Lava Lite depresses me (when will I ever learn?)

[Erin]

It's my own stupid fault. I see cheap lamps and I get excited. Every single one I bring home is disappointing. I don't know why I even bother. If I get one that's clear, the flow is crap (well, they all flow like crap). Residue on the bottom. Residue on the inside of the glass. Horrible flow. Cloudy. Hazy. Overheats quickly. 

They're all getting returned...except one I'm keeping to test out pinholes on the base.

 

My very first "new" China Lava Lite. Got this summer of 2010. It didn't flow. Returned it the next day.

 

Next up, my China blue/white. Sent the base to Mike (blindfaith) this week. Globe is clear, flow is boring:

 

I think we all remember this one. I wrote up a huge thread about it. What a shame. Returned for full refund to Lava Lite. 
 

Orange/black 52oz. Horribly cloudy. Residue on inside. It was nasty to look at.
 

 

Exchanged for this:

 

^^ This one is clear, but has gunk in the coil/wax, which I just discovered this week:

 

Bought five of these for $8/each. The blue/white wouldn't stick to the coil, the purple/red was so cloudy you couldn't see through it. I returned those two. I might keep the remaining three for experiments or glitter, but they are pretty depressing to look at (pretty awful flow):

Lastly, I purchased this at Target last week. A little hazy, residue on the inside and the flow, well, you know the story...

 

I know I'm an idiot for even buying them, and it's weird how I try and justify keeping them ("well, they're not THAT bad" or "I could use this for parts") but that's a pretty sad reason to keep something that you don't like. 

 

I've been running these off and on all weekend and each time I look at them, they just disappoint me. 

 

No point to this thread...just wanted to share my thoughts. Friends don't let friends buy Lava Lite, right? ;)

 

*sigh*

[Carol]

Oh no Erin!!  I thought you were ok with that one........don't feel bad, both my new 52 oz pink/white and my son's green neon are flippin their coils at every launch.  Not so much his but mine.  It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get mine going.  I turned them all on at 6:30 2nite and it's now 10:00 and it's just starting now when the others have been going.  By the time the coil readjusts itself it takes forever.  I turn it on and no sooner i'm turning it off to go to bed. I know how ya feel.....

[Erin]

Flipping coils can be OK, but will lengthen startup times. 

I *was* ok with this lamp until I realized how long it took to get going. It's weird - I don't remember it taking that long to get going initially. 

[Carol]

Is it cooler in your room where you have it?  My son's lamp absolutely takes forever if his fan is on.  I'm not sure where you live, but here in south jersey it's been pretty hot and so the a/c has been running pretty constantly.  It's crazy, I think because the 5 are closer together in the livingroom they keep each other warm because the a/c doesn't bother them, but the one loner in my son's room is the problem child.  So maybe that's why??

[Thom]

The plastic clear ring around the base is the cause of that. Since plastic wont conduct heat, it takes it alot longer to heat up. Sure it looks cool, but there is a down side to it.

Erin said:

My most recent Clearview Colormax takes FIVE HOURS to get going. I am pretty bummed about this. 

Thom said:

Are the new "Colormax" lamps crap also?

[Erin]

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks for the info!

Thom said:

The plastic clear ring around the base is the cause of that. Since plastic wont conduct heat, it takes it alot longer to heat up. Sure it looks cool, but there is a down side to it.

[Thom]

Update on the Colormax. I did buy one, and checked it at the store, not cloudy. The flow has been crap at times, and other times, has been ok. I just put a 40w in it, after a while of a big blob just sitting at the mid globe level. Its flowing (as well as a China will flow), at full 40w. I have a dimmer on it, but I see no reason yet to dim. Its not running very hot at all, by the touch.

The 25w it came with just seemed not to do the job for it. The flow is no where like a US, but it is flowing, and the globe colors are cool.

[Rampaging Chipmunk]

All of my 40+ lava lamps are China-made Lava Lite lamps. They all function well now, but that was not always the case. I got very talented at replacing liquid for a reason. That typically works to fix most of the problems I've had, but one or two won't flow properly at all no matter what and a decent number of them have wax buildup at the bottom of the globes, although that doesn't really affect the flow too badly, so I can put up with it. Quite frankly though, I don't think I've ever seen such horrible quality control from any product before. Almost all of the non-Premier size lamps I've purchased recently have required either repair or return to the store.

[Carol]

Mine too!!!  I'm in the process of wating to order a MT kit to completely regoo 2 of my 52 oz less then a year old Neons......

 

Thom, glad you're happy with your Colormax!!  They are nice lamps!!

[Thom]

Thanks Carol! Its not a bad lamp now with the bulb upgrade. 

[Carol]

I have a really pretty white lava/pink liquid china 52 oz and although it flips coil at mostly every start up, once it gets going it has a pretty decent flow.  I also have a black lava/clear liquid classic that I got for a steal from kmart on sale and although it's mostly those cueball size blobs of boredom, last nite I noticed it doing some somewhat neat things so I don't know if I'm gonna regoo it or leave it be.  I guess it depends on how good I am at it, lol!!!

[Kaity Sullivan]

ya'll are weird. that blue/white is gorgeous and i love the flow of china lamps. my friend has a vintage purple/white swirl base with purple/clear and the flow is SO WEIRD. it's snakey and sometimes all it does is produce tiny bubbles that just collect together like fish eggs or something. i love the flow of every one of my china lamps! 

[Kaity Sullivan]

and why are ya'll worried about gunk in the coil? it's not like you ever see that