Weird...

[Anson Cheung]

Hello there,

My Opal Astrobaby has some problems here. First off, there are many bubbles inside the lava. Second, the goo never (or rarely) blobs, it just stays at the bottom (see pictures attached). Will running the lamp more help?

Thanks!

[Tim Gill]

Running it may help but it could be dead - the bubbles can be fixed but firstly run it for a week or so to see what it does

[Anson Cheung]

If it's dead - anything I can do about it?

Tim Gill said:

Running it may help but it could be dead - the bubbles can be fixed but firstly run it for a week or so to see what it does

[Anson Cheung]

Also, if you wanted to know - the only way some wax gets up there is to have a bubble on top of it.

[Simon Lloyd]

If the wax isn't rising it is too dense (compared to the liquid) -best check the bulb - a slightly higher wattage should provide more heat for the wax to rise!

As a last ditch attempt you can be brave and add propyl glycol - which lowers the relative density of the liquid - therefore encouraging the wax to rise. Be warned - if too much is added it will "tiny blob" for the rest of its life!

Wax that is very old, or heated too quickly, tends to have bubbles and apart from a gentle long period of flow there isn't much you can do about it. 

Johric said:  The air bubbles will eventually work themselves out

I don't think the bubbles are "air bubbles" - just that the wax heats up too quickly and forms a bubble of wax around the liquid - a kind of superheating?

[Anson Cheung]

'Watt' bulb wattage should I use? I'm not brave enough to open a bottle yet.

Simon Lloyd said:

If the wax isn't rising it is too dense (compared to the liquid) -best check the bulb - a slightly higher wattage should provide more heat for the wax to rise!

As a last ditch attempt you can be brave and add propyl glycol - which lowers the relative density of the liquid - therefore encouraging the wax to rise. Be warned - if too much is added it will "tiny blob" for the rest of its life!

Wax that is very old, or heated too quickly, tends to have bubbles and apart from a gentle long period of flow there isn't much you can do about it. 

Johric said:  The air bubbles will eventually work themselves out

I don't think the bubbles are "air bubbles" - just that the wax heats up too quickly and forms a bubble of wax around the liquid - a kind of superheating?

[Tim Gill]

The bulb you should use is a 30w R39 reflector (the one supplied with the lamp), this is probably the one your using on it now.

From the picture I don't think the wax is in too bad shape so propane glycol or Epsom salt mix would help it to flow.

If the wax is dead the best thing you can do really is just get a new bottle - the same colour does come up on ebay at times or just order a new bottle from Mathmos.