AARRGH--I might have ruined my favorite kitted lamp!

[Chris]

So over the last few days I have been slowly adding some yellow dye to my favorite lamp. When I originally kitted it I used the green die only but was getting bored with its color and wanted to pep it up a bit. 

Today I decided I had finally added enough yellow. I was tightening the cap back on to the globe, and my screwdriver slipped (I use a hose clamp to tighten the caps back on) and jostled the lamp pretty hard while it was hot. I got a pretty big amount of small wax pieces floating in the water--it seems that the impact shook up all the stuff that was in the top of the lamp--probably the cap and some other smaller blobs.

There were still two pretty large blobs at the bottom of the lamp, and I have had it cooling off for the last few hours so I could try running it again to get it back to normal. Does this thing have any chance? Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the damage, so I can't show anything. It looks like everything settled mostly underneath the larger blobs of wax, so I am hoping they just melt back in.

UGH!!! I really hope I don't have to re-do this goo kit.

[Keith]

The best answer I can give is only time will tell.  But I think you did the right thing by letting it cool off and recombine.  I've actually found that lamps are generally forgiving about being jostled so you probably won't have any problems.

One thing you never wand to to is shake the L out of them, then they're just "ava amps". ;)

[Chris]

Thanks Keith--I'm thinking it will probably be fine, but it was definitely the worst I've ever seen this happen in person. It's been resting for 5 hours now, so I'm probably going to start it back up again soon.

And to that last thing you said.........groan. :)

[NoneofyourBusiness Nosey]

I recently decided to add some color to the liquid in a China knock off. When I was tightening the hose clamp I did the exact same thing I just left it sit until it was completely cooled and everything was fine next time i turned it on! Good luck

[Chris]

Thanks Heidi--you are totally helping ease my mind.

I can tell it's still not 100% cooled off just due to where the water level is, so I'm letting it sit until after dinner time. I'll try to remember to post pics later. I wish I would have remembered when I did it so I could do a before and after.

Heidi D said:

I recently decided to add some color to the liquid in a China knock off. When I was tightening the hose clamp I did the exact same thing I just left it sit until it was completely cooled and everything was fine next time i turned it on! Good luck

[Chris]

So the lamp is starting to flow again, and for the most part the small bits melted back in with the rest of the goo, but there are still a lot of TINY particles flying around in the water. I don't know if I should give it a few more cycles or if I should just change out the water. What do you guys think? 

I figure changing out the water will take 10 minutes at most and then I can avoid spending the money on a new goo kit.

[Critter]

Cycle the crap out of it!  I would run it on and off in eight hour intervals for a good bit before going further.

[NoneofyourBusiness Nosey]

I agree, cycle it!

[Keith]

Yep, cycle!

[Chris]

I'll keep trying. When it's all the way cooled down and the "dust" settles, the water is clear as it was on day one. But once the water starts rolling around, I can totally see all the debris. How many days should I cycle this thing before I give up and change the water out?

[NoneofyourBusiness Nosey]

I'd give it a week- 7-10 cycles ...or replace the liquid if you're impatient like me lol

[Chris]

Also--what's the thinking behind all the cycling--that the little tiny pieces will eventually stick to something?

[Chris]

So here's where I am about 3 hours into a cycle. The flow is fine after my mishap, but the picture doesn't show all the debris floating around in the water. I can't really see it unless I look really closely. Trying to decide if it's worth messing with or not. I'm finally happy with the actual lava color.