My Discussion With Kim At Magma Tower About Issue With My Goo Kits

[Carol]

So I thought that this would help with anyone having problems with goo kits or might in the future.  I also learned a few tips and answers to questions that have plagued me for months since starting my beloved hobby of kitting.    I caved and called Magma Tower today with a question about why my lamps are creating some sort of "fog" on the inside of the globe after months of running.  I spoke almost an hour to a gentleman named Kim.  It was a very informative pleasant conversation.  I first described to him that this was not cloudy water, but in fact a "scum" or "fog" on the inside of the globe.  I covered all bases.  I use only distilled water.  I have cleaned my globes with a brush and the following:  Acetone, brakeleen, and now my final attempt straight vinegar (they do say vinegar does wonders for glass).  Not all at once, but all these attempts have been made at redoing lamps that have fogged up.  Kim advised that the best cleaning for the inside of globes is a good through scrubbing with liquid dish soap and a lot of rinsing with as hot as water as one can stand it.  Cleaning I do not think is the issue.  What we did discover is that I have been running my lamps on a 60 watt bulb with a dimmer as I cannot achieve flow on a standard stock 40 watter.  Why I asked when goo kits are supposed to be "green" and energy efficient".  Kim replied that the problem lies in the Lava Lite bases that are used.  The aluminum diffuses a lot of the heat that is supposed to be supplied up to the glass.  He also told me that they use a coating in their lamps so as not to "lose" heat.  Also, he said that their goo is different then LL"s which I already new. 

 

Sealing:  could this be the problem?  Absolutely not he said.  They run a lot of their lamps wide open.  Especially the test lamps that they use to test their dyes in. 

 

So it all boiled down to the fact that when I start up my lamps, I start them up on a 60 watt at full power.  I said, "do you think it is creating a condensation because the liquid is heating up too quickly and the ambient outer room temp is a bit cool?  He doesn't seem to think it is so much of a condensation as the oils from the wax are adhering to the inside of the globe because I am literally "cooking" the lamp at too high of a temp.  He said if you want a more opaque wax run at 120.  If you want a clearer, almost glass like wax, run at 130 max, but no more.  This might explain why my pink lamp changes over to glass/clear.  The higher running temp. Sorry this is so long, but I really did have a nice conversation, lol!!  When the liquid gets overheated or super hot, the wax becomes really "soft" and sticky.  The softer and more stickier the wax becomes, it makes it more able to adhere to the glass.  He said that adding more surf "may" help, but that temp has to come down for this problem to be resolved totally.  So what I thought was a fog because the fog is white, how could it be wax, wax is colored?  He replied that although it is not the color of the wax because it is the oils that are being literally "cooked" out of the wax.

 

So, I redid my greenie lamp last night.  I soaked in vinegar for 2 hours.  Throughly scrubbed and rinsed.  Started it up at 1/2 the dimmer power.  When it got to "almost" flowing but couldn't quite make it, I gave it a little burst to a tad below 3/4 of the dimmer and left it alone.  This morning it was still crystal clear.  This is an experiment and I have no way of knowing what it will look like in a few more weeks but I will continued to run at no hotter then 130.  I will be investing in a liquid thermometer although I think my meat thermometer may work.  It maxes out at 130, so if I get a reading below that, I'll consider myself fine. 

 

He also stated that having to seal a lamp up air tight is a fallacy.  One can be run wide open.  So anyway, there was my conversation.  Oh, aside from the fact that we discussed the new led lamp they are working on, although he didn't say when we can expect to see them hit the market. 

 

Hope this helps anyway that is having problems with sticking wax or wax reside in their goo kits.

P.S. Forget to add that Magma is sending me fresh goo, fresh surf and any dyes I may need or supplies free of charge for my problems of having to redo my kits more then once.  I cannot say enough about their customer service.  I was pleased.

 

 

[Jim]

@ their fabled "Spectrum" LED lamp.  They have been talking about that for over four years now.  I'll believe it when I see it.  If they want any credibility regarding that lamp, Kim should hop on the site and give us the straight scoop. 

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/group/gookitconversions?commentId=1566398...

[Kirk]

Instead of a thermometer, you may want to get you one of these 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081CSFUQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detai...

I use this to measure the temperature of all my lava and glitter liquids.

[Carol]

I know, I know Jim.....but hey, I needed answers to my "fog" problem, so what was I gonna say???  Ya know Kim, you're throwing too much BS Mr., hahaahaaa......I already knew about that lamp and how long it's been in the works from this site.  He said that goggle has 3 going right now and 1 is even on youtube......so I reply, "well, that's great and I saw the lamp on youtube, but when is the general public gonna expect it?  He said they're being made now, hee hee hee......

 

Honestly that call was made for 2 reasons:  1:  the almighty "fog" that seems as though Stephen King himself made the actual movie in the lamp, and 2:  I was expecting him to make good for some product as I had used a butt ton of surf redoing my lamps.....so I did get what I was set out to accomplish.

 

Kirk, will do sir, thank you much!!!  For now I stuck the meat thermometer in there.  Now don't know if that's accurate, but it is when I stick it up the bird's you know what at Thanksgiving, minimum read on there is 130 and I'm looking at about 110 possibly 115...hard to tell, but for now as long as I don't go over 130 I'm to believe it will prevent that sticking problem because it will keep the wax a bit "stiffer".  Time will tell.......

[Jim]

I hear ya Carol.  I do hope they realize how many units they could sell to OG members, but they need to do some sort of outreach and better manage expectations.  Not having it ready by Christmas is a shame as they would have sold like hotcakes.  A review of the threads on this site regarding the Spectrum illustrates the level of skepticism by what is likely going to be their core customers.  At least they didn't have any sort of pre-sale, but this one has been venturing into "Twister Tube" territory.

They should have maybe considered Kickstarter - not sure if Google is holding them up, or if they lack capital to get this damn thing done.  Kickstarter would have definitely given them a major influx of money, and would have helped establish at least rudimentary demand.

Carol said:

I know, I know Jim.....but hey, I needed answers to my "fog" problem, so what was I gonna say???  Ya know Kim, you're throwing too much BS Mr., hahaahaaa......I already knew about that lamp and how long it's been in the works from this site.  He said that goggle has 3 going right now and 1 is even on youtube......so I reply, "well, that's great and I saw the lamp on youtube, but when is the general public gonna expect it?  He said they're being made now, hee hee hee......

[Carol]

Ya know Jim, I told Kim exactly that!!!  I said ya know kim, if you could get these things out there, I know a ton of collectors from OG (I told him I was a member and that is how I started goo kitting in the first place) that would buy them, especially if they weren't like extremely expensive.  He said that they wouldn't be.  He told me all about the led and the heater on them, we talked at length on the design.  I also said, not sure if I should mention this Kim, but in light of LL lamps turning to crap, that is more reason for your lamps to sell like hot cakes.  Also, I told him how many are resorting to buying Mathmos lamps and although there is nothing wrong with those, it is costly because of the shipping and then having to buy the extras because of the current differential. 

 

Ya know maybe they really don't have the capital to get this thing going.  I know they used to sell a lot of huge lamps to commercial establishments but in light of the current state of the economy that might not be the case so much anymore.

OH, PS:  he blamed the delay on not being able to find an adequate remote control for the units.  He said that they are to be remote operated.  Also, he said there is an app for the smartphones that can also program their lamp.  But that the whole holdup is the problem with the remotes.  I say eff the remotes and just sell the damn lamp!!!!!  I can walk over to it and turn it on.  I may be an old hippie but i'm not dead yet, lolololol!!!

[VOXul]

Interesting info about the leaching and temperature data. I bet that is why yours went translucent and back to opaque!

[Carol]

yep, that's exactly why it went clear vox.  but what i don't understand is why all of it doesn't go clear when I run them hot.  it's the pink and my son's wax that i didn't dye.  that's clear now also.  I don't know, i still say it has a mind of it's own.  I think it also has to do with the temp i bring it to when i do my boil down to clean my globes.  it was a nice conversation with the guy though.  so far no streaking in my kits that i redid.

[Verax]

Good info, thanks Carol! :)

[Critter]

Yes Carol Kim is a really good guy he has assisted me too in the same fashion. He is a OG member too but rarely posts. The Spectrum.....it's been coming for a long time now. I hope it happens I really do.