China Lamp? Replace The Coil!

[Kris]

I decided to test and see if a new coil in my China clear/white 52oz would fix it's issues. What do you know, it does! I thought I would share the spring type I used and some photos in case anyone out there wants to give it a go. Well worth it. My lamp actually flows now. Before, it would not attach to the spring and it would just blob up at the bottom and stay there. Even after cleaning the cheap coil inside.

Now, it's what a lava lamp should be! :D Thanks to all here for the wealth of information and knowledge. Without it, this would not have happened.

Package Info - Springs purchased at Lowe's

Old coil on the left, new coil on the right. Penny is to show size.

Great new flow!

[LavaMeister]

Hi Kris:

I did find the spring you pictured. I tried it in a 52 oz. globe. The cap reads H5224 09091701 D. It didn't do a thing to correct the problem in that particular lamp. After about three hours the lava just went to the top and stalled there. Thought I would pass along the info for the readers here since that particular production run of the lamp was obviously crap (as are nearly 100% of the lava brand lamps available since God knows when).

[Karla]

I replaced the coil following your instructions. I bought the same sized one on ebay from your picture my lamp is 41cm lava world i think. I also bought a dimmer. After surgery lamp works really well but still a bit murky which it was from start.

[Goo Geek]

I have used the springs from Lowes and they do work but you should be aware that they are made of zinc which means they will corrode much faster than the stainless steel coils LL uses. The problem with the LL coils is that the diameter of the coil wire is too thin. Not the coil diameter but the wire diameter. Amazon has many stainless steel springs. One I use that has good dimensions is pictured here. A package of ten sells for about $14.50. You want the extension springs that you have to stretch out as opposed to the compression springs that are already stretched but aren't long enough. Note the part description on the two lines as this is what you search for. Here's a picture of them:

[Karla]

Karla Bortolin said:

I replaced the coil following your instructions. I bought the same sized one on ebay from your picture my lamp is 41cm lava world i think. I also bought a dimmer. After surgery lamp works really well but still a bit murky which it was from start.

[Karla]

Karla Bortolin said:

I used a century spring corp utility extension spring 5/16 x 3 x .028. I stretched it out and squashed the 2 ends together.

Karla Bortolin said:

I replaced the coil following your instructions. I bought the same sized one on ebay from your picture my lamp is 41cm lava world i think. I also bought a dimmer. After surgery lamp works really well but still a bit murky which it was from start.

[Pretzel Gal]

I used those springs from Lowe's (pictured above) on all of my goo-kitted lamps and now they're rusting! :( Is anyone else having that probelm??? Wah!

[Gwen Williams]

it's not stainless most likely, so you can either replace it again (and continue to do so as they rust) or try to find something stainless to use instead

Pretzel Gal said:

I used those springs from Lowe's (pictured above) on all of my goo-kitted lamps and now they're rusting! :( Is anyone else having that probelm??? Wah!

[Pretzel Gal]

Thanks Gwen! I had no idea that the coils I bought weren't stainless steel! Argh! I didn't see Goo Geek's post above (must have been tired!). I'd say the Lowe's coils held out for about a year before I noticed the problem. :( I believe the rust is now messing with the flow though, which I'm rather unhappy about. I'm definitely going to have to redo them.