Mathmos FAQ

[Anson Cheung]

I was just reading on the Mathmos website, when I found this;
"Q. Why is my lava lamp cloudy?
A. Lava lamps become cloudy for two reasons, either they have been shaken or moved whilst hot or they have reached the end of their life (2000 hours). You can buy replacement lava lamp bottles from us."
So, a lava lamp goes cloudy in 2000hrs? Makes me go hmmmmm...

[Tim Gill]

2000 hours is a aproxamation - wax does degrade after time so this can cause clouding or it can just cause the wax to not flow at all (this has happened to me with a lamp I had for ages).

What I have heard that is a good benchmark is 4 years of good use (i.e. being run for a decent length of time every day for 4 years) however it does depend on the quality and formula of the wax, quality and formula of the fluid etc.

[Anson Cheung]

But still, 2000 hours isn't a lot. BTW, my lamps have been running for 8~ hours a day for 2 years and still not a problem. Do the maths.

[Erin]

With running it four hours a day, that gets you a about a year and half. Doesn't seem like long to me either. Hmmm.

[Johnny]

its been 2000 hours for years, some of my bottles are several years old, i never run them for max time, mostly up2 5 hours, i have noticed the new astro bottles / wax seems alot thinner, ive refilled loads of old crestworth bottles in the past but with the new astro bottles contents ive had lots of problems with the wax sticking to the glass in the refilled bottles, grrrrrr  i think the wax is thinner, Also them new bottles with the thin neck/top dont sit probly in the copper crestworth bases they wobble and dont seem very steady, ive tried em of a few bases so isnt just one base out of shape, i then tried the bottles the astro smart and the glass bottom dont even touch the heating plate........ somethings wrong with them

[Johnny]

yep johric, i even stuck the empty bottle in the oven ( short time ) to make sure its dry b4 any new fluid goes in, ive been refilling for donky years and must have lost the nack or the wax is different, 

[Simon Lloyd]

The new Astro bottles don't fit snug in any of my lamps :o(

Looks like they use less was too!

[Johnny]

i agree simon, something isnt right with the base section of the bottles , its not tappering in correctly, thus sitting up higher on the metal base making them wobble

[Simon Lloyd]

The glass base of the bottle seems thicker too

[Johnny]

the thickness is like the first type of astro's bottles back in the 60's , also noticed on the boxes lots of colours listed, combine this with the new bottle necks makes me wonder if its for the u.s market