Acrylic Gem Lamp from Hotrock / Lite FX lamp

[kero48]

So I was so inspired by bigclive's youtube video on the gem lamp that I decided to give it a go and thus far it works beautifully. Now the lamp in the video is not 100% done yet as I am going to add other color gems like blue and green.

Here is what I did for the most part. Filled the clean bottle with distilled water 3/4 of the way up. I put in a bunch of acrylic gems (just took a guess but kept it on the lesser side to start things off). I waited an hour for the lamp to warm up so the salt would dissolve quicker. The bottle was warm but not hot to the touch. Using a 20 watt reflector bulb.

I used mrs.wages pickling salt form walmart as it says it keep brine clear.

I added a half of plastic spoon at a time every 20 minutes or so until only a few gems starting to float a little,maybe 2 o 3 inches up from the bottom. At that time I added a tiny amount of surf to keep the gems from sticking. By the way I used a plastic drinking straw to stire the fluid every so often to ensure the salt was dissolved.

Now after those few gems started to float, every 10 minutes or so I only added small PINCHES of salt until more action started to happen. I stopped adding salt when the crystals started to reach the top and fell back down.

The lamp is not done yet and I am running it for a few hours to see what happens but so far I think the idea is so cool.

Oh for the crystals, I bought mine at party city. They are $1.99 a bag and they have about 5-6 colors. AC moore also had them but a larger bag is $7 so I will be returning those. They only sell one size at both places, I really wanted the 3 sizes that clive used but can't find a variety pack locally.

Video

https://oozinggoo.ning.com/video/acrylic-gem-lamp

Now, I am thinking of making a grande with this technique but will require a ton of crystals and salt lol, Will think about it.

Thoughts/comments :)

[Claude J]

that's pretty cool
And affordable

I bet prewashing/coating the gems in clear soap (like the fishies in the LL aquariums) would work as well

[kero48]

Yes, it takes a while for all the micro bubbles to come off the gems but as the lamp heats up those go away. I didn't do this step as I didn't want residual soap to affect making the lamp the first time. But I agree, if done cleanly and all residue off it will help for sure.

Now the question really is can it be ran for hours like a normal glitter lamp?

[Claude J]

time will tell

[kero48]

UPDATE: I am abandoning the gem lamp all together. Why you ask, because no matter how carefully you make the salt water solution, the lamp can only be run a short time before the water solution gets so hot the gems just sink to the bottom. A glitter lamp can run for hours the gem lamp cannot.

One would think, why not simply add more salt so it runs longer, you can, but then the lamp takes 3 to 5 hours to warm up enough to overcome the salt density. There is no win in my opinion unless someone has a different solution to use.

I've tried so many different options as it's cheap and no mess as it's just salt and water, but I don't see a viable path forward for a gem lamp that can run for at least 3 to 4 hours before the lamp overheats.

[Keith]

Have you used a dimmer?

kero48 said:

UPDATE: I am abandoning the gem lamp all together. Why you ask, because no matter how carefully you make the salt water solution, the lamp can only be run a short time before the water solution gets so hot the gems just sink to the bottom. A glitter lamp can run for hours the gem lamp cannot.

One would think, why not simply add more salt so it runs longer, you can, but then the lamp takes 3 to 5 hours to warm up enough to overcome the salt density. There is no win in my opinion unless someone has a different solution to use.

I've tried so many different options as it's cheap and no mess as it's just salt and water, but I don't see a viable path forward for a gem lamp that can run for at least 3 to 4 hours before the lamp overheats.

[Claude J]

Yes he needs to dim it down once it heats up

[Mr MaGoo]

Agreed, worth a shot.  Sure you have dimmers on hand.