FIXED China...now what?

[Rici Faulkner]

OK, guys...the newbie needs a little advice.  I bought 2 of these China lamps, more because I liked the black Chrome colored base than for anything else.  I planned on just getting some older US 52oz globes to put in them.  But when they arrived, they seemed to be some of the "fixed" globes because the liquid is really not that cloudy.  If I can get them crystal, I will keep them, because I kind of like them.  But I needed to come to the experts.  How can I get them to be beautiful and crystal clear.  Should I try the rotation method or should I buy a MSR filter?  What say you guys?

 

[Gooboy]

Is this already clear liquid?

All I can say is, that MSR filter pump worked a miracle on my purple/yellow Grande last night, I have to tell ya

I was amazed!! It started out VERY dark cloudy, murky purple, I passed it only one time through the pump (first,

I primed the pump with about 500cc of distilled water) and it was absolutly clear and much lighter color.

 

I rinsed the Grande globe several times with distilled water, making sure to clear down the sides and under the

mass of hardened wax. This washed out an amazing amount of crud!! You cant really appreciate how CHEAP

these China lamps are until you actually take one apart!!

 

I carefully poured the water back in, fired it up and let it run several hours.

A minimal amount of crud (that causes the cloudyness) came out of the wax, I was expecting more, and I will run

it a few more times before re-sealing it just to make sure I dont have to run it through the filter again (I dont think

I will have too!).

 

So, if this pump filter can clean up the mess that was my purple Grande, it will work wonders on your already clear

lamp.

I did not even need to top off, I got every last drop of water back, you just need to keep pumping untill it's all out of

the pump.

I am absolutly delighted with the results, even if I do have to re-filter, you surly will not, one pass will make your

globe as clear as drinking water :)

My advise; BUY ONE!! I know they are expensive, but if you have several cloudy LL's, or even just one extra special

one, it is worth every penney!!

 

I would place your globe in a cool place for a few days. This will settle out anything in the water down to the bottom

and will keep the wax hard so when you put the pump hose in, and let it rest on the bottom of the wax cake, none

of it will stick to the metal hose sinker.

[Rici Faulkner]

Stanley, you are a GEM!  I am off to buy the pump!  I knew it was great after seeing the results from the pictures posted on this site...I mean CRYSTAL!!!!  That is what I want from these 52oz lamps.  I am SO glad that you were able to do it and that your lamps look the way you want them to.  Nothing feels better than an experiment that turns out well! And I am glad you didn't try to do it with the water pitcher because that could have turned out to be a disaster....like I said, it worked on my throw-away lamps, but at about 80%...not 100% clarity.  POST A PICTURE!   I WANT TO SEE!!!  Cheers!

 

[Gooboy]

Thanks, I am going to take some pics and attempt to post them this weekend but like I said before, I am not

good at that sort of thing. If I can post a pic from my hard drive, no problem, but I cant do the photo hosting thing! :(

 

That blue Grande that we saw all nice and clean has way less color dye saturation than these dark purple ones, so

a blue one will always look more sparkling clear.

Something odd I noticed when rinsing out my Grande globe, there were several black specks, the size of match heads!

I was able to fish them all out of there!! maybe undisolved dye??

 

My purple Grande (filtered) is not as sparkling clear as that blue one, but it looks good to me. I am afraid if I filter it

again, it will remove too much of the color. Filtering only once turned it from dark purple to lighter red/purple, and the

filter was stained dark :\

[Gooboy]

I agree, let them run for several hours every day before you filter them.

I dont know what that cloudy stuff is, but on a China lamp, it wont go away all by its self.

Some people say that the more you run them, the clearer the liquid gets (certainly that's what LL tells us).

But I have only seen one of my lamps get slightly less cloudy by running it.

It still never got clear enough to enjoy the lava inside.

So, the filter pump is the only real solution I know of.

[Rici Faulkner]

Thank you both for all of this extremely valuable information.  I really am SO glad I joined this group because you guys have taught me so much!!!!  I never would have been this far along had it not been for all the great people I have met on Oozing Goo. I am going to take your advice and begin running the black/clears.  When I am actually ready to filter, if I think it still needs to be done after the "boys" do what they do by being lit, I will let you both know so you can "hold my hand" through the process. I will take pics so you guys can give me a second opinion, so to speak.

[Gooboy]

Let us know when you get your filter pump.

It was pretty easy, and since we are not using it for the purpose it was made (nothing in the instuctions for filtering

a lava lamp ;), most of the instuctions dont apply to us (like boiling).

You will need to find something that will hold 2 gallons of water and have it ready.

I used 2 empty gallon each water bottles.

[2f8j4nfjbwyuq]

52oz. Black Chrome/Black Wax Clear liquid-
5254-Discontinued
Spectacular Lava Brand Motion Lamp with Clear liquid/
Black Wax and a New Chrome Finish.
Dazzling your Friends and Family with this
Unique Lava Lamp.

Enjoy your Lava Lamp!!!

[Gooboy]

What about the white color fixture, do they still sell those?

[Goo Geek]

I see a lot of visible particles in your liquid but I don't really see a cloudy liquid problem from your photo. To remove visible particles you can simply pour the cooled liquid through a coffee filter and then put it back into the bottle. You might have to go through this process a number of times if the lava keeps releasing wax particles when cycled but you should be able to remove the visible stuff this way after a few cycles. The MSR filter is used to correct cloudy liquid caused by particles so small they require a micro particle filter.

 

One approach I took was to replace my liquid entirely on a very cloudy new china lamp. It still looks good after all this time.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/china-redclear-redo

[Rici Faulkner]

You know I love the white, right.  They don't have any white left at the place I got the two chrome ones.  I certainly did ask.

Stanley Post said:

What about the white color fixture, do they still sell those?

[Michael]

I believe the white bases were a Spencer Gifts exclusive, they also had the yellow/clear 52 oz globes with the blue bases. It's been a few years now and your best bet would be ebay... though some Spencer stores as many other gooheads will suggest sometimes have them in the back of their shelves, so look throughly. Also check to see if they have lamps stocked on an overstock shelf above, some linger back there as well.

[Gooboy]

I rarley see them on Fleabay, but they do pop up for sale from time to time.

I would also LOVE to have one of those original brass lava lamps, the first ones made back in the 60's.

There is one up for auction from the UK. I emailed the person a few questions but never got a response.

He also has some negative feedback, so I will not bid on that one.

There will be others, hopfully someone in the US will auction one someday ;)

They are very rare :(