i cant wait to see more pics too :)

[lava luva ~ Tiffany]

i love your (french?) glitter lamp too! its awesome :)

[Erin]

Thanks Luva! I am still tinkering. I have some SLES (sodium laureth sulfate?) coming in the mail, so I may try again when I get that. My problem is that right now, dish soap seems to turn the lava bubbly. Still not getting full movement yet either. 

The French glitter in the background was just sold. :)

[Erin]

Ok, here's a pic of it from tonight. Flow is better (added more salt), but lava is still bubbly as hell.