General problems making a lamp

[IanS]

So i've been working away at this using the retro formula and i seem to be encountering a world of trouble.
1. I bought candle dye and it separates from the wax.
2.. when i use the formulas given in the retro formula, it still doesn't seem to work.
3. Adding the salt as they suggest when making the water , it just sinks thru the goo and sits there. I pre-mix the salt in a little water before adding it now, is this a good idea?

What is the best wax to use ?
I've been using paraffin wax and I have two empty lava lamp bottles with coils in them that I have been using.

any help is GREATLY appreciated

Thanks,
Ian

[Casey Haldeman]

first time i used miralax packets, but at walmart I found a generic plastic jar full of the powder for much cheaper.

[Casey Haldeman]

Also I found that PEG by itself doesn't work, by the time it makes the water dense enough, it is slightly viscous and not very see-thru....and it's too expensive to use it all up. I just put like 3/4 cup or maybe a little more of the syrupy solution into my liquid, then use salt to actually get the density adjusted. You may not need any hand soap to get a lamp working if you're using PEG as I did. when I used a lot of peg, even a little bit of soap was too much, and the wax could separate well enough without any when I used a lot of PEG

[Casey Haldeman]

Also, on the subject of color, I found that some candle dye intended for the "gelly"(gelled mineral oil) candles, works okay for lava. I got a packet of base colors (red, blue, yellow) and the blue and red dyes work in my lava. The yellow was oddly water soluble, and I have no idea how it would have worked in an oil based candle. So now I have purple lava instead of my hoped-for green. I don't think the solid-brick-type candle dye will work in lava. The "concentrated liquid" type candle dyes in general are supposed to all work, but I've only tried this "gelly" kind.

[StickStoneBone]

Thank you this is a great idea I'll have to try it soon.

[Casey Haldeman]

Another note: make sure not to use too much lava, if you do, the blobs may not be able to make contact with the spring, and may just sit on the surface of the remaining goo. This may also be a problem if your goo has settled onto the glass in the bottom. I'm going to start again with a new bottle, and let this one sit for a long time with xylene or something in it.

[Andy Man]

Thanks for posting so much helpful insight Casey. You have inspired me to keep at it.

[Marcos Caamaño]

Hi, does this home made lamps last more then 2 months working? Because the ones I made don't work for more then that.

[StickStoneBone]

Yes... yes they do. I have one that's worked for over a year now. What is your lamp doing? How is it breaking?