this is what happens when you heat a lamp directly in a pot of boiling water on the stove

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Comment by Keith on March 12, 2013 at 12:52pm: Vince, separated wax refers to when the lighter elements of the wax are at the top of the globe and the heavier are at the bottom when cold. When this happens the heavier at the bottom will melt but not rise all the way to the top and the lighter will melt somewhat but won't sink. You can cycle the globe patiently and usually get them to recombine after a few days. Or you can empty out the water and melt the wax together.

Comment by Vince on March 12, 2013 at 12:00pm: Autumn I've had this happen a few times, with some wax staying on top. But is that not to be confused with an overly hot lamp? How can you tell the difference if there is one?

Kirk, sorry to hear that!

Comment by Kirk on March 12, 2013 at 5:57am: Don't feel too bad. I cracked an elegant enchantress globe this way. I got the lamp cheap on Craigslist, but it still hurt. : > (

I'm much more careful now, and less likely to boil unless the wax really needs it.

Comment by Autumn on March 11, 2013 at 3:46pm: When wax refuses to sink and mix back with the rest of the wax in the lamp is what I mean. I have experience with mixing lamps together if you want information on that.

Comment by Vince on March 11, 2013 at 3:26pm: Dr What, that's actually a coating of the wax inside, thing was a mess afterwards.. icky.

Comment by Vince on March 11, 2013 at 3:25pm: Autumn, I'm actually curious about this joining separated wax thing. How can you tell if that happens? And what do you do, just heat the wax at high temp? My globe was a 52 oz. I'm looking for more 52 oz. globes.

Comment by Autumn on March 11, 2013 at 10:51am: Luckily for you it was just a 32oz globe and not something large like a colossus globe. 32oz globes are so common I threw away 5 empty ones earlier this month. Your globe broke because of thermal stress. When glass heats up or cools down to quickly from one extreme to another it has a tendency to crack. When I boil lamps I use a plate and put the globe in the pot before I turn the heat on. After I am done I usually leave it in until the water cools down a bit. There are only 3 reasons I boil globes. One reason is to clean them, the second is to join separated wax, and the third is to increase the heat of the wax to a point that causes a consistent blend if the wax has become chunky.

Comment by Dr. WHAT?! on March 11, 2013 at 9:07am: ummm that's strange, it looks like the globe has a lot of condensation in it from being cold.

Comment by Vince on March 11, 2013 at 8:33am: It's the cool down that killed it.. It was so hot and when I lifted it out the air was too cool and it cracked. It has to slowly heat, pour the wax, and slowly cool.

Comment by Dr. WHAT?! on March 11, 2013 at 8:22am: I've had this happen once, to jimbo's globe, but that was because the globe was sitting in the car so it was cold. Normally if you place the globe in the water before it boils, then it should be okay.