Possible Goo Kit Error in Instructions

[Vince]

Hello Fellow Gooers,

Goo kits says "10ml surfactant for each quart of water".  So I used 15ml surf for my 52 oz. lamp, which is about 1.5 qts. of water.  Well, the goo is just a blob, no action at all.  Just laying at the bottom and domeing.  I wonder if the instructions meant to read "10ml surfactant for each quart of GOO"?   (not water)

When if first added water to the lamp I only put in about 2.5ml of surfactant so that I could observe the lava action.  The action initially was great, breaking off and rejoining and going up and down.  The more surf I added the worse the action got. 

It seems the 15ml of surfactant I added really messed the lamp up.  The first picture below here shows the lamp with 2.5ml of surf.  The second picture shows the lamp with 15ml of surf.  You can see the action is nil with the added surf.  Other folks have had similar results. 

Could someone help me?

[Jus]

I can't speak to the accuracy of the instructions, but I can tell you a little bit of super-saturated epsom salt solution will get that goo going (worked for mine).  Some say pickling salt won't cloud the water; I say epsom salt hasn't clouded my lamps at all.  Plus, epsom salt isn't salt at all, rather a mineral, and therefore is less corrosive to the coil, from what I've read.  Holla if you need more info...

Good luck-

PS-if you feel it's only the surf to blame, you definitely can jus remove some of the water, then add new water, which will dilute your concentration of surf.

[Brad]

agree 100% with Jus!

[Vince]

Well Jus it seems that now the lamp is on for about 5 hours plus and it's nice and hot, the goo is flowing nice.  I'd like smaller blobs, but it's getting there.   Maybe it just needs to break in the goo...  Picture attached of latest flow.  I like the epsom salt thing.  It fixed our clear/neon yellow from Spencers, but that one clouded up again because the goo is bad. 

Well guess what, now I'm on the hunt for cheap lamps that I can goo kit myself!!  Oh boy I'm hooked...

[Brad]

IMO - the flow in the pic you just posted is perfect.

also - if you are running this with a 40w bulb, it will overheat and the wax will eventually dome at the bottom and/or collect at the top.  i would consider a dimmer or lower watt bulb.

[Vince]

Actually that's the funny part.  It's a 40W, but it's running fine now.  We were just talking about it here that we've only cycled the lamp maybe 3 time since we poured it.  So I guess we just have to run it a few times to break the wax in.   It seems to dome early - 3 to 4 hours, then it "opens up".  Yes I've read where the goo kits run hot.  Its on now about 6hrs. with the 15ml surf and it's going to town, up and down.  

I'm hesitant to use so much surf next time I do a goo kit. 

On the color.. The goo kit orange is fabulous.  I really LOVE it.  It looks like real glowing lava.  I used the equivalent of about a pea-sized amount, colored before we poured the goo.  The lava turned opaque really nice but is still translucent enough where the light goes through it nicely. 

[goober jack]

Wouldnt it be nice if everything went the way its suppose to go? Ever try goo kitting a fluidium. Dont try. I think we should get the goo kit seller in here to say whats up! Seems like everything has so many variables. Just my opinion

[Jus]

That would be nice!  Good job on the lamp, Vince!  I know I've learned some important variables from Vince and Brad lately...thanks!

 

[Vince]

Jus I am humbled!  I'm really new to this, but as always I jump into something headfirst.  We have the lamp on a timer for steady on/off cycles.  Let's see what it does in the next couple days.  Seems to be reacting nice now.  Knock on wood. And if the Dawn works good too, then that's another variable.  I didn't put any other soap in at this point. 

Jack, about the fluidium, is it because the shape of the lamp is different?

[Alfred]

Table salt (sodium chloride) is a mineral. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) is indeed a salt. The two terms aren't mutually exclusive.

Jus said:

I can't speak to the accuracy of the instructions, but I can tell you a little bit of super-saturated epsom salt solution will get that goo going (worked for mine).  Some say pickling salt won't cloud the water; I say epsom salt hasn't clouded my lamps at all.  Plus, epsom salt isn't salt at all, rather a mineral, and therefore is less corrosive to the coil, from what I've read.  Holla if you need more info...

Good luck-

PS-if you feel it's only the surf to blame, you definitely can jus remove some of the water, then add new water, which will dilute your concentration of surf.

[goober jack]

Vince! It may be the shape of the fluidium. It has the two coils too. My point is i think if you buy someones product, it should work like its suppose to, not having to add epsom, dimmers, different amounts of surf and so on. But, i guess then it wouldnt be much fun trying to get it to work right! It too gives us a discussion.

[Vince]

Jack I agree.  I never, ever suspected I would become involved with a lava forum, nor try goo kits!  But that is where my experience led me.  So now that I'm here, I'm thinking it wasn't so bad that of the 4 lava lites from Spencers.com that one has lot of bubbles in the glass, another is cloudy and not clearing, a third was so cloudy you could not see the lava.  Replacements are on the way from Lava Lite. (thanks Susan!).  The fourth lamp runs perfectly.   Those Fluidiums look really fabulous.   It does not appear there is much stock in lava lamps anywhere right now, looking on different websites.

[Jus]

Hmmm...mutually exclusive...that term always confuses me!  All I know is what I've read, like from this pretty reliable source:

Saltworks  America's Sea Salt Company

Salt Info

"Epsom salt, named for a bitter saline spring at Epsom in Surrey, England, is not actually salt but a naturally occurring pure mineral compound of magnesium and sulfate. Long known as a natural remedy for a number of ailments, Epsom salt has numerous health benefits as well as many beauty, household and gardening-related uses."

I didn't do well in Organic Chemistry, nor the class that often used that term "mutually exclusive"...ECONOMICS!  UGGHHH!   So, maybe I missed something...

 

I agree with Jack.  Epsom salt and Dawn are only two of the hoops I've had to jump through to get my goo kit to work.  One of the most confounding things for me is WHY some of the goo will melt jus perfect, but other portions in the same lamp refuse to melt, refuse to sink or refuse to rise, refuse to act anything like the rest of the goo in there...and it all got poured in together, from the same batch!!!  AAAGGGGHHHH!

Working to make new lamps can be fun, but daunting as well-for sure!

I wish the lava lamp companies would offer CrashSundayGuy a job designing lamps.  He has designed some really nice and unique looking lamps!  (There are surely others here equally as talented, but Crash is the one I've discovered so far)

And I think my biggest question-WHY CAN'T THEY MAKE LAMPS LIKE THEY USED TO, IN THE GOOD-'OL-DAYS?  With that long, stretchy flow emerging from both top and bottom, never the same look twice...

At least, that's how I remember it...in my great Aunt Nonie's lamp...soooo long ago   *SNIFF*