How to fix bubbly lava, lava not sticking to coil, inconsistent lava color, and lava rising in a single column

[Autumn]

I thought I would post this to help people out who had similar problems. I had 2 centuries that had really bubbly wax(bubbles of fluid, not air) that would not stick to the coil completely and mostly rose in a single column.(edit1/12/2010) Please note that boiling does not always fix the problem. I have received lots of feedback from people who said this procedure worked for them but a few have said it did not work for them.

Before.

After. Ignore the cloudiness, I am still working on fixing that, it was cloudy before my tampering. 

 

Here is what I did! Its very simple actually.

 

I waited for the lamp to completely cool and I emptied the liquid into a separate container. Then I took a pot and put a little plate in it to gradually heat the lamp so it is not sitting right against the bottom of the pan. I put the lamp on the plate and brought the water to a full boil. I let the water boil for about 10 minutes. I made sure that the wax was 100% liquid and waited until I could see the bubbles rising to the top. I did not let the lava boil though. Then I let the lamp completely cool and drained the liquid that settled on top of the wax. For me the liquid settled in a little spot in the center of the lava, almost like a fried egg.

 

 

 

I did this with 2 lamps and the first one only required 1 boil but the other lamp required 3 to get all the bubbles out. Each time when the lamp cooled down I drained a little bit of liquid from the lamp since the liquid wont mix with the lava.

 

The lava acted funny the first time I turned the lamp on but on the second day the lamp acts normal. I would even go as far as saying my boiled lamps run better than most of my other lamps!

 

Now I just need to fix the cloudy water.

 

[Autumn]

I have been lucky with my centuries as far as having the ring in them. When I got my 2 centuries they had been very abused and I am impatient so I decided to try something new and now my lamps look like new and flow just like the ones in your picture. It seems like the chemicals in my lava was seperating and it also had lots of liquid mixed in them and the boiling fixed it all. I am very happy with the way they flow, I will have to put a video up eventually.
But overall I agree with you Bohdan this should be a last resort method if nothing else works!

[Reszound]

What a neat idea! Thanks for this excellent post, I'm going to try it on the goo kit grande I just did as it has developed a severe case of bubblitis which will just not get better. I need to open it again anyway to add more goo so hopefully this will solve the problem :)

[Sentrex]

OCD has grabbed me and I cannot continue to see my 1424 Midnight continue to spike absurd bubble ridden lava another minute!

Having read many (many many) posts here on the topic of bubbles this is the only thread that I found offering me some hope.

"Let it run 10 hours at a time, it will work itself out".... "There is no way to fix that".... hope runs eternal

15 minutes into trying this with 52 oz globe! Not quite melted and plenty of bubbles still.

Pic attached

[Sentrex]

All back together now but the process did not resolve anything for this lamp.

On to the next option!

[Sentrex]

Talking to myself here - but hey, at least I always think that I am funny...

I am going to boil the wax for a 2nd time, up to 5 times total over the next week and see if it helps.

Really don't want to replace the goo if I can avoid it!

Don't have a picture of it running but if you have seen the typical yellow lava with all the bubbles in it then you understand.

Will report back after 5th try if unsuccessful.

[BSP016]

Will this procedure stop fluid bubbles from forming at the bottom and rising up? My green/blue Aristocrat has that problem and I am sometimes able to pop the bubbles, but new ones form at the bottom and shoot up, reducing my work to nothing. Need a cure for this, as well as the cloudiness (which I am working on).

[Sentrex]

Hi Ben - the lamps with the blue fluid and green or yellow goo seem to have the biggest problem with the bubbles you mentioned. Seems every globe I get, and every pic/video I see, with those combos is bubbly garbage. I have tried boiling just the wax as well as the entire globe with the cap off to get rid of them. Unfortunately without any success.

I have scoured this site trying to find a solution reading posts back to 2008 and at this point I have reserved myself to the fact that there is no solution. I have since cleaned out my Aristocrat bottle and plan to rebuild it soon.

I do have one more of these that I am going to try a new coil on to see if that helps. The bubbles are definitely not air so for some reason the fluid is mixing with our goo. Waiting on springs to make a new coil....

[Jeremy Blakesley]

Where's the best place to get those springs?

[Autumn]

This is caused from some kind of chemical change as the lamps age. Not sure how to fix this.

Ben said:

Will this procedure stop fluid bubbles from forming at the bottom and rising up? My green/blue Aristocrat has that problem and I am sometimes able to pop the bubbles, but new ones form at the bottom and shoot up, reducing my work to nothing. Need a cure for this, as well as the cloudiness (which I am working on).

A hardware store.

Jeremy Blakesley said:

Where's the best place to get those springs?

Like I mentioned in my other comment it is likely due to a change in the chemicals in the lamp caused by age, sun exposure, or over use. I'm not a chemist so I am just speculating, but I think a lot of the problems with these old lamps simply can not be fixed.

Sentrex said:

Hi Ben - the lamps with the blue fluid and green or yellow goo seem to have the biggest problem with the bubbles you mentioned. Seems every globe I get, and every pic/video I see, with those combos is bubbly garbage. I have tried boiling just the wax as well as the entire globe with the cap off to get rid of them. Unfortunately without any success.

I have scoured this site trying to find a solution reading posts back to 2008 and at this point I have reserved myself to the fact that there is no solution. I have since cleaned out my Aristocrat bottle and plan to rebuild it soon.

I do have one more of these that I am going to try a new coil on to see if that helps. The bubbles are definitely not air so for some reason the fluid is mixing with our goo. Waiting on springs to make a new coil....