Astro broken cap

[birgit]

I finally bought a new (used) lava lamp (Mathmos Astro) but was very sad to discover that the cap seal is broken - a little fluid escaped during transport but I guess it'd be fine to use... any suggestions on how to re-seal the bottle?

Has anyone tried using a cap from a drinking bottle for re-seal? Haven't found the right size though yet... or does anyone know any DIY-sealing options?

Thanks in advance!

[Loren]

Hello, and welcome to oozinngoo!

I only have one Astro, and it has a screw-on type cap with electrical tape over it.

Can you take a picture of the cap, maybe? People here have recapped many a globe, so someone should surely be able to offer help. :)

[birgit]

Hi Loren!

Thanks for your reply. Here's a picture of it below. You can see the crack on the lid - the lid is still intact and might even be fixable with the correct glue or tape.

I also included a second image that shows how much fluid has escaped during transport, so perhaps this would need some refilling as well? The rest of the wax is sitting neatly on the bottom, only some water escaped through the crack.

I would be very thankful for some advice from the community, especially what sorts of materials for refill and reseal are recommended.

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

Hi Birget and welcome to OG.

I not sure how you would repair the cap but have a spare I could post to you in NZ if you have no luck for the cost of postage.

You can top the globe up with DI water.

Peter.

[Johnny]

Thats a funny cap and ive never seen that type used in the u.k,  from the 60s up to the 90s they used a black bakerlite cap but was more rounded and sat further down the bottle neck, then mathmos went to metal caps, That cap looks very much like the lunar bottle cap, which may be possible if you can get a Bells whisky bottle 

[birgit]

It has quite a large diameter (5cm) but it appears to be bakerlite or similar

can't really find a model nr on the bottle itself, the lamp base says astro mathmos 01202 66676 Poole U.K.

@Aladdin 2 Lava if you were able to post a cap that fits I'd happily pay the postage to NZ!!

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

Like Johnny I've never seen this type of cap either! Put a photo up of the bottle neck with the cap removed so I can compare the thread just to make sure and I will get a spare off to you.

Friendship request sent to exchange details.

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

The bakerlite caps screw off and have a rubber sealing ring. Yours looks more like the metal caps which have a screw thread but are sealed with glue. If this is the case to soften the glue you will need to heat the cap up with a hot hair dryer or by pouring boiling water over the cap straight from a kettle. Ive done this many times but some can be very stubborn and take several attempts. TAKE CARE and do this in the kitchen sink and use rubber gloves and a dry cloth for leverage and protection from the heat. Bear in mind it could make the damage to the cap much worse!!! 

[Brad]

og rules!  awesome teamwork here.  hope you get the lamp fixed soon!

[birgit]

Hi all

thanks for all comments and being so helpful! This is such an amazing forum!!

I've made a picture of the inside of the cap and the neck. There is some (very old) remnant of (brown) glue, partly still in the cap. BTW I removed the piece that fell into the bottle :) You see the cap is quite large, I measured the diameter is exactly 5cm / approx 2 inches.

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

Looks like a standard older type Mathmos bottle to me. PM me your delivery address and I will get the cap off to you. We can sort the postage out later to save you some time!.

[Aladdin 2 Lava]

Ready to go!

[birgit]

Dear Aladdin,

this is such so incredibly nice of you!

i can't wait for my lamp to be fixed soon thanks to your kind help

Aladdin 2 Lava said:

Ready to go!