Source for replacement bulb for clearview?

[Brian]

Anyone know of where to get bulbs for the 32oz lamps? I brought home 2 clearviews and one of the bulbs blew the instant I turned it on. 

It needs 25w reflector bulb, but I learned last night from my purchase at Wal-Mart that not all reflector bulbs are created equal. 

The GE soft whites are a bit too convex and the globe just kind of wobbles on top. 

[Carol]

TomK, I run my 5 in the living room, but I start up my new red clearview in my bedroom around 8 pm. because it takes anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to start really oozing good.  I keep my house at 70 too, but sometimes the bedroom gets below 70.  That could answer why the Clearview takes awhile to get going.  I don't own cats anymore but at my old job we had a cat/kitten rescue and I used to literally see them pant when they would come in out of the heat.  You know it's not good when you see a cat panting like a dog!!!!

[TomK]

Yes! Cats don't have sweat glands so excessive heat can really do a number on them. Even with the ac on I still keep a small desk fan running in my room to keep my guys comfortable. But my 52 oz. vintage lamps like the Aristocrats and Centurys don't seem to be adversely affected by this at all. But as many of us know, those early US made lava lamps have always been great performers! As far as your clearview Carol, 3-5 hrs. seems to me to be just too long. I would try one or more of the previously discussed upgrades to conserve or add heat to the lamp and cut your start up time down. If you are going to run a dimmer anyway, I would put in a 40W first and see if that works.

Carol Morrow said:

TomK, I run my 5 in the living room, but I start up my new red clearview in my bedroom around 8 pm. because it takes anywhere between 3 and 5 hours to start really oozing good.  I keep my house at 70 too, but sometimes the bedroom gets below 70.  That could answer why the Clearview takes awhile to get going.  I don't own cats anymore but at my old job we had a cat/kitten rescue and I used to literally see them pant when they would come in out of the heat.  You know it's not good when you see a cat panting like a dog!!!!

[Carol]

Yep, Tom, I'm going to order some of those dimmers from that site that are on sale for a buck something!!!  I'm going to need one for my 52 oz gookitted lamp that I'm waiting to restore.  I hear that the goo kits are much lighter wax and don't need the same amount of heat that the LL's do.  On the Clearview I'll change over to a 40 watt bulb, this way I can leave the 40 watt fully cranked until it starts up, then adjust.  Oh, and now, even after 5 hours, the lava is sitting in small balls at the very bottom.  I have to find a 40 watt reflector.  I'm sure Lowe's has them.  Geez, what we don't go through for our lamps, lol!!!  Oh and our pets!!!

[TomK]

Sounds like you are on the right track Carol! Let us know how it all works out. Oh, btw, one of my "outside" backyard cats has bestowed a litter of 4 darling cute little kittens on us! Cute is an understatement when describing them!! I love to stare at my lava lamps but a kitten will melt my heart like new goo every time!

Carol Morrow said:

Yep, Tom, I'm going to order some of those dimmers from that site that are on sale for a buck something!!!  I'm going to need one for my 52 oz gookitted lamp that I'm waiting to restore.  I hear that the goo kits are much lighter wax and don't need the same amount of heat that the LL's do.  On the Clearview I'll change over to a 40 watt bulb, this way I can leave the 40 watt fully cranked until it starts up, then adjust.  Oh, and now, even after 5 hours, the lava is sitting in small balls at the very bottom.  I have to find a 40 watt reflector.  I'm sure Lowe's has them.  Geez, what we don't go through for our lamps, lol!!!  Oh and our pets!!!

[Carol]

OMG Tom, you would have luved my job at The Wagging Tail!!!  We rescued kittens all the time!!  I couldn't get attached though.  I tried to separate myself but there were just some that melted my heart.  We had one had a head shaped just like Yoda from Star Wars so I named him Yoda.  Unfortunately I have 5 dogs and am allergic to cats.......bummer....gotta luv the baby animals though!!

 

Oh so I did an oopsie last nite with my Clearview.  Couldn't get out yet to get bulbs so I covered it with a black pillow case in the morning because my room gets direct sunlight.  I figured last nite I would keep the pillowcase on until it flows then remove.  Um, thank god others were awake in the house because I fell asleep and when I took the pillowcase off at 1 am the lamp must have gotten too hot and the lava separated totally from the coil and I had a huge blob floating in outerspace lava juice!!!  Not a problem.  Thank god it didn't fry my lava.  Had it been an older lamp it would have.  It wasn't running long either when I caught the problem.  I shut it down and when all the lava returned to it's home on planet earth, I gave it a gentle turning and it reattached.  After a little cool down time I started it back up and it flowed pretty good.  I think there's a lot of hope for the flow in this lamp with a higher bulb and a dimmer.  I'm really seeing a bit of a flow improvement in the Clearviews that were made last year.  Mine says 2013 on it.  I was even getting some snakey flow and columns last nite which surprised me.  Now I want to get another!!!  If I can get the warm up times figured out I just mite....I'm digging the way the lava gobbles up what falls to the coil.  It's really cool to watch.  I can actually get to sleep because I'm not thinking of my problems of the day, I'm too busy concentrating on "is this lava going to fall from the top in time for the coil to shoot some more up"??  LOL!!!  I do buy from Spencer's so I can pull the lamps from their tubes to check them out for clarity and what not.  I'm grateful I didn't cloud my lamp up last nite with the overheating....whew!!!

[TomK]

Sounds like the Clearview is going to do just fine for you! I feel the same way about them--I caught the bug too. I ended up with 6 or 7?, not sure lol. You are so right Carol, about the flow taking your mind away from your daily woes. That's a big part of the magical affect that lava lamps have on us! They distract and relax our minds which can actually improve one's health, mental and physical. One thing though--please stay away from using those pillow cases!

Carol Morrow said:

OMG Tom, you would have luved my job at The Wagging Tail!!!  We rescued kittens all the time!!  I couldn't get attached though.  I tried to separate myself but there were just some that melted my heart.  We had one had a head shaped just like Yoda from Star Wars so I named him Yoda.  Unfortunately I have 5 dogs and am allergic to cats.......bummer....gotta luv the baby animals though!!

 

Oh so I did an oopsie last nite with my Clearview.  Couldn't get out yet to get bulbs so I covered it with a black pillow case in the morning because my room gets direct sunlight.  I figured last nite I would keep the pillowcase on until it flows then remove.  Um, thank god others were awake in the house because I fell asleep and when I took the pillowcase off at 1 am the lamp must have gotten too hot and the lava separated totally from the coil and I had a huge blob floating in outerspace lava juice!!!  Not a problem.  Thank god it didn't fry my lava.  Had it been an older lamp it would have.  It wasn't running long either when I caught the problem.  I shut it down and when all the lava returned to it's home on planet earth, I gave it a gentle turning and it reattached.  After a little cool down time I started it back up and it flowed pretty good.  I think there's a lot of hope for the flow in this lamp with a higher bulb and a dimmer.  I'm really seeing a bit of a flow improvement in the Clearviews that were made last year.  Mine says 2013 on it.  I was even getting some snakey flow and columns last nite which surprised me.  Now I want to get another!!!  If I can get the warm up times figured out I just mite....I'm digging the way the lava gobbles up what falls to the coil.  It's really cool to watch.  I can actually get to sleep because I'm not thinking of my problems of the day, I'm too busy concentrating on "is this lava going to fall from the top in time for the coil to shoot some more up"??  LOL!!!  I do buy from Spencer's so I can pull the lamps from their tubes to check them out for clarity and what not.  I'm grateful I didn't cloud my lamp up last nite with the overheating....whew!!!

[Carol]

Jeff, the lamp in question on your desk is a clearview?  Not bad a 2 hour start up.  I'll take that.  Well, now I know why this thread started because I went to Lowe's, Ace Hardware and called my local lighting store.  The local lighting store said that they are discontinuing these bulbs all over the place.  (I'm talking about the R39 30 Watt).  Don't know how true that is.  Don't wanna order from LL because the 25 watt'ers simply aren't hot enough to do the job IMO, so guess I'm ordering online.  I just didn't want to have to wait for the bulb.  I figured I could buy it today.  Oh well, guess I have to suffer it out.  Personally I think the room temp is also a problem because after it shuts down it stays in the stalagmite position.  I just switched rooms with the lamp as an experiment but the ac is on in the whole house so I don't think it's going to make much of a difference.  I like it on the colder side, but my lamps don't, lol!!! 

P.S.  Tom, NO MORE PILLOWCASES!!!  lol!!!  I read somewhere that somebody uses a big sock, lol!!!

[Carol]

This is how my Clearview looks after 12 hours of cool down.

[Carol]

and yes, that blob stays at the top but when it really gets flowing it falls....

[Carol]

This sucks.  7.10 shipping to order a stinkin 4.95 cent bulb!!!  I better order a few of them, lol!!!

Ok, moved lamp into another room.  Still on original 25 watt original bulb lamp came with.  Turned on at 2:00.  It's 3:28.  So, an hour and a half and we have stalagmites.  Must not like my bedroom...bummer.....

[kero48]

Resurrecting this thread simple to see if the bulb issue is still a problem for people for this model?

[kero48]

Ignore my prior comment, I researched and found the answer :)