Crestworth Galaxy.

[Bill Smith]

Hi all, I would like to own a Crestworth Galaxy  one day but would like to get a run down on what to look out for when buying one. Also what if any pit falls are there in owning one, and what is a good price to pay for one. I notice that most that are sold on ebay always seem to have some scratches to the dome that houses the fibre optic strands. Can these be polished out?. Has anyone managed to buy one without any scratches to the dome, or is this just the nature of this lamp?

[krissyfromswindon]

unfortunatly the dome does get svratched and i have not found a way of getting these out, keep an eye on the fan blades as sometimes they can be buckled

[Bill Smith]

Hi Krissy, thanks for the reply, do you know if the dome is fixed or does it come away to expose the fibres so that you could clean or replace them. And is there only one model in the Galaxy or is there an early and later version.

[Modulo '70]

Hi Bill. The dome is initially glued into place but alot of these come loose and you can in fact remove the dome. (The manufacturer, Crestworth obviously felt there was no need for the lamp owner to ever have to come into contact with the fibres as cleaning them would not have been necessary).

 

As Krissy said, it's the nature of these Domed fibre optic lamps to have scratches. Both of mine do have light scratches unfortunately. Once the lamp is lit in a darkened room these scratches are not visible.

 

Some Galaxys have their own purpose built perspex stand but this is often missing. Examples with the original stand often go for 30 - 40 pounds more than without.  Modern repro stands are available.

 

AC

[Modulo '70]

Hi Bill, in answer to your other point, about 20 years after the Galaxy was available, Mathmos introduced the very much rarer, Jupiter 2 model (c.1995). Examples of these often hit the £200 mark!

[Bill Smith]

Hi Alpha Centauri, thanks for the reply I will keep a look out for one that does not have too many scratches on the dome.

[Pete]

Hi Bill, yes the earlier Jupiters are more commonly seen on Ebay. One in good nick would set you back around £75 to £100.

Unless you manage to find one that's been stored in a box from new, most will have some sort of damage to the dome, be it wipe or swirl marks from polishing & dusting, or light surface scratches etc.  I read somewhere of a product called "Mothers Plastic Polish" which is reputedly the best polish available for cleaning and polishing out light scratch marks to plastic and acrylic surfaces. My Galaxy has a few light scratch marks, but luckly they are around one side, so I just twist the dome to the wall so they can't be seen.  Anyway, as Krissy said you don't notice them when the lamp is on in a darkened room and also the dome is slightly tinted.  And as Alpha mentioned, the dome is glued into a flexible rubber gasket to protect the glass fibre strands.  I managed to ease my dome off to clean the underside of it and underneath the spray of fibres.

Things to watch out for........there are in fact two versions of the earlier Jupiter.  The most noticable difference is in the length of the fibre strands.  The longer stranded model is the more sought after IMO.  Check the fan is working AOK and the motor which slowly turns the colour wheel.  Also check the condition of the colour wheel......most are painted glass.  The fan motor can also be quite noisy, but this is normal......the shape of the plastic base seems to amplify and resonate the sound when the lamp is placed on a hard surface........placed on carpet, the sound is very minimal.

Here's a shot of mine......the long stranded version......the fibres almost touch the inside of the dome.  The strands of the shorter length version are about 1-2 inches shorter.

[Bill Smith]

Hi Pete, thanks for all the info I suppose you wouldn't sell me yours for a tenner lol. I think the longer fibre stranded one is the one I will try to lay my hands on first. It does look better than the shorter stranded version but if one comes up for the right price then I don't mind what version it is. I bet these look fantastic in a darkened room. Can't wait to get hold of one, as long as it does not have any damage or too many scratches to the dome.

[Pete]

Hey Bill, I may be persuaded to part with it.....I'm in Brum visiting the inlaws this coming Sunday, do you live anywhere near Quinton ? PM me if you're interested.....

[Erin]

Wow Pete, that is one beautiful lamp.

[Modulo '70]

You refer to it as Jupiter, don't you mean Galaxy?

Far Out anyway!

Pete said:

Hi Bill, yes the earlier Jupiters are more commonly seen on Ebay. One in good nick would set you back around £75 to £100.

Unless you manage to find one that's been stored in a box from new, most will have some sort of damage to the dome, be it wipe or swirl marks from polishing & dusting, or light surface scratches etc.  I read somewhere of a product called "Mothers Plastic Polish" which is reputedly the best polish available for cleaning and polishing out light scratch marks to plastic and acrylic surfaces. My Galaxy has a few light scratch marks, but luckly they are around one side, so I just twist the dome to the wall so they can't be seen.  Anyway, as Krissy said you don't notice them when the lamp is on in a darkened room and also the dome is slightly tinted.  And as Alpha mentioned, the dome is glued into a flexible rubber gasket to protect the glass fibre strands.  I managed to ease my dome off to clean the underside of it and underneath the spray of fibres.

Things to watch out for........there are in fact two versions of the earlier Jupiter.  The most noticable difference is in the length of the fibre strands.  The longer stranded model is the more sought after IMO.  Check the fan is working AOK and the motor which slowly turns the colour wheel.  Also check the condition of the colour wheel......most are painted glass.  The fan motor can also be quite noisy, but this is normal......the shape of the plastic base seems to amplify and resonate the sound when the lamp is placed on a hard surface........placed on carpet, the sound is very minimal.

Here's a shot of mine......the long stranded version......the fibres almost touch the inside of the dome.  The strands of the shorter length version are about 1-2 inches shorter.

[Pete]

Well bugger me.....I must of been "spaced out" when I keyed that......LOL !

ALPHA CENTAURI of the LAVAERIONS said

You refer to it as Jupiter, don't you mean Galaxy?

Far Out anyway!

[Pete]

Thanks Erin :-)

.....that's one cute cuddly looking bunny you've got there too !

And a great job you did on your white painted Starship......

:-)

Erin said:

Wow Pete, that is one beautiful lamp.