Wax clings in one column when running

[Andy]

Hi all, 

This is my first post so again hi to again to all Gooheads.

Ive been playing around with a 10 year old no name rocket (probably a chinese copy ).

Does anyone here know what to either put in the water or wax to break the surface tension of the wax. The lamp never quite worked from when i bought it so ive changed the water with straight distilled water with a few drops of surfactant and a little ethylene glycol. 

If i put to much glycol it changes the S.G and the wax floats.

Ive read here that people use SLES but wont that raise the S.G so the water is heavier than the wax?

I used to use cabon tetrachloride to weigh the wax down but its been banned for quite a few years now.

In all my other lamps the wax globules bounce off each other but this lamp the wax imeadiately combines.

I think the problem is not enough glycol but any more the wax will float.

It eventually gets working after about 3 hours but not perfectly.

Also when i cycle off and the lamp is cold there is always some wax that floats and will not sink.

All lamps have a little wax on top when it cools but it always sinks.

Also the wax doesnt stick to the glass.

Cheers

Andy