Help fixing my lava

[Josh Mosbey]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. My week old lava lamp as of yesterday now has a problem. When i got home from school yesterday i flipped it on as usual, and the lava sat there at the bottom. I waited for it to heat up, and 2 and a half hours later it's still sitting at the bottom in an egg. The lamp ddnt feel all that hot, so i replaced the bulb. Still sat there. I then spun it a little and it got flowing, now again today i have the same problem, and it wont flow. when i spin it it flattens out and twirls for abit then in about 45 seconds retunrs to it's eggy position. PLEASE HELP

[Derek Hyde]

I have one that does this right now.  I'm going to try running it for 10 hours or more to really heat it up.  Hoping that will work.  Will keep you posted.

[Josh Mosbey]

Ok thanks.I'm on hour 7 right now..

[Derek Hyde]

Try draping a t-shirt or a towel over it too to really heat it up.

[Erin]

So this is a newly-bought lamp made this year? 

If so, those new Lava Lites can take awhile to get going, esp the first time. Leave it on for 4+ hours. 

[Derek Hyde]

The one that I have that's doing it is a '90's Aristocrat.

[Erin]

Josh's sounds like a new, new lava lamp. 

What bulb and what's the room temp where you're running the lamp? Fans on?

[Derek Hyde]

Yeah, I was thinking his is new. 

[Josh Mosbey]

I got mine last sunday, and have been using it every day since. It's a 25 watt bulb and idk what room temp is. but i'll check later. My fan is never on when the lamp it. But room temp hasnt really changed since i got it, when it seemingly randomly stopped working. I'll try the t-shirt things tomorrow, but would i have to do that every time i turn on my lamp?

[Derek Hyde]

What size is it?  40 watt is the standard bulb for 32 or 52 oz. globes (I use the clear appliance/refrigerator bulbs from the grocery store).  I am in the USA, if you are in Europe, not sure what bulbs they have over there.  You may just simply have a bulb that is too low in wattage.  I do the T-shirt method for one cycle then remove it for the next to see if it made a difference. You can repeat that a few times.  But, like Erin enquired,  if it is a new Chinese made lamp of low quality it may never change no matter what you do. 

[Gwen Williams]

since it came with a 25 W bulb it is a 20oz lamp, with mine that i got in MN winters to get them to flow correct I needed to let them flow for about 18 hours straight about 6 of them was with a tube sock over the top of the thing keeping it warm, before I did the tube sock they just wouldn't flow, it's like they got too cold during their storage phase and just wouldn't get going, after the sock and 18 hours I have not had an issue with any of them, though I keep my place quite warm so none of my lamps ever really get cold.

[Josh Mosbey]

I'm ganna try the tshirt thing, thanks for the help guys :D i'll be back tomorrow to tell you how it turns out.