Stuck in neutral!!

I've got a Lava Lamp brand lamp that was working perfectly. I'd turn it on and it would take about 20-30 minutes to start "lava-nating". I live in Texas where it's always warm even when it's cold. One day I turned it on with one other Lava Lamp and the other one took off without hitch. However this one just sat there. The goo stated to rise but it never broke away from the clump. I switch lamp bases from each lamp and the other one would work no matter which base it was on and this one still would not work. I gave the bottle a good cleaning. I swapped out the bulb. I made sure the ring was on the bottom of the bottle, still nothing. Does goo go bad? I have some lamps that are easily three times as old as this one and they're still excellent.

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Permalink Reply by Dre on January 25, 2008 at 11:54am

When the lamp has been on for a half hour or so, does the lava shoot strings to the top? Or does it just all melt and stay clumped at the bottom the whole time the lamp is on?

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy D on January 31, 2008 at 1:21pm

No there isn't any activity at all. I have a couple that will shoot those strings up but then they globulate and work fine. I don't get it. This lamp worked perfectly and then it just died. It wasn't moved or exposed to anything unusual that the others lamps that work were not.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy D on January 31, 2008 at 1:23pm

How can you tell where the lamp was made? I check the bottle and the lamp and it doesn't show any information as to where it was made.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy D on February 3, 2008 at 1:44pm

The bottle cap is unpainted and gold in color. It has the number 25 printed on it and then next to the 25 are two small rows of numbers in much smaller case.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy D on February 3, 2008 at 9:52pm

Thanks for the tip. I take it by jump start you mean not to leave the 60w bulb in?

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy D on February 4, 2008 at 6:37pm

You raise a good question about the fluid. In futzing with this lamp I have noticed that the water level is about 3/4 of inch lower than any similar sized bottles. Is it possible that some of the goodies in the water evaporated? If the water is bad is there anyway to mix anything close to the factory formula for the water? I've been looking at the recipes on this site and they all seem to be "from scratch" and not too much repair. I was thinking at the very least I'd save the bottle and lamp and try one of the formulas listed here but if it's a question of mixing water I'd like to try that.

Thanks for your help.
Jimmy D