Few questions, if anyone could answer pls.

[Patrick R]

Sorry my first post is in the help section, but I'm kinda new to the whole thing and need some advice.

I recently bought a new lava lite lamp*I know, bad idea*. It's not cloudly like everyone's been complaining about, and the flow is nice, but I'm having a couple of problems that I have no clue about.

First one is, I thought they were bubbles of air in the wax, but it's not, it's actually pockets of clear wax inside the yellow wax that eventually break free. The problem is, now I have this 3/4 inch bubble of clear wax that won't flow with the other wax and it looks like a giant bubble of air bouncing up and down. Any way to fix this?

The other problem I'm having is tiny specks or spots of wax on the inside of the globe that won't go away. I always thought that with time they go away, but I've been running this on a timer for 2 weeks now. Eight hours on four hours off. Any way to get rid of them without opening the globe and murdering my warranty?

Again, sorry this was my first post. Patrick.

[Tim Gill]

it's actually pockets of clear wax inside the yellow wax

Thats something I haven't heard but it doesn't surprise me.

Unforanlty what you describing is no surprise about Lava World lamps - the recent ones made in China are really bad so my advice would be to take it back, get a refund and buy a USA made 'vintage' lamp off Ebay or if you can afford it a Mathmos lamp from the UK. x

[Erin]

I have one China-made Lava Lite that has flecks in the wax, too. I think it's corrosion from the coil. And, I don't believe there's anyway to get rid of them. Here's what it looks like from below:

This lamp also has one clear blob of lava amongst the white. I can't explain it. It eventually melds with the rest when cold, but there's always this clear blob hanging out at the top when warm. 

Sadly, this is what you'll come to expect from $20 Lava Lite lamps. Next time around, like Tim said, buy vintage USA lamps on eBay or splurge for a Mathmos. 

[Mattmos]

I'm somewhat new as well, so my question may be an eye roller to some. Are there any lava lamps being made in the USA today?  If not, the only quality lamps are the vintage ones from Ebay or Mathmos? I really like the modern/contemporary look of Mathmos lamps. 

[Erin]

There are no lava lamps that I am aware of that are made in the US currently. All Lava Lite lamps are made in China. Mathmos lava lamps are made in the UK still, but their non-lava items are made in China, I believe. 

If you want a quality item, get "vintage" (pre 2000) Lava Lite or new/older Mathmos. I personally think vintage Lava Lite is nicer than Mathmos, but that's my opinion. Mathmos are very nice indeed, but a quality older Lava Lite is a beautiful item. 

This is a 90s Century made by Lava Lite. 

Nothing wrong with noob questions. We were all new here once. ;)

[Mattmos]

That's another thing, I really love the crystal clear fluid look, like your purple lamp above. That is one BadA$$ lamp. And thanks for the info about the pre 2000 lamps. I will be looking. Thanx

Erin said:

There are no lava lamps that I am aware of that are made in the US currently. All Lava Lite lamps are made in China. Mathmos lava lamps are made in the UK still, but their non-lava items are made in China, I believe. 

If you want a quality item, get "vintage" (pre 2000) Lava Lite or new/older Mathmos. I personally think vintage Lava Lite is nicer than Mathmos, but that's my opinion. Mathmos are very nice indeed, but a quality older Lava Lite is a beautiful item. 

This is a 90s Century made by Lava Lite. 

Nothing wrong with noob questions. We were all new here once. ;)

[Patrick R]

Well this is kind of a bummer =/

I'll complain to the company and see if I can do anything better. I can't get a refund because it was purchased at spencers, and they have no cash refund policy.

Worst comes to it, I'll just swap out the liquid following some of the tuts I found on here.

I'm actually wondering if I just filter the liquid and scrub the inside of the globe if it'll make any difference, but I know it voids my warranty. Ontop of that I don't know how to reseal the "pop top" types.

[Erin]

Patrick, complaining to Lava Lite will most likely fall on deaf ears. They may offer to send you another lamp, but it won't be any better. 

You can filter the fluid, but the filter to do that costs about $85. If you're determined to save this lamp, GooKit it or swap with contents from another good lamp. Consider this a $20 lesson and buy vintage from here forward. :)

Matt, if you have more questions, keep asking! We're here to help. :) I've only been collecting for about a year and a half, but I've learned a TON, esp when it comes to buying on eBay. So, keep the questions coming. :)

[Patrick R]

Well thank you all for the help.

I don't really have the money at the moment for a mathmos, but I may try the gookit method. If I'm going to go that route though, I'm going to return this silver base and get the black base I wanted.

The only problem I'm going to run into though is, how do you reseal the "pop cap" types?

[Erin]

You can find more information about resealing caps here: http://oozinggoo.ning.com/page/replace-bottle-cap

Patrick R said:

Well thank you all for the help.

I don't really have the money at the moment for a mathmos, but I may try the gookit method. If I'm going to go that route though, I'm going to return this silver base and get the black base I wanted.

The only problem I'm going to run into though is, how do you reseal the "pop cap" types?

[Patrick R]

Ty much erin :)

[Erin]

You are welcome!