Better Lava brand lamps on the way?

[Frizank Knazrif]

I got really annoyed having to constantly return my lamp to spencers, so I wrote the company.  They sent the reply below about a factory issue and better lamps are on the way.  Is it true, or is this something they've told people before to get them to shut up?


--------------------------------------------------------------------
[complaint]

I'm on my third non-functioning 52oz lava lamp from 2 different
Spencer's locations.  This led me to the Oozing Goo Forums
(http://www.oozinggoo.com)
where I found out that Lava Lamps are now
made in China and none of them work right anymore.  Is there a
particular store chain that maybe has newer/better batches that actually
work?  I can't think you guys are staying in business based on the fact
that people get tired of returning busted lamps.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[reply]

We had a problem at one of our factories that has since been resolved.
We have a new crop of lamps arriving soon!

[Kris]

They are probably now made in Taiwan instead. Lol.

I would take their comments with a grain of salt. Listen to NOTHING they say. Listen to what people on here say.

[LampHead]

I think their reply was incorrect,

"We have a new crop of lamps arriving soon!"

They really meant,

"We have new crap lamps arriving soon !"

Someone must have been confused, sorry for the mix up.


LampHead

[Charles]

Picked up 2 52ozers at Spencer's yesterday. Green w/clear liquid, and White w/blue. These are new shipments, because Spencer's was out a week ago.

The green one is....ok. A tiny bit foggy, and I'd prefer a little bit faster flow, but ok. (BTW does it EVER work that the fog just 100% goes away using the on/off cool-and-wait procedures outlined on websites? )

The white one does not flow at all. I have swapped bases to see if maybe it has something to do w/the base that came with it, but no. Covered it to accelerate the heating process, done the swirl to have a better lava coil connection, and nada. It's just a turkey and its going back.

Spencer's is a heckuva drive from where I am, but I can't say I wasn't warned. I'm afraid to order a new Grande from anywhere, but I want one really really bad.

Charles

[Charles]

Update on the White/Blue 52oz...the wax briefly became a single floating blob, went halfway up the lamp, and is now floating back to the bottom:

[Charles]

#h5203 1001070113...so its fairly new.

I covered it with not only a shirt but some plastic and the goo remains mostly one huge blob, but it now has little tiny bubble blobs as well..

[Charles]

With that link, you anticipated my next question.

Is the fact that these bulbs are 130 and the stand calls for 120volt something to worry about?

Also, wouldn't the goo at least flow for a little while, before it overheats? It never flows at all - just stays as one big blob.

Charles

[Charles]

Yeah...(hangs head). You're right.

I just haven't been seeing that many USA 52ozers or Grandes on Ebay (kinda nervous about Ebay anyway), and I couldn't resist trying em out.

Oh I did find one on Craigslist that I bought.. a 32oz from 1995 and the flow is GREAT, but the age of it shows in the fluid... which has a bit of red tint. Also, red is my least fave color for the wax and that seems to be very common in the older lamps.

[Kris]

Lava World should be FINED for making such crap. It will end up in the land fill as a result of their on going devotion to making shit. Sorry for the harsh words but it's true. Why they continue is freaking beyond me. I take that back, I know why they do it. They get away with placing huge orders with China and then when they come in, they sell them to retailers. Once sold, they don't care and it's out of their hands. It's the retailers problem now. They made their money. Then, they don't answer phone or emails so they don't have to deal with the small amount of people that actually want their item replaced.

So - it's a win win for them. God only knows what kind of toxic shit is in the new lamps. I am being deadly serious.

[Charles]

Well a bit of good news...the Green/Clear one is really doing pretty well. It looks like the fog has gone down to near zero, and its gooing away in all its lime glory! If I wanted to be super nit-picky the flow is still rather slow but very neat to look at.

If the other one was this good, I'd give em a thumbs up on the new models. But heck, it sounds like getting a good one is the exception rather than the rule.

Charles

[Frizank Knazrif]

After reading all the responses in this thread and searching through some older stuff, something tells me their response really is a bunch of crap. I hadn't realized this had been going on for like a decade now. If you think about it, they basically had a perfected formula 10 years ago with the american lamps. Even if they tried something different with the china lamps at first, the minute they realized their lamps were crap they should have immediately went back to the american formula. They're obviously just trying to make an inferior, cheaper formula work. I'm guessing I'll have to splurge $120 for a mathmos lamp when I can afford it because even my "working" china lamp is pathetic. I'll never buy another of the china lamps until someone on here says they're good.

[Charles]

Dang. Almost all of these look so inviting....how far they have fallen..

[Kris]

Look at the crappy video - http://www.lavalamp.com/products/lava-lamps/ - notice how they speed it up in the beginning and how it slows down as they zoom out. Crappy, translucent wax. JUNK! It flows like crap and looks like it too!