Glitter-How hot is too hot?

[Wanda Woman]

Hi all of you glitter gurus! 

I realize this may be a difficult question to answer since I can't provide actual temperatures. I have 12 glitter globes in one display and in close proximity. They are all 32 ounces in this particular group. 9 are in Wizard bases none of which are the new ones. Whether they were goo or glitter originally is impossible to say since I'm not the original owner of any of them. They all have tall caps with the exception of one short. The other 3 are Starships.  5 of these globes are Kirk's glitter and the remainder are USA originals. 40 watt bulbs are in all of them. The lids are hot enough after an hour that I wouldn't hold them for more than a second or two. The bases and globes are quite hot as well. I switched out to 25 watts to see if they still flowed nicely and they all did. But, they aren't bright enough to be 'pretty' with the lower wattage. I got these bulbs from Amazon and a friend commented that you never know the true wattage of a China bulb. I'm not a bulb expert but it is interesting to note the bases of the bulbs don't have the wattage stamped on them. The boxes say 40 watt. I'm not sure if that little bit of info matters here. Can anybody tell me.....Is this sort of heat normal??  Are they too close together? Am I going to have something explode? Still PTSD over Critter's Colossus exploding ......

[Kirk]

I've tested temperatures on many of the glitter lamp bases.  

The Wizards have the hottest liquid.  Especially when inside temperatures go higher than 75 degrees, the Wizard liquid can reach temps of 140.  Ideally, the glitter flows best between 130-135.  High temperatures for long lengths of time will degrade the glitter and/or liquid color.  My rule of thumb is to run the glitter no longer than 8 hours at a time.

To check your temps, get one of these infrared guns.

I wouldn't worry too much about an explosion like Critter's Colossus.  The 32oz globes are very well made.

[Wanda Woman]

Thanks Kirk for your insight and the link. It's really good to learn these things. I'm going to use my Amazon Prime right now. That's a cool little device.

[Kirk]

You may find thet one or more of your Wizards is running hotter than the others.  You can adjust this by pressing down on the bulb socket.  The arm that holds the socket is flexible and can be adjusted up or down.  

All of this checking and adjusting may not be for everyone, but it sounds like it's right up your alley.  

[Wanda Woman]

Spot on Kirk! I have no problem tinkering to get it right. Thanks for helping me.