Wax separated and won't flow

I recently purchased a retired lamp from eBay, and though it's in otherwise perfect condition, the lava is not flowing correctly. When I first turned it on, the lava separated into a clearish blob which remains at the top of the lamp even when it's off and a thicker portion at the bottom which just spikes as the lamp is warming up and then settles at the bottom. It appears that the lava may have somehow become separated into two different liquids. Does anyone have experience with this problem? How might I get the lava to recombine so it cam mix through use without opening or clouding the globe?

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Permalink Reply by Alfred on January 23, 2009 at 7:28pm

Thanks. I'll try these solutions and post again on how they work.

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Permalink Reply by Alfred on January 26, 2009 at 6:20pm

With a slight modification, this solution worked great. As my lamp had been on for about 3 hours when I got your reply, I immediately placed a shirt over it to raise the temperature. After about 45 minutes, the bottom wax began to bubble high enough for a few blobs to join with the upper portion. I let this go on for about 5 minutes, then gave the lamp about an hour and a half to run uncovered and repeated the process. Once the wax cooled, the upper portion was then dense enough that with gentle swirling, it fell back to the bottom. When I ran the lamp the next day, it melted into the bottom wax and didn't separate again. After this, the wax was running as if the lamp was a bit cool (even when it wasn't), but over the past few days, the flow has improved to a much more normal rate. I expect that by the end of the week, it will be flowing normally.