Is it too hot? Or is the wax worn out?

[Andrew McKean]

Hello all.  I'm seeking advice or good pointers to figure out what's going on with a knock-off lava test tube I bought at the local GoodWill.  Once the lava gets warmed up and moving for a while everything looks great.  After about 2 to 3 hours the wax starts to look like it's boiling, developing large air bubbles in it and it all then begins to remain on the top of tube.  Is the wax getting too hot?  If any wax drops to the bottom, it immediately returns to the top.  Currently I'm using a clear 40 watt bulb to heat the lava.  I tried an idea to see if I could "vent" some of the heat off by drilling a nice pattern in the base (mimicking the look of older lava lamps).  The lamp looks way cooler now but it still seems to be boiling the wax.  I'd tried a 25 watt bulb just wasn't enough to push the wax off the bottom.  I'm considering a 30 watt just kicks.  Should I even bother or is the wax just worn out?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Andy 

[LampHead]

If its the lamp im thinking of it does require a 30 watt bulb which is nearly impossible to find. Your wax is definitely getting too hot from what you described. Your other option would be to buy a dimmer and turn the light down once it starts getting so hot.

[Andrew McKean]

Not impossible to find!  I've scoped out normanlamps.com and was ready to buy this 30S11N-130V-IF.  It's a 30 watt, intermediate base lamp.  Before I pulled the trigger and bought 2 I'd thought I'd run it past a few others who may have tried the idea and found it worked.  For the full description check out:

http://www.normanlamps.com/product_info.php/products_id/6420?osCsid...

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Andy

[SCOTT13A]

Make sure that it is the size that fits your lamp. You don't want to pay a lot of money and find out it doesn't fit into the socket. Also, see if you can find something with a longer life. I bought a dozen 30 watt bulbs of a different type (standard appliance bulbs) that last 20,000 hours each a few years back for less than 3 dollars each at bulbman.com. I checked out their site just now and they have some that last 8000 hours. Maybe they have it for the type you are looking for. Instead of buying expensive bulbs for one lamp, it might just be cheaper to do as Lamphead suggests and get a dimmer which should cost less than ten dollars.

 

SCOTT13A

Andrew McKean said:

Not impossible to find! I've scoped out normanlamps.com and was ready to buy this 30S11N-130V-IF. It's a 30 watt, intermediate base lamp. Before I pulled the trigger and bought 2
I'd thought I'd run it past a few others who may have tried the idea
and found it worked. For the full description check out:

http://www.normanlamps.com/product_info.php/products_id/6420?osCsid...

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Andy

[Andrew McKean]

Thanks!  Either way with a dimmer or lower watt bulb I need to drop the wattage.  Suspicions confirmed! 

 

Thank you both very much, I'll post a pic as soon as I get it up and running.

 

Andy