Help! Did I ruin my coachlite lava?

[ash-hole!]

To start off, sorry for my ignorance. I'm new at this stuff.

So I received my Coachlite a few weeks ago. When I got it the lava needed some help. It didn't do much more than make the "ice sickle" effect. (I'm sure you guys have another name for that.) So I decided to revitalize the lava the old school way with Epson salt and dawn soap. It worked great. But once I had changed the liquid I was able to see how much scum build up was on the inside of the globe. So I decided to do it again a few days later... Trying to clean the inside of the globe in the process. I repeated what I did before with the Epson salt and dawn and it worked but after a few cycles it wasn't working so well anymore. Like it needed more Epson salt? Well after a repeated process and long story short... Now the lava is suddenly sticking to the side of the globe. Its climbing the side and just sticking to it in really thin layers. It's such a pain in the butt and I don't know what to do anymore. I'm completely heart broken. I'm sure you know that when you fix a lamp you get a huge feeling of accomplishment. So I just cleaned it the best I could with a cramped hand again and it's warming up but I'm feeling pretty hopeless at this point. So is it ruined?

Oh and another thing. The globe also has a ton of tiny bubbles on the sides on the globe. You know like I filled it with Sprite or something, what's up with you that?

I appreciate all the help and shared knowledge I can get and look forward to hearing what you think!

Hope you all are having a good day!

[Claude J]

Thick water. LoL

Now clean the globe with Dawn

Rinse

Reheat the goo

Coat the bottle with clear hand soap

Add the lava.etc

Good luck

[ash-hole!]

Its not very thick...

But yeah I've done all that. I'm reheating my lava now. 

Thanks again!

[Claude J]

you welcome

Dont forget
Shake and coat one more time before adding goo

Use a funnel if possible, when adding the goo

it will direct the goo toward the center of the globe

it will clean up with hot water

ash-hole! said:

Its not very thick...

But yeah I've done all that. I'm reheating my lava now. 

Thanks again!

[ash-hole!]

I wish I would have read your recommendation about the funnel before I had put the lava back in the bottle but I didn't. 

I have to say, I don't really have a lot of hope for this. The lava just seems so watery and there's an awful lot of bubbles in the globe from coating the side. I only put 2 small drops. Will it be okay to run a small amount of hot water down the side to get the lava residue now again stuck to loosen?

Sorry for all the negativity and venting.

[Claude J]

you have the globe filled now right"?
No lava should have stuck if the globe was coated.
If you want, you can send it to me and I'll redo it for you and ship it back within 2 days or less
What color is the lava?

[ash-hole!]

The lava did end up sticking. I was just feeling hopeless and impatient. I have been trying to fix it everyday this week. Lol

I just added the distilled water and soap about 30 min ago.

I noticed at the end of your instructions you say "if necessary... add Epson salt solution"

Did you mean you don't think it will be necessary?

If so how much do you recommend?

I seem to add and add till the bottle gets too full then start removing with a straw and add more.

[Claude J]

The amount of the solution depends on the concentration

I keep a squeeze bottle prepped by the lab bench
Yes, you add a touch til you fil it, if it isn't enough flotation by then, remove some fluid and replace it with more salt solution

You also have to let it heat back up between each time you add

[ash-hole!]

Okay. Just wanted to double check. 

Thanks again for your time Claude!

[ash-hole!]

Well it didn't work. I worked till 5 am and it never got a flow going.  I turned it back on this morning and started to added more Epson salt today (even though I'm convinced it shouldn't need this much) and it's still not flowing. Now it's back to just all sticking to one side and when I turn it off all of the lava actually sticks again too :(

I added a couple pics to show you but the lava just doesn't look right to me. Especially when I keep adding all the salt. It's full of bubbles. Idk if you can tell in the second picture.

I appreciate all your help and patience though! It's means a lot to me!

[Claude J]

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