Saving a Lamp, no idea how to proceed

[Casey Wolf]

be warned, it may run a bit TL;DR.

we recently found a lava lamp i got my mother between '92 and '94, not old, but old enough that the lava had yellowed and the top had cracked, it does not have a bottle cap seal, just a wide-mouth bottle with an O-ring and screw top. fortunately it was right side up, so it didnt lose ALOT of fluid.
but it did lose enough
my problems are thus:

low fluid level *is it possible to homebrew fluid that will work with lava that came with it?*
the crack *gorilla glue? duct tape?*
the lava doesnt seem to be getting hot enough *the body of the lava rises, but not far enough to seperate *this observation was during the "oh well, the fluid will expand" phase of the other two problems. no matter how long i ran it it never got that heat

to be honest, i do not know alot about lava lamps from an enthusiast's standpoint, i dont know what kind of lamp, but i do have pics of the lamp, with an altoid box scale, and the crack in the lid.

please guys, help me save this lamp, and i will forever sing the ballad of oozing goo, the savior of the lava lamp

update: following lamphead's awesome advice, backfilled it, testing now.... the anxiety of letting it warm up is killing me XD

update to the update
it's been around 18 hours, still nothing from the lamp warming up, astrobaby suggested to add soap, so.... homebrew fluid recipes, does anyone know any?

[Scott]

Try online at Tractor Supply or a similar site. The pink stuff can be had ad any auto parts store or RV but again your stuck at 30% so your adjusting onthe wax end. As for the mercury lamp, try the ink from a silver sharpy marker. However use it sparingly because the permenant marker chemistry has a strong wetting agent that causes the lava to stick to the sides. But the end results is cool.

[Casey Wolf]

awesome, thanks scott

[LampHead]

This is the cheapest I have found http://www.revivalanimal.com/store/p/280-Propylene-Glycol.aspx

Dr. WHAT just to let you know, Farm and Fleet carry this in store, $ 20 a gallon.


LampHead

[Scott]

I called Tractor Supply to pin some down yesterday and the guy on the phone said they label it a toxic chemical. Go figure! Somebody saw antifreeze in the bean counter room and went OMG its poison! Not to worry though the FDA deems it GRAS: Generally regarded as safe. Why am I saying this stuff? It may give you trouble if you try to order it online.

[Casey Wolf]

hahaha anything is a poison, just depends on the dose.
but, i used to sell electronic cigarettes, they use propylene glycol as a suspension liquid for the nicotine, and the most trouble i got from smarter people was that little glycol at the end.
seems just cause diethylene glycol is highly toxic, people think all glycol is