Grand with a big problem

[Jenny S]

A friend gave me this grand without a bulb (1996?).   Finally found a 100 watt bulb, the shorty kind, and fired it up.  Didn't look very lava like so I went trolling the internet and found you guys.  HI!

I am a very stuborn woman and really want to make this thing work.  It's red wax is very intensly colored and the water is slightly tinted but not really cloudy.  The inside of the glass is a little smudgy but not bad. 

So I did the multiple repetitions of starting and letting rest, 8 hours on every day for a week.  Each time the lamp acts different but never really bloby.  Last time it made wax bubbles that would burst as they rose, full of hot water.  Before then it made red corpules, about the size of large marbles, vigorous but not really what I was expecting.  It's also done lava straws.  I'll post a picture of what it looks like cold with it's stalagmites...

 

[Jenny S]

Oh wow, ok that helps me feel better Keith and Gwen.  If it hasn't been run correctly for a long time then this may explain all the weirdness.  I will leave it on all night and hope for the best.  Hopefully I will be posting pictures soon of it running like a dream......

[Keith]

Also, this may help

[Jenny S]

Well I have yet to see it with a nice pool of tidy wax in the bottom.  The closest I've seen was the vigorous corpules thing.  Went to the top and bottom but with small globs, maybe one inch accross.  The bursting blister bubbles the next day really freaked me out.  Most of the wax stays in the bottom no matter what.

 

[Keith]

Something like this?

This had not started flowing good at this point.  90's and windy, never got a great flow going.  Drafts DO make a difference.

[Bridget T]

If you have space, try keeping it in a smaller draft free room for a little while until it starts behaving.  I know my bathrooms and laundry room tend to stay warmer than the rest of the house or maybe try in a spot surrounded by furniture that would break up any direct drafts at it.

Since I don't run the heat in my house in wither (I live in south tx) my lamps near the floor just don't run very well at all.  Come summer, when the house is around 74 (instead of the nice 68 it is now) they run great.

[Jenny S]

We have proof or life for the GiantThere are blobs from 1 inch to 2 inches across going up and down.  A pool of wax was floating at the top but I gave it a gentle swirl and it floated to the bottom and hasn't reformed, occasionally a long strand forms from bottom to top (about 1 inch thick) that breaks into blobs then floats down.  So would that be slightly too hot?  The majority of the wax stays in the bottom in a shiny heaving mass.  Since the dark red mass covers the light source it's pretty dark in there. I've included a picture so you can see and can also do a video with my phone if that would be better than my discription.  It's been on 17 hours now.

[Brad]

that's a good sign! i would continue to cycle it a few times. let it cool until the wax is solid, then turn it back on for 8-12 hours or so. have fun with it.

[Gwen Williams]

it is looking better, keep running it in 12-16 hour shifts and it will start to behave once more and maybe put a hat on it to keep the top warm

[Jenny S]

Good Morning!  I was thinking about putting my tea cozy on it.  Never used it on the teapot but it might be perfect for the top if you say that is the right thing.  So it's not too hot right now?

[Gwen Williams]

I would turn it off, let it solidify then go at it again, like 12 hour cycles